Possible Scam? personally not seen this wording b4, so checking with SN
 

Hi Guys,

I'm selling my car and I have recieved an e-mail, now I am very clued up when it comes to scams so please don't slate me for posting this one. I've not seen one worded like this and he also mentions a wire transfer (electronic transfer), does anyone know if wire transfers can be faked like cheques? can they bounce after a time?

Heres the e-mail, the guys from holland and I know some of the scammers have now been using holland etc as locations in the scams, need to check.


Greetings,
My name is mr Macually Smith,I reside in the
holland,I am highly interested in buying your car from
you , and also scan the pictures intrerior for me for
proper verifycation(if available) as for the
shipping,i have a liable shipper that takes goods care
of all my shipping .so about payment i have prepared a
CASHIERS CHECK for you orWIRE TRANSFER.so pls email me
back if it's still available for sales,so that we can
discuss further. email
ASAP.......please, reply back.
REGARDS,




Whats everyones thoughts on this one?

Ignore it, its a scam. Forget exactly how this one works, but I think they transfer the funds into your account, you see them and ship the car, but then the funds dont clear so you dont get the money.

This was happening quite a bit last year, and the banks were taking some of blame and some actually agreed to let some people keep the uncleared funds.

Personally wouldnt touch with barge pole/big stick, then i'm just cynical.

Looks deffo like scam to me. How they would work it , who knows.
Thought I heard one about them sending u a large ammount, over the actuall price of the car, you send them money as "change" if u like, they pocket it. Their transfer falls out, they pocket yours.

LOL Pete beat me 2 it

Surely the wording isnt the point; its the principal. I send you a cheque, when your bank tells you it clears you send me the car and possibly return any overpayment..... Of course, your bank wont find out that the foreign cheque wasnt good for several weeks so by the time they take the money back out fo your account you will have sent you car to another country, paid for the shipping and included a little sweetener as well.

Simon

sorry,but funds can appear on your statement BEFORE they have technically cleared,this is how these scams operate

sorry,but these are obviously scams.Think about it,normal people ask to see the product then ask how you want to be paid,anything else is clearly dodgy

Yeah thats what I thought, I would NOT have accepted a check, but the electronic transfer i was a little unsure about whether it works the same as a check and requires about 6 weeks to defo clear.

ah well, worth checking, deleted it now.

what car was it?

unless its anything out of the norm why the heck would someone in Holland buy it?????

Holland - Wire Transfer ........hardly needs Sherlock Holmes on this.

These guys always try to use Brit sounding names.
Don't you think if he really was "mr Macually Smith" he could type better English..?

These scammers really do need putting down.

Nige.

Surely we could get some kind of scam on him, tell him to send the funds etc,then put the e-mail adress on here and we will all mail him loads of sh*t.
sick of these people.

Mac.

I can't beleive people still ned to check these mails out. Simple answer. CASH ONLY, COLLECTION ONLY.

RANT MODE ON

Why is it despite being repeated in numerous posts, people still do not understand the principle and the scam

it amazes me how these people manage to own cars, have jobs, diriving licences.

to obtain the above requires the ability to apply some logic to a sitiation and respond accordingly..

it amazes me how many people still trot out the "the cheque has cleard so the funds are mine routine"

do these people read the posts on sn.. judging by the same answers that crop up i would guess not..

If i had a pound for everyone who said once the cheque clears pocket the money and run, or once the cheque clears it will be ok.. I would be a very rich person..

we all sit and laugh at "the hyperglobal lottery "on tv, but fail to spot one on paper, or via email!!


WEBMASTER, put a sticky on the nigerian 419 scam!!!!

Just to clarify to all you sn novices!!!

IT IS A SCAM!!!!

due to the way the banking system works, the funds show as cleared in principle!!!!, and this is the SCAM... When the cheque arrives at the overseas bank, they identify it as the stolen / fradualent cheque and dont honer payment.... this means your bank rightly take the money back..


and YOU are out of pocket and CAR!!!

there rant mode off


sorry people, but is getting as bad as whats my 200 bug eye worth? or what bhp will i get with PPP


EVL its not aimed at you either... !!


note to self....

chill

:D:D:D:D:

M

OK so it's a scam. Point taken.

BUT can someone explain why in 2005 the bloody banks can't get their act together and either clear a cheque or not ffs. I am being naive in asking the question "if a bank receives a wire transfer, for example, then why can't they contact the issuing bank immediately and ask if it's legit?".

May be there should be 3 categories.

1) Cleared

2) Not cleared - looks dodgy so don't act yet while we investigate

3) Barge pole job.

DL

oh FFS guys told you not to slate me!! :@

Only reason I was asking about this one was due to electronic money transfers, There would seem to be alot less risk with a bank to bank electronic transfer, but obviously still takes a certain amount of time to *fully* clear, just thought that there was less risk as no forged cheque etc.

*edited to add: Yes, I fooking said in the first place that I'm pretty clued up with scams, this is the first one i have **EVER** received with the mention of an electronic transfer, hence why i was asking!! the last thing I would want to do is to tell a genuine buyer to goo fook themselves!!!*

Some of you should try READING wtf I wrote in the first damn place before going off on your holier than thou speaches!! :@

P.S thanks to those who provided some *possitve* feedback to my question.

Even with the wire transfer it will still take a few days to process.
It will show in your acc as a guide but NOT in cleared funds.

just sounds less dodgy as a chq as people tend to know more about how these go through our accounts.

Wire trans also cost so i'm guessing if you took this option they'd have some excuse to send you a chq.

If you think it's wrong stay clear!:)

Yeah dave, Thats what I would have thought, since a wire transfer needs both banks computers to talk to one another you would think it is at least safer than a cheque, althought perhaps not 100% risk free.

2) Not cleared - looks dodgy so don't act yet while we investigate

Most large or un usual transactions in to or out of our accounts are checked by a highly intelligent system. Those considered to be high risk are refered to someone to investigate. (ie me when i worked in a fraud dept for a bank!!)

:)

Tiggs, in answer to your question, I'm selling the scoob

the fact you thought it may be a scam is surely enough to put you off.

These scams always use a money transfer, that's how it works.

In your origianl post you asked for thoughts, you got some. It's a public bbs, if you wanted facts about the banking sytem/ security maybe best to ask yur bank what they would advise. Also visit the autotrader website for advice about selling cars.

Personally, legit or not selling casr abroad is a bit of a hassle so best to avoid.

EvilKyote, take a close look at what you were sent. It says "wire transfer" NOT "electronic payment". One of the most common ways to conduct this fraud is by Western Union wire transfer. Therefore I don't think this example is any different to the many many many other 419 scams.

ah ok, that kinda makes sence now, I think thats where the misunderstandings on this thread have occurred, I thought a 'Wire transfer' was just another name for 'electronic transfer'

keeping it simple......before the net, how many of you stuck a car in trader and had people from Holland call up about it!

Im sure there are car dealers in Europe that dont have the English channel in their way!

Sell it to him,

Once the funds are showing in your account advise him that under banking law you will have to wait for the cheque to clear and as the funds have arrived from a non UK bank it will take 6 months to clear.

LOL @ the sponsored link "Wire Transfer. Transfer money online with Western Union. Safe & reliable." They are obviously not aware of their own reputation.