So I sold my falcon on Ebay and the guy wants to send me a cashiers check to pay for it. He says he is currently working in the U.K. and wants it shipped to his son in New York. Sounds reasonable but the email he sent reads like one of those scam ones. I suppose if the money order clears I am good?? or am I wrong. Here is the email The first email he sent stated that I of course should wait untill the check clears before calling his shipper. oh well guess I have to wait for Ebay to clear it up and relist AUUGGHHH! thanks for your immediate reply PLS SEND YOUR FULL NAME the payment will be sent out first thing tomorrow morning you will receive the payment within 4-6 working days am currently working on a project in UNITED KINGDOM, and my son lives there. i just want to inform you that i work on the crane at a contruction site, from 7am-9pm , this make me a very busy person. my shipper will handle the shipment for me.he will pick the car at your door-step i will be including the shipping fee to the cost of the car, all you need to do is to contact the shipper as soon as you get the payment[/FONT] all necessary information including the shipper's contact will be attached to the check if you are ok with this arrangement pls kindly give a response pls send your cell number to me so that i can talk to you on phone
No fuckin way... I love how these guys want to make a large transaction like this without ever speaking to you on the phone. Ask him for his # or his son's and call them up. A few bucks in phone bills and you'll know right away whether it's legit. Wire transfer to a dedicated bank account, then once your bank says its clear, and I mean free and clear, remove the cash, close the account. Only then is the shipper allowed to take the car.
The money order can clear, then later be rejected. Cash on the barrelhead or paypal. If he had the money, paypal would be no problem.
looks like a scam to me, did the message go thru ebay? forward it to [email protected] to see if they think it is legit.
Considering that I have seen that exact wording on other emails I (less the daytime occupation), I'd have to say scam. http://baheyeldin.com/technology/te...d-for-used-car-cheque-fraud-scam.html?page=49 http://forum.landrovernet.com/showt...ou-think-this-is-genuine?p=1263203&viewfull=1 http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com...7-royal-monaco-440-a38-police-new-jersey.html
I might talk to the guy by phone but in NO WAY release that car til the check clears and you have the cash in hand. Make totally sure there can't be any problems with the banks or buyer or shipping agent before you let it go and then photograph the crap outta the car from all angles and inside and out and underneath if you can. You can't be too careful anymore even though it sounds ok. You could still get screwed
I own a custom motorcycle shop and the same thing happened to me but luckily I was wise enough to reject the offer, so should you!
I have had some of those in the past. I was bored once & accepted the money order. It was actually drawn on an American bank in Detroit. It cleared my bank, no problem. I assumed it was bad & 2 weeks later, after hearing the buyer complain about me not shipping "his" car yet, I was informed the cashiers check was a counterfeit. Sometimes it takes awhile for them to turn out bogus. Wire transfer is the only way
To make figuring out legitimacy easier, you can copy some of the language of the email and paste it into your favorite search engine, within quotes, and see what you get. That's what I did: "i just want to inform you that i work on the crane at a contruction site" Try it. Don't forget the quotes.
It is a scam and they always proceed the same way, very polite person, way too much info on his life and job, always out of country or other similar excuse and they always have their own shipper that will take care of everything, this things happens very often. He will send you a money order with a higher price than it is suppose to be and he will ask you to refund difference in cash. report to ebay.
Tell him no problem but you need a copy of his visa and drivers license first, then a matching check from a US bank and it will be held till clearing. Sounds like a scam usually if you have to question something there is a reason why.
Scam, because of the included shipping costs. Like was said here and on other threads: Your bank will "clear" a check in a few days, but it can take weeks for the bank to get notified that the check is bogus. This guy hopes you can get it cashed and shipped before the bank gets stiffed...and then the bank comes after you. Sit down with your bank someday, and ask them exactly how long "you" are responsible for a bad check. Here in CT it is ONE YEAR. The banks got that through to protect themselves.
hahaha. i get it. 2 pages sheesh. already cancelled. the emails didnt sound weird untill his second one.
Scam and why is he making dealing with the shipping your problem. That alone would tell me he is a problem even without the likely money scamming part. Tell him to tell his son to come pick it up and bring cash.
I once accepted a bank check for a ebay sale. Cashed the check, shipped item overseas, a month later my bank took the money back out of my account saying the check was fraudulent, too bad for me.
My wifes a banker, no not that dirt bag kind, she has never taken anyones home and never will,[ actually works real hard to keep folks IN thier home ], anyway- even a Bank Certified Check can easily be fake. Run like hell from this deal. Call yourself Lucky- hey wait, my dog's name is Lucky- and he has one eye and no nuts
I absolutely agree that you do nothing about surrendering the car until your bank assures you that you irrevocably have credit to your account
A month later that is crazy. I will have to watch how I get paid for things. I thought they knew within a couple days if it's good or not.
I'm in the process of selling a car overseas to a fellow HAMBer right now. Even though he's been on here for years I was still cautious because of scams you hear like this all the time. In my case the buyer let me choose whatever kind of payment I was most comfortable with after talking to my bank- that made me feel a lot better. He also has agreed to cover all of the shipping arrangements and costs. I might suggest a couple of things for anyone in a similar situation in the future. For payment I would get a direct 'transfer by wire' bank to bank payment. My banker also had me set up a new (empty) dedicated account to accept this payment into. That way there wouldn't be any risk of my other accounts being accessed by someone. I also found a posting about my buyer buying a car from another HAMBer. I contacted that person and asked about his experience with the buyer- they were good so I felt even better about the deal. International deals aren't always scams but you really need to be careful. Jay
The Jalopy Journal
