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Please beware of the growing number of Weasels who are now targeting automotive websites, including our Classifieds.The basic premise is that someone from another country will buy your car and say that they are sending payment for more than the selling price, all you have to do is send the difference to someone who he owes money to. The emails can be very creative but operate the same and will leave you out a substantial amount of money.
New for 2008: If you send serious dollars to someone with a yahoo, hotmail or other free email account and lose your money, please do not contact us. That is akin to handing $100 bills to a guy in a dark alley. No way to follow them home. Apologies to those with legit dealings on these email domains but you are in the minority.
Here are some of the classic emails:
username:carhujklinton - Cara Linton - carhujklinton@yahoo.com
Hello and thank you for contacting me,
I will tell you a few words about the car..
It is in imaculate condition ,rust free , no schrach and hasn't been involved in any accident. The motor runs very well.The interior looks great.This car needs nothing,The title is clear ,it is not a salvage one.The title is clear and you can register it anytime in US without a problem and without paying any import fees.
The price I hope to obtain for this beauty is $6,900US.It was my father-in-law car .The reason I'm selling it is because my father-in-law died two weeks ago.
A $2,900US deposit will be accepted prior to shipping and the remainder will be covered upon receiving and inspecting the car.I think this is a very good offer.I'm sorry i have to sell it, but my loss will be someone`s gain, hopefully yours.I realize this is a low price for such a a great car, but my special situation makes me do things that i would't do in normal circumstances and belive me it's not easy at all for me to sell this car .
The car is now in Miami,FL as my father-in-law lived there.I am now here as i took care of the funerals.Because i can't carry all his things back home i am selling them.
I am willing to sell it and shipp it to any of the UE countries or to US.I know that the price is low but i have no use for the car and I want to get back home as soon as i sell it.I want to sell the car asap so I am willing to pay the shipping fees nomatter of the location. You will get the car with proper custom papers, clear title,bill of sale signed by me as well ,so if you agree with the price we can start the arrangements at this point.I'm a serious seller and a fair trader and I prefer to deal only with a serious buyer. If you consider yourself one please e-mail me back so we can start our deal.
My best wishes and I'm waiting your response.Check this reply!!!
Hi,
I lost my hearing in an accident 4 months ago and I won't be able to speak over the phone, I have a phone number (309) 408-1758 which is used as a fax machine mostly (it's a lot easier for me to comunicate by fax or email), you may fax me if you need to contact me and I'm not online.
I realise that is a cheap price for such a car but my special situation makes me do things that i would't do in normal circumstances. Please tell me your decision so that i can know and stop comunicate with others potentials buyers.
So, if you are indeed interested in buying the car please provide me your complete name and address to create a transaction case at Square Trade.
If you have any questions please feel free and reply me!
Regards
From Williams Jeff
Hello i am interested to buy your 68 Camaro project car ok the is price and would lke to know your present offer for it and its condition.You can send its pics as well and which you to send the inform payment which is you 1.Name 2. Address(City,State,Zip code,Country): 3. telephone numberFrom Frank-cool cool
This dude is a real weasel, although Mr. Cool-cool does give quite a few members a laugh at his attempt to be, shall we say, Cool?
-- Hello i am interested to buy your 67 Camaro SS 350 4-spd ok the is price and would lke to know your present offer for it and its condition.You can send its pics as well and which you to send the inform payment which is you 1.Name 2. Address(City,State,Zip code,Country): 3. telephone number
Here are more real world examples from users of the classifieds here on our site:
Note: 2007 shows a number of yahoo email accounts using this scam:
I will tell you a few words about the car.
It is in imaculate condition ,rust free , no schrach and hasn't been involved in any accident. The motor runs very well.The interior looks great.This car needs nothing,The title is clear ,it is not a salvage one.The title is clear and you can register it anytime in US without a problem and without paying any import fees.
The price I hope to obtain for this beauty is $6,000US.It was my father-in-law car .The reason I'm selling it is because my father-in-law died two weeks ago.
A $3,000US deposit will be accepted prior to shipping and the remainder will be covered upon receiving and inspecting the car.I think this is a very good offer.I'm sorry i have to sell it, but my loss will be someone`s gain, hopefully yours.I realize this is a low price for such a a great car, but my special situation makes me do things that i would't do in normal circumstances and belive me it's not easy at all for me to sell this car .
The car is now in United Kingdom (London) as my father-in-law lived there.I am now here as i took care of the funerals.Because i can't carry all his things back home i am selling them.
I am willing to sell it and shipp it to any of the UE countries or to US.I know that the price is low but i have no use for the car and I want to get back home as soon as i sell it.
I want to sell the car asap so I am willing to pay the shipping fees nomatter of the location.
You will get the car with proper custom papers, clear title,bill of sale signed by me as well ,so if you agree with the price we can start the arrangements at this point.I'm a serious seller and a fair trader and I prefer to deal only with a serious buyer. If you consider yourself one please e-mail me back so we can start our deal.
My best wishes and I'm waiting your response.
From: Weddy Richard [mailto:weddy_richard@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 6:01 AM
To:
Subject: Project or parts
Goodday,
I was fortunate to spot your advert on the net and I Like to know if it is still availabe for sale . if available,please get? back to me with the following enquiries: are you the first owner? any accident? last price? present condition? pics? where are you based? What is the reasone you want to sell it and made of payment is Check(MONEY ORDER)
Hello Sir,
Thanks for your response am a citizen of usa and now i and my family's are
in holiday in UK so will are willing to buy the car for our son birthday
coming up soon sir.
I will like you to do me a favor sir i want you to know that i have make
arrangement for the car pick up as soon as the payment is made to you, the
shipping company will not ship the car until they have they payment with
them.
My son birthday is coming up in few weeks from now and it takes 4weeks
before a cheque can be clear in they bank.
Sir i want you to help me and my family to get this car as a surprise to my
first son coming birthday.
They shipping fee is $10,000 because it because it takes 3 to 5 days for
cheque to clear in our country USA i want to add both the shipping and car
payment together so as for you to help us to clear it together.
And as soon as the cheque clears you will dedute your car fee and send the
shipping to them.
I await for your response sir.
Regards.
Provided and verified by: Jaye
I would like all the sellers of classic cars who advertise on the internet about a scam that I almost got caught in.
A man from Africa contacted me regarding my 67 Chevelle I advertised for sale. He said he would like the car and has a man in the USA that owes him money. He would send me a cashier's check for $20950 at which time I would then mail him the balance of $9950 minus the cost of wiring money to a business manager in London.
He then would have arrangements made to have the car shipped to his country. All I had to do was wire the "change" and sign my title. The check came as he said and 4 days later I was able to take the money out of my account. I was at Western Union handing over $9000 and the agent with Western Union told me of the scam. I would have been out $9000 +++. Sellers beware. If the man can't get to your house hold onto the car and the cash you have. The cashiers check would have bounced in 2 weeks, even bank checks go bad contrary to popular belief.
October 2003
Hi,
I recently sold three cars on your web site. Two of the sales have finished successfully. One car drew the attention of a Douglas Smith. He had a cashiers check sent to me that was counterfeit. He sent me 15,000 and wanted me to pay 6500 to a shipping company. The check was drawn on Hudson United Bank. The sender used the name of Mike Lawrence and Joseph Lawrence. I discovered the check was fake before incurring any loss. I just wanted it to be posted so others will be aware.
Thanks Shane
October 2003
I am writing you to tell you about a serious scam. i have my car advertised on your site 9-11-03. i was contacted by a Douglas Smith wanting to know if i would ship the car to Singapore. I told him if he paid for the shipping i would. So the transaction started.
I recieved the check today. $23,580 worth of fake check. people are falling for this. i asked $18,000 for the car and was to western union, the rest to him once the car shipped. my wife called the bank the check was drawn on and they told her it was a scam. warn people against the names Douglas Smith, Mike Lawrence, & John Bradford. this is serious, serious business. they get your money, your car, and you are out of luck. If my wife hadn't been so sharp i would have been screwed.
Gary
If you have further information or are contacted by someone offering to pay more for your car via cheque or money order if you cover other expensive costs, contact the link below and report it.
One common item I've noticed is they don't ask pertinent questions about the car or dicker. They just say it's what they want and will pay. yah, sure. Sounds great, but we all know what things that sound to good to be true are....
This time he did ask the right questions about the parts and sounded like one of us discussing his car.
Let others know these guys are bad news.
Thanks
Frank