Must Read! A4 SCAM!

[ba5]

I have been trying to sell my A4, this girl has been sending me odd emails saying her "client" is interested in my car, doesn't want to look at, just wants to buy it. So, i keep sending her emails, pics and so on. She asked me for a final price, I said if she was going to make a deal beforehand, and then pick it up i would give it to her for 9 grand. So this is the email she returns.. I am thinking scam.
Hello Mr Brian,
Thank you for taking your time in telling me the condition of your
car. From the look of things I hopethe car is ok.
Am glad to tell you that my client has finally accepted your
price,he hopes the engine is
serviced and oil changed too .He cant wait to see the car parked
in his garage.
However,My client made out a certified cashiers check of($16,000)
before he travelled to japan on a business trip,for a previous car
and its shipment charges etc,but it was unfortunately sold.The
amount on the check he deposited for the car is bigger than what
should be paid to you now, so the check is now meant for the total
expenses which includes the purchase of your car,the pick up of the
car from its present location and the shipping charges/other necessary
shipping arrangements. However he has instructed us to carry on with
this transaction. So you're required to deduct the cost of your car
($9,000)and send the balance of($7000) to my client via western union
money transfer to enable him offsett shipping charges/arrangements.
once the transaction is concluded,My agent will be coming for the pick
up of the car from its present location, on an open vehicle and then
drive to a pre paid shipper for shipment,and also conclude other
necessary shipping arrangements.so you dont have to bother yourself
about the pick up and shipping arrangements,while title papers and
other necessary documets will be sent by you via fedex courier to my
customer.

Please Confirm this and provide name,address and phone
number for check payment to be delivered to you via
fedex courier .
Regards,
Nikky

what do you guys think? scam? or honest person who is willing to send me double the price of my car without looking at it?
if anyone is selling their car , i will send you her email to watch out for, all though she probably uses different addresses.

[xburbx]

real shady

[OverSpun]

ive heard of scams like that, but i dont get why you cant just have the check cashed before you deliver the car and do it? i know theres something im not seeing here, but its most likely a scam, who would do something like that?

[A4 in SC]

E-mail her back and ask her if she also goes by Brian!!!!

I got the same e-mail from a guy named Brian that had a client that wanted to buy my car, but also had a cashier's check for more than the agreed amount.

The way I shut him up (and never heard from him again) is that I sent a reply saying that I didn't understand the situation, nor did I care to. I told him that he could either have the exact amount delivered in cash or certified check in person to my house, or do not bother me again.

I never heard from him again...

I suppose it's some sort of money laundering scheme. Obviously, not something I care to get involved in. I figure he didn't want the car at all. He just wants me to give him the 'balance' of the check, and he'll be off with it. Um, yeah, right! I don't freakin' think so...

Later,
Mike

[A4 in SC]

Originally posted by OverSpun
ive heard of scams like that, but i dont get why you cant just have the check cashed before you deliver the car and do it? i know theres something im not seeing here, but its most likely a scam, who would do something like that?

Most likely, the bank will hold ANY check until it clears. of course, it'll bounce and you'll be out the said amount.

[ed@mtl]

But it's a "certified cashiers check". Can't the bank tell if it's good or not? Take the check first before sending out any cash. And tell her that there's a service charge for all this...

[99Blue1.8t]

It's a scam. I've seen some like that. They send too much money (fake) and they want you to send real money back. Dont do it trust me.

[A4 in SC]

To be honest, I just didn't want to fool around with it. I have learned - if it sounds too good to be true, it IS!

Don't need to be hassled about that kind of crap. I'm just trying to sell a car. Nothing more, nothing less.

Later,
Mike

[ba5]

I emailed her this response:


Hey, I dont want to sound stupid or anything, but this sound like a scam. So why dont you tell me your address and phone number of your autodealership, and also the name of your client, or maybe the cell phone of your client or why dont you cash it and send me the exact amount. thanks.

[jjjoe]

My brother got an almost identical response when he tried to sell his Corrado. He told me when he got the "money order" it was obviously fake. He just e-mailed back to the person to quit wasting his time. Don't waste anymore of your own time, this one is bogus.
Joe

[DRA4]

Thats a scam dude, any time somebody ask for money back, is a scam.

[Foos Girl]

classic scam...don't do it...

[99Blue1.8t]

update us with what their response is

[johny41]

That is definately a scam. We had my moms mercedes on autotrader for a couple of months and this happened to us twice. The first time they actually sent us a check of $22,000 for a $14,000 car expecting us to send them a check for the difference. The story was exactly the same BS. The check was fake and when I tracked the order through Fedex it turns out it originated somewhere in Europe. The whole thing was real shady.

[+decipher]

Scam.

The "certified cashiers check" is a fake. You will be able to deposit it, however the bank will notice it eventually and demand thier money back. Then, not only are you out of your car, but you are out the extra $7000 you sent via Western Union.

Don't waste your time trying to get more info from these people, just relist the car and cease any communication with these people.

[VtAudi]

Just like the scam where you just happen to get a mail from Prince Shishcabobi's wife who has been left w/ Billions, and needs to get rid of it, but needs the transaction fees to release the funds INTO YOUR BANK ACCT, ya right...lol.

[pismojeff]

There are also a lot of people selling cars online for about half the price they are worth. They say they are out of the country and to send a payment through "their" escrow service. HA. I have seen these ads countless times on Autotrader. People are just such idiots to think that someone goes for that!

[OverSpun]

what if you cashed it at one of those check cashing places? the ones you dont need a bank account or anything for? then what would happen, the bank couldnt demand any money back from you because you didnt get it from a bank

[VtAudi]

Originally posted by OverSpun
what if you cashed it at one of those check cashing places? the ones you dont need a bank account or anything for? then what would happen, the bank couldnt demand any money back from you because you didnt get it from a bank

I think the Co. w/ the check cashing store(Drugs) could come after you.

[OverSpun]

really? hmm, dont they just go after the person who wrote the check? i mean its not really your fault

[VtAudi]

Originally posted by OverSpun
really? hmm, dont they just go after the person who wrote the check? i mean its not really your fault

Most likely the person who wrote the check doesnt exist, or doesnt know he actually wrote a check, stolen identity. Think check cashing stores have limits though, shady places.

[Daft]

99% of the time, this same scam is operated by a person overseas in Europe or Asia. This ensures that you won't be able to just drive out to their house and beat them with a baseball bat.

As many folks said, you cash the check and for some reason you actually send them $7K before it clears. It doesn't clear and you're out $7K and the bounced check fee. No agent ever comes to get the car. Why would they risk getting caught?

I just can't believe that these people have the balls to play this game. Whether it's the FBI or Interpol who gets involved, these people are looking at serious jail time.

[A4-Vblack]

For that much money the bank will find a way to get it back. They really don't care if it is you or then, but you are screwed.

What you need to do is report this to the Feds, possibly FBI, and let them run with it. These type of f***ers cost all of us MILLIONS of dollars in thefts (everyone pays the price). Give the guys in blue some help and you never know, might be able to get rid of some Euro Trash.

[unknownvirus]

haha this happend to my friend to his mustang
the guy was from "germany"
he was like...send me ur mustang...its a rare muscle car that we dont see enuf of...and they are too expensive to buy

sell ur car on the road man..like the rest of of us
where are u also

[DarkkstaR]

Tell them to send the check, then you'll have a check for 16,000. Put it up in your bedroom, it'll look cool there.

Don't cash it though. :)

[BQAD]

Yeah, lead them on as long as you can. Get them to waste as much time as possible.

[santorin288]

guess what? the same 'Brian' tried to do the same thing with me. heheh.

i was selling my car for 14 and they wanted to send me 22. wow. some people have balls.

[Jon-A4]

Originally posted by VtAudi
Just like the scam where you just happen to get a mail from Prince Shishcabobi's wife who has been left w/ Billions, and needs to get rid of it, but needs the transaction fees to release the funds INTO YOUR BANK ACCT, ya right...lol.

more about this please.

[DarkkstaR]

ask for the check and then scan it in, and put it on your wall.

seriously, it'd look so cool.

[johny41]

Originally posted by DarkkstaR
ask for the check and then scan it in, and put it on your wall.

seriously, it'd look so cool.

LOL that is a good idea. I still have that check for $22,000.

[dtmevolution]

That was me, I am Brian. I really want to buy your car, send me your money first! J/K

this is age old scam! so many people have been sent something like this almost verbatim. scam scam SCAM...to the extreme!

[jones3000]

I had somebody send that to me a while ago. Almost verbatim. DEFINITELY A SCAM!

[EVIL-AUDI]

I really hope no one ever falls for this sorta thing.

[Jon_Rhea]

yeah, sounds like a scam. try to find out some more info on the "client"

[Lumas]

the reason why this scam works is because the money from the cashier's check is available immediately since it is suppoed to be backed by some type of reputable institution, but once the banks tries to track their money down they will find out its fake and then deduct all that money back from you bank account.


Chris

[recognized1]

Its a scam. I saw it on the news here in Orlando. You should report this to the state attorney generals office so they can investigate it and stop this scam. There have been many people who already fell for it unfortunately here in Florida. Most of them were elderly people.

[Moops]

This scam sucks, as people scared of cashier's checks in general now.

I brought a large cashier's check (for the bulk of the price but not more than it) plus some cash when I went out to negotiate for my car. The seller would not give me the title until the check cleared which could be yet another type of scam. So the check did me no good. I ended up taking a huge risk and luckily the guy proved trustworthy.

If I were to do it again I would bring cash (with some big friends) or have the seller go with me to the bank to get the check but you start losing that negotiation power when you don't have the money in hand right away.

[mxp]

i had the same thing but with a computer i was selling they claim that same story that they give me (23000) for a pc and i deduct my cost and send the rest .. i said ok and they sent me a check from a company (guy said he was in LA) i got a check from a company in montreal which had gone out of business .. so i told the cops and it turns out they booked this guy for fraud ... it was a past employee of the company that wanted to scam money using company checks...

[widm3r]

Awesome, too bad they dont have this stuff on COPS!haha

[koolAsiCE]

Originally posted by A4 in SC
To be honest, I just didn't want to fool around with it. I have learned - if it sounds too good to be true, it IS!

Don't need to be hassled about that kind of crap. I'm just trying to sell a car. Nothing more, nothing less.

Later,
Mike

Tell her to get lost, she is not interested in the car. if you ever send any money, you can kiss it good bye.

This is a common and old scam. If she really wants the car, she will cash the cheque herself and give you the amount asked for the car.

Don't do it.