Well decided to sell my Coronet, I have placed the ad on a couple sites including CL, anyways got a text from a US number (406)area code, stating that he was interested, anyways he asks about the car,I text back and we agree on a price then he says he is on duty and cant call me, he says that he is gonna send me the money for the car and the shipping he will make the arrangements to send the shipper to my house to pick up the car, and I will have to pay the shipper with the money he sends and give them the car and paperwork, I have sold a car to a guy in Finland thru the hamb and the way that went down is the shipper actually came and paid me and took the car to a port in West Palm bch, at this point I think this is a scam in process or not ???
Has anybody done a overseas deal other then the way I described it on my original post ?? is there any other way ?
This has scam written all over it, look for craigslist scams on google and you'll find this scenario played over and over again, almost to the letter. I suppose he was gonna pay you via western union or some other money transfer service? Craigslist itself warns against this, what they do is send a bad money order, but it won't bounce for quite some time. By the time it does, they have your car AND the cash you gave the shipper. Plus you can get stuck with a fine for attempting to cash a fraudulent money order. And they'll be out of the country before you know what hit you. Do a little research to see what I mean, but don't EVER trust an overseas buyer who wants cash back on delivery.
He sends you a check, you send shipper his fee. The shipping fee is the scam. Then the check he sends bounces after a few days. They don't want the car, it's the money.
Yeah, I've played along a few times. I get the check and they check to make sure all is a go. You then tell them to F off. P.S. that is for a car that I had for sale for $4250. I told them I need reimbursed for taking time off to deal with the shipping so $10K would be good for a total.
Tell him to find another car. Last car we shipped out of the country we found our own shipper to get the car to a port of call. That was negotiated in the price. Our payment was by wire transfer they say that isn't safe any more either but once everything cleared and the bank guaranteed that the money was actually there we contacted the shipping company and set everything in motion. I would actually accept a check or bank draw from a few select out of the country folks, they already know who they are. But they have already established a good reputation, or even though we haven't seen each other yet we are aquainted. Everyone else does it the hard way.
The problem with that is that there is an AP for that. I can call you from any place or you can call me at any place in the country if I want to go through the trouble any more. There is a place here in the metro a collection agency that calls you from either Florida or Minnesota. They are actually in Grandview and if you chase the number down they are calling from it is either disconnected or doesn't exist. They haven't bothered me I just know a person that worked for them recently, they called from work to harass me because they thought it was cool.
Can someone please school me on how your money system works over there in the USA.If i wire or send a bank note ,how long does it take to clear.After it clears and you have the money,can i reneg on the transfer and get the money back.We can not do this in oz. ie send $10,000 for the car,$1,000 for transport,you have the money in your hand ,where is there a problem or am i missing something here.Is it best to sell your car only to the bloke next door or never sell it at all......
bykerlad, When you wire money it clears instantly. That is why when I sold you the '34 truck I had you wire the money. Bank checks, or any check for that matter, can be forged. A lot of the scammers send fake documents. often the bank will make the funds available. Later, when when the bank finds out it is fraud, they demand the money back. By then the car is gone and title is signed over. Your out the money and the car. The safe way is to set up a new account. Have the money wired to that account. After the money arrives, immediately transfer it into your regular account and close the account the money was transfered into. How is my old truck anyways? I'd kill to have it back. Please send me some pics when you have time.
How is my old truck anyways? I'd kill to have it back. Please send me some pics when you have time. Thanks for the info mate,truck is going fine,i had a lot of things to do to it for our rego here,as you know we are not as lucky as you blokes in the USA.But it still looks the same cheers Ken
wire transfer has cleared as soon as the sellers bank gets "the wire". It cannot be recalled by the buyer. i've talked with several banks managers about any forms of checks, bank checks, tellers checks, or money orders.. They claim that a check really does not "clear" in a certain amount of time. They did say that, "if after 3 weeks without us getting an insufficent funds notice, then the check is likely OK" Worse yet, they said the bank has the right to hold you responsible for ONE YEAR, in case of a fraudulent check. Our local banks all have different cashing policies. One may let you draw against a check in 2 days or some can be one week...however, that does NOT mean the check is good. If it is later found to be bogus, the bank will come after the money from the depositer, not the sender. I did not ask the banks about a buyer trying to stop payment on a bank check.
Sure looks fake -- routing number is not nine digits, and check number does not match number on check....
Surely you guys have such a thing as a bank to bank money transferr? It's the only way you know for sure that the buyer is genuine. Even in l'il old NZ we have that. Buggering about with checks and money orders would arouse my suspicion right from the git go. I bought a super cool little hotrod from a guy in Colorado (in the avatar) I didn't know anyone who could go look at it so I spoke to him on the phone on 3 different occaisions(3 hours total) and using my powers of deduction I figured he was on the level.Turned out to be a real nice guy....anyway I then went to my bank and had them wire the required funds to his account and waited for him to let me know he had recieved them. Meanwhile I organised a NZ shipping agent to pick the beast up and take it to LA and ship it home to me. when it arrived in Auckland it went thru all the customs stuff and was released to me. I then paid the (not insubstantial) shipping bill and went home happy. The shipper should never have anything to do with the money aspect of your transaction with the buyer/seller......If thats the deal you're being offered....run! Forrest..run! Sorry to rant but so often I read on here about dodgey checks and money orders etc and wonder why you guys aren't covering your asses better. Really sorry to say it but, the days of leaving your doors unlocked when you go out, or taking a man at his word, or even sealing a deal on a handshake, are well gone, mores the pity. Internet payment to your acct, or bank to bank to your acct.......the only way to know the money is actually there, and will stay there.
When ever they attach more money to pay for additional services (shipping), it should raise suspicion. When in doubt..bail out! It's just not worth it.
I sell several cars each month to overseas buyers. So I think I can speak from experience. The ONLY way to get paid is by BANK WIRE TRANSFER. This is an International thing, everyone in the world has the ability to do this. You give the buyer your bank account number and routing number. Don`t worry -- they cannot do anything with this info except DEPOSIT MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. This procedure CANNOT be reversed. It usually takes 1 or 2 days for INTERNATIONAL wire transfers to clear. Transfers within the U.S. can sometimes just take minutes. I give the buyer the option to organize their own shipping or I can do it for them. Of course they send me the extra funds to cover shipping. If there seems to be any "funny business" just walk away from the offer. If a buyer cannot wire you the money I would just move on. Western Union is OK to accept money but be careful sending money to someone via Western Union, you don`t have much support should it be a scam. Paypal is also safe to send money through. But beware if receiving funds through Paypal - the buyer can dispute payment. Bottom line --- Bank wire transfers are the safest, easiest way to do business no matter where the buyer is located.
I'd suggest with any deal, a voice call at the minimum is imperative! It's always good to know who you're dealing. Your case is most certainly a scam.... I had something very similar when I was selling an old truck on a site here in Oz. The email stated that this dude worked on a military vessel and was unable to speak on the phone. He said he would transfer the money into pay pal and have a friend of his pick it up with a tow truck. I knew straight away that it was a scam. Often what gives it away also is when the grammar is incorrect, usually meaning the instigator is from overseas or something...... Good luck. HC.
Have the shipper bring you cash money and then you and the shipper go to the bank and have money checked to see if it is counterfeit. If it's real, you are good to go.
That scam is being used all over the world. I know of 4 people that have had it tried on them. They say they are on a boat or oil rig or something like that. The scam is the shipping.
Why cutting of the potential customers because they live too far away? The old car hobby is worldwide and even Henry Ford had factories all over the world. Why are some of you afraid of selling your stuff out of neighborhood? I live in Finland. Many Finns and other foreigners are here in the H.A.M.B. too. We travel frequently and enjoy US shows and scenes. I have bought this and some other cars and parts paying by wire transfers or credit card or Paypal. This is how it is today. All electronic transfer between banks. I believe the USA is about the last place in earth with so large use of cash and checks. I have always paid in full before anything leaves the seller. Sometimes I haven't got what I had paid for. Sellers never lost anything. The money is the seller gets is same anyway and the buyers are as much interested everywhere. Seller gets the money then give the product. No money nothing sent. How can the seller lose? I feel buyer has big risk to send money and hoping to get promised. I have mostly used US freight forwarders. There are also many foreigners immigrated in USA and shipping everything to this side of the globe all the time. What comes to conversation by e-mail it is usually easier to foreign people to understand written language. Pronounciation and speech skills vary much. Spoken things may be forgotten or misunderstood so I suggest it is safer for both that every deal should be written also when spoken first.
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