Scam adverts on Autotrader - today's batch

These are coming thick and fast. A new batch but I may have to list them tomorrow.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201312010270346/sort/default/usedcars/dealer/690669/postcode/gu185sb/page/1/advert-type/dealer-stock?logcode=dsp

£2,400 Mazda MAZDA6 2.0d SL 5dr

Link in the photo.

Privat seler!Do Not Call.For any questions contact the seller at: [email protected]

To speed up the process, from now on I'll just note the name of the dealer whose account has been compromised (as it's obviously impossible to know which of his adverts are compromised and thus bogus), and the email addresses that the scammer is using, as well as reporting the adverts.

I have been unable to substantiate the existence of some of these companies and they are frequently operating from websites only a matter of a couple of weeks old, which is a concern that their adverts have been compromised so quickly.

The moral being that just because someone advertises with autotrader and has a website, doesn't guarantee that they exist, and that even applies to incorporated companies unless you can detect that they have actually existed long enough to publish accounts, which can all be checked online quite easily.

Currently there have between 50-100 scam adverts posted daily that I have detected and, if they remain live for three days, considering that they are all the most tempting bargains, an unwary buyer is going to lose money simply because of the volume.

As an example this car, photo, and e-mail address appears/has appeared for sale under the name of three different companies

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201311300255238/sort/default/usedcars/dealer/649292/page/2/postcode/cr26es/advert-type/dealer-stock?logcode=dsp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201312010270359/sort/default/usedcars/dealer/690669/postcode/gu185sb/page/2/advert-type/dealer-stock?logcode=dsp

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ggOBU42BZqQJ:www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/mercedes-benz/slk/used-mercedes-benz-slk-200k-2dr-sutton-fpa-201311169958285+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk

All e-mail addresses associated with this advertiser's postings

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

According to Companies House and their website this company is a motorcycle dealer.



E-mail addresses associated with car adverts under their name. Reported to autotrader.

[email protected]
[email protected]

These adverts have previously been reported to autotrader but remain outstanding. The example below shows the email address in the narrative and it also appears in one or more of the subsidiary photos, as is the case with the other adverts.



These are the e-mail addresses inserted in this company's adverts.

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

These e-mail addresses have appeared in the photos of other dealers' adverts.