Car Sale in Cyprus

Hello all,

As I was searching for additional information to help me to take a decition on the opportunity I found online I came to you forum looking for some answers or leads, I found this advert on a local cars sale website (in Saudi Arabia) form a Canadian lady in Cyprus (work as diplomatic, UN or something) trying to sell he Lexus LX 570, we contacted her via email and insteny we reach an agreed price of (32,000$) plus she agreed to ship the car to Saudi Arabia at her cost with a deposit of 10,000$ until we receive the car and take it for full inception before we tranfer the remaining amount.
The creepy part (beside the too good to be true price) is that she wants the depost amount to be taken trough the shipping company and held with them until we accept the car then they will send her the money then the remaking amount!
To me it's the first time I heated of a shipping company plays an Intermediary role beside the shipping!! I have contacted them and they confirmed the above plus they even confirmed that they have recovered the car!! And waiting for me to "act fast because the shipment is leaving to Saudi Arabia tomorrow night"

The shipping company name is "Eastern Mediterranean Shipping Ltd" I didn't find much information about it online.. creepy!
Here below the email I received form the shipping company.
Am I being scammed here?? please help me if know anything about this or give me some leads to guide me.

Thanks,
Abdullah

----- the email ---------

to me
Good Day Sir,

Yes we received a 2011 Lexus LX 570 (Pearl White) from Dr Cindy Kauk, As a matter of fact, We have been expecting to hear from you.

She contacted us to explain to us the situation, You want to buy her car and the agreement between the both of you is you need our company to act as the Shipper and Intermediary.

We do this kind of transactions all the time.

However, The shipment to Saudi Arabia leaves tomorrow night so i am not sure if you are ready to meet up with that shipment.

Dr Cindy Kauk asked us to receive a part payment of $10,000 from you before she will authorize us to ship the car, We are not to pay her this $10,000 until you receive the car in Saudi Arabia and you check it and accept it.

If you do not accept it, We are to refund you and she will be responsible to ship her car back to Cyprus.

If you accept this agreement, We will provide you with a document that says that and then you can send us the money.

You will have to provide us with a copy of your International Passport as well.

Shipping Quotes to Saudi Arabia are as follows:

RORO, Roll on Roll Off to the Port of Jeddah: $1200
DTD, Door to Door Delivery to your address: $2500
20 ft Container: $4100

We will suggest you choose the Door to Door Delivery because it will be easier for this kind of transaction.

We await your response.

Paul Pavlou
Eastern Mediterranean Shipping Ltd

[AlanJones]

Hello, and welcome to Scamwarners

It is very likely a scam. Can you post the email address that the shipping firm is using and any website that you were given for them.

It sounds like a very common scam we see a lot in the UK. Did the advert initially mention that the car was located outside Saudi Arabia ?

The rule is that you should never pay any money for a car until you have seen and inspected it, as scammers very commonly post photos of cars they've copied from the internet and pretend that they own them.

Usually the intermediary company is a complete fraud and doesn't exist. The service they mention is that of an escrow company but it requires a lot more formality for such an arrangement to be set up than just the exchange of a few emails. If the company doesn't exist then the whole transaction is a fraud.

It sounds highly suspicious and I wouldn't take it any further unless they can identify that the person really is who they say they are.

I note that in Cyprus they drive on the left, as in the UK, and that in Saudi Arabia you drive on the right. Why would you want a right hand drive car, because she wouldn't have purchased a left hand drive car unless she were a fool.

The shipping company is fake. There is no car being shipped. The only purpose of this transaction is to steal your money. Nobody in Cyprus is involved so it doesn't matter which side the steering wheel is on.

Thank you all for your replies.. much appreciate it

Hello, and welcome to Scamwarners

It is very likely a scam. Can you post the email address that the shipping firm is using and any website that you were given for them.

here is the email:
[email protected]

and the website where found the car:
http://www.ksaautotrader.com/listing/12 ... X-570.html

It sounds like a very common scam we see a lot in the UK. Did the advert initially mention that the car was located outside Saudi Arabia ?

The rule is that you should never pay any money for a car until you have seen and inspected it, as scammers very commonly post photos of cars they've copied from the internet and pretend that they own them.

Usually the intermediary company is a complete fraud and doesn't exist. The service they mention is that of an escrow company but it requires a lot more formality for such an arrangement to be set up than just the exchange of a few emails. If the company doesn't exist then the whole transaction is a fraud.

It sounds highly suspicious and I wouldn't take it any further unless they can identify that the person really is who they say they are.

I note that in Cyprus they drive on the left, as in the UK, and that in Saudi Arabia you drive on the right. Why would you want a right hand drive car, because she wouldn't have purchased a left hand drive car unless she were a fool.

You're absolutely right, in addition she is claiming that she bought the car from Qatar!!

The shipping company is fake. There is no car being shipped. The only purpose of this transaction is to steal your money. Nobody in Cyprus is involved so it doesn't matter which side the steering wheel is on.

We all think it's a scam, but what makes you so sure of what you said and the company is faked??

[AlanJones]

here is the email:
[email protected]

The domain has been around for a few years, which is odd for a scam site - I can't actually access the site from where I am at the moment, but will do some more investigation later.

and the website where found the car:
http://www.ksaautotrader.com/listing/12 ... X-570.html

The advert has a few of photos of the car on it, one of which is the inside of the car - which shows it to be a lefthand drive car - which as TB says would be strange for Cyprus.

There is also this picture



Which a reverse image search shows appears on a number of classifieds sites in Kenya and Malawi amongst other places. It is difficult to tell which is the original advert, but most if not all of them are going to be fake.

Have you been given any details of the shipping company yet?

You can also find the same photos used in this advert from August 2013 when it was being advertised for sale by '[email protected]'.

http://www.anunico.ae/ad/cars/2011_lexus_lx_570_13_000usd-5664426.html

The current advertiser lied in his advert that the car was located in Saudi Arabia. Doing business with anyone who begins dealing with you by lying is not sensible. Even if he/she states that you wouldn't have been interested in it if he/she hadn't lied, you now know he/she will lie about anything he knows will put you off buying the vehicle, not that I believe that the seller has the vehicle to sell anyway.

In July 2013 it was being advertised for sale in New Zealand by '[email protected]'.

http://cars.mitula.co.nz/offer-detalle/18232/98710749738049496/4/1/lexus-white/Clicads?cc=1

In August 2013 it was for sale in Haiti

http://www.haiti.anunico.com/anuncio-de/autos/2011_lexus_lx_570_13_000usd-5569983.html

July 2013 China

http://classifieds.echinacities.com/chapter/1312437070

In September 2013 it was located in Pakistan - [email protected] again.

http://sastigari.com/0/posts/49-Others/541-Lexus/3007-Lexus-2013.html

Posted on : Friday, 06 September, 2013 06:57
Expires On : Wednesday, 05 March, 2014 05:57
Car Location Lahore
Model Year2013
Registeration City Unregistered

Whether the shipping company exists or not doesn't really matter as there is no mention of them acting as an escrow company on their website.

We also know that the photos of the car were taken when it was unregistered, which the current seller claims was in 2011. Would you buy a car based on three year old photos ? - and why would the seller only have such old photos. The seller isn't a good liar but he is a scammer.

but what makes you so sure of what you said and the company is faked??

The website looks fake to me. It has very little content that is related to shipping, and instead has news and stock quotes. You will need to confirm that company exists by some independent means, such as checking licenses or membership in associations.

http://www.cyprusbestcompanies.com/cypr ... yprus.html

Wow, Terry, you are good! The same car is always for sale and it is always everywhere it needs to be.

here is the email:
[email protected]

The domain has been around for a few years, which is odd for a scam site - I can't actually access the site from where I am at the moment, but will do some more investigation later.

and the website where found the car:
http://www.ksaautotrader.com/listing/12 ... X-570.html

The advert has a few of photos of the car on it, one of which is the inside of the car - which shows it to be a lefthand drive car - which as TB says would be strange for Cyprus.

There is also this picture




Which a reverse image search shows appears on a number of classifieds sites in Kenya and Malawi amongst other places. It is difficult to tell which is the original advert, but most if not all of them are going to be fake.

Have you been given any details of the shipping company yet?

Thank you Alan for your time and the value information you gave.. answering your question, I don't have anymore information about the shipping company, actully I only sent them only one email inquiring and they replied with that email I posted.
One more thing, the lady sent me copy of her passport at the beginning of our conversation, i guess she was trying to gave me confidence that she is trustworthy!

I think it's obvious this is a scam, I won't go any further on this.

You can also find the same photos used in this advert from August 2013 when it was being advertised for sale by '[email protected]'.

http://www.anunico.ae/ad/cars/2011_lexus_lx_570_13_000usd-5664426.html

The current advertiser lied in his advert that the car was located in Saudi Arabia. Doing business with anyone who begins dealing with you by lying is not sensible. Even if he/she states that you wouldn't have been interested in it if he/she hadn't lied, you now know he/she will lie about anything he knows will put you off buying the vehicle, not that I believe that the seller has the vehicle to sell anyway.

In July 2013 it was being advertised for sale in New Zealand by '[email protected]'.

http://cars.mitula.co.nz/offer-detalle/18232/98710749738049496/4/1/lexus-white/Clicads?cc=1

In August 2013 it was for sale in Haiti

http://www.haiti.anunico.com/anuncio-de/autos/2011_lexus_lx_570_13_000usd-5569983.html

July 2013 China

http://classifieds.echinacities.com/chapter/1312437070

In September 2013 it was located in Pakistan - [email protected] again.

http://sastigari.com/0/posts/49-Others/541-Lexus/3007-Lexus-2013.html

Posted on : Friday, 06 September, 2013 06:57
Expires On : Wednesday, 05 March, 2014 05:57
Car Location Lahore
Model Year2013
Registeration City Unregistered

Whether the shipping company exists or not doesn't really matter as there is no mention of them acting as an escrow company on their website.

We also know that the photos of the car were taken when it was unregistered, which the current seller claims was in 2011. Would you buy a car based on three year old photos ? - and why would the seller only have such old photos. The seller isn't a good liar but he is a scammer.

Thank you Terry, you are amazing!!

but what makes you so sure of what you said and the company is faked??

The website looks fake to me. It has very little content that is related to shipping, and instead has news and stock quotes. You will need to confirm that company exists by some independent means, such as checking licenses or membership in associations.

http://www.cyprusbestcompanies.com/cypr ... yprus.html

Wow, Terry, you are good! The same car is always for sale and it is always everywhere it needs to be.

Thanks a lot, I guess you are right.. appreciate it so much.

[AlanJones]

I won't go any further on this.

That is probably the best action. Terry gives some very useful advice in posts that he makes on fake car sellers in the UK

Under no circumstance and for any reason should you EVER make any payment before viewing and inspecting ANY vehicle you intend to buy.

If you follow that advice, you have a lot less chance of being scammed.