Tradiitonal Auto Scams
09-27-2011, 09:02 AM
#1
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Standing right behind you
Posts: 1,151
Tradiitonal Auto Scams
Mods, feel free to sticky if you'd like.
CNBC by way of Yahoo, posted a good summary of the auto scams that our Forum Users see often.
Here is the Link
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/buyers-b...ous-scams.html
Lest anyone accuse me of bullying them into clicking the Link above
here is the content summary:
Car Buyers Beware: Nine Notorious Scams
By Colleen Kane | CNBC – 22 hours agotweet56EmailPrint
Cars are big-ticket items, and there are many ways for fraudsters to bilk unsuspecting victims. The rise of Internet commerce has vastly expanded the ways to separate a mark from his money, and has effectively made Internet fraud a global business.
Consumer complaints rose 25 percent in 2010 and a complaint is filed every 90 minutes, according to a Consumer Reports article citing FBI stats. Regarding auto-related complaints, every hour a car buyer loses more than $1,000.
The online car sales company Cars.com employs a fraud team to help weed out the most fraudulent ads on its website.
“The number one piece of advice we can give for buyers and sellers is to listen to that inner voice that says, ‘This is too good to be true,’” advises the site’s spokesperson, Ron Hall, “because we've found that it always, always is.”
While it may seem like a no-brainer, never purchase a car or send money for a vehicle without seeing it first. “You'd be surprised at how many people do that,” he says.
The Cars.com fraud team put together this list of the most common scams in auto sales.
Keep in mind the schemes and tactics that follow are not mutually exclusive — some scammers take pages from numerous playbooks.
Check Scam
Scams involving checks (i.e. personal, cashier's, third-party checks, money order) take many forms. In a typical example, a thief posing as a car buyer “accidentally” sends a check made out for an amount higher than the selling price of the vehicle and requests that the seller deposit the check and return the difference via a wiring service (Money Gram, Western Union, etc.). After the seller has wired the money, he or she learns the buyer’s check is worthless, and the thief disappears with the seller’s money.
The Snopes page dedicated to check scams (including the famous strain originating from Nigeria) recommends waiting three weeks for any sizable check to fully clear. Even if it looks like the funds are available in the bank account before that time, checks could still turn out to be counterfeit.
Sympathy Scam
Preying on the sympathy of a mark is one of the oldest tricks in the book. In a common auto scam, a thief posing as a seller supplies a sad story to a potential buyer about why he or she needs to sell the car quickly (he or she is about to be deployed on active military duty or is dealing with a divorce, illness, the death of a loved one, etc.). The sob story explains why the car’s asking price is so much lower than its current market value, and puts pressure on the buyer to make a quick decision. Buyers who fall victim to this scheme can end up with a lemon, or with no car at all.
Shipping Scam
In the shipping scam, a thief posing as a seller requests a deposit on a vehicle and promises to ship the vehicle to the potential buyer for personal inspection within a set number of business days. Typically thieves will tell prospective buyers a third-party shipping company will be in contact with the buyer to ship the car after the deposit is sent via wire service. Scammers often use forged or copied websites to appear legitimate. An investigation by the BBC revealed criminal gangs are often the perpetrators of shipping scams and other types of auto fraud.
Purchase Protection Plan Scam
In this scheme, the con artist pushes a protection plan for the transaction. The potential buyer is encouraged to send a deposit for the full purchase price of the vehicle. The protection plan states that if the buyer does not receive the vehicle, he or she will be reimbursed for the total amount of the transaction invoiced. Common tools for this scam are fake websites that mimic real websites customers are comfortable with such as EBay, Edmunds, Google Checkout, Cars.com and NADA Guides.
Photo Scam
The photo scam happens when a vehicle is listed online, with the text giving a normal market rate of, say, $13,000, while the photo accompanying the ad shows a price written on it of $4,000. The thief tells the potential buyer the price of the vehicle is $4,000, saying it was reduced for some reason designed to elicit sympathy (e.g., a recent layoff or death in the family). The victim pays the reduced rate thinking it’s a bargain, but then never receives the vehicle.
Location Scam
Another shady practice in car sales occurs when a potential buyer finds an ad for a vehicle that is for sale locally. After contact is made, the scammer tells the buyer the car is located someplace other than where it was advertised, but it can be shipped anywhere in the world…for a fee, of course. The victim pays the money but never receives the car, and the thief gets away with the “fee.”
Sight Unseen Scam
With this maneuver, fraudulent sellers make up a story about why they aren’t able to physically show the vehicle due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., they’re traveling for work, or they’re away on active military duty, etc.). The sellers request that payment be sent in full and advises that the title will be sent when the vehicle is shipped. Now is a good time to reiterate the advice of the experts at Cars.com: Never purchase a car or send money for a vehicle without seeing it first.
Also, keep in mind that even though a vehicle may look OK, the background check should go further. Have a licensed mechanic check the car for damage or defects, and to ensure it’s not a flooded car.
Wire Service Scam
Wire services such as Western Union and Money Gram are a favorite with scammers because financial transactions can be conducted anonymously and the recipient doesn’t have to offer proof of any service rendered or goods exchanged in order to collect the cash. A wire service scam in auto sales involves a potential buyer receiving an invoice stating that wire services can be used to complete transactions online. The buyer is advised this is the common payment method used by the site. If the supposed car seller doesn’t recommend using a legitimate escrow service, such as Escrow.com, to complete the transaction, it’s probably best to carry on the car search elsewhere.
Phone Scam
In an auto sales phone scam, the thief provides a contact phone number for potential buyers to use to inquire about the vehicle for sale. With Cars.com, for example, a field for a phone number must be completed, so scammers might enter a fax line, or a number they’ve just made up. Then the potential buyer is forced to email, and the fraudulent seller will inform the buyer that they prefer to do business over email anyway, and the scam proceeds from there.
Scorp
CNBC by way of Yahoo, posted a good summary of the auto scams that our Forum Users see often.
Here is the Link
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/buyers-b...ous-scams.html
Lest anyone accuse me of bullying them into clicking the Link above
here is the content summary:Car Buyers Beware: Nine Notorious Scams
By Colleen Kane | CNBC – 22 hours agotweet56EmailPrint
Cars are big-ticket items, and there are many ways for fraudsters to bilk unsuspecting victims. The rise of Internet commerce has vastly expanded the ways to separate a mark from his money, and has effectively made Internet fraud a global business.
Consumer complaints rose 25 percent in 2010 and a complaint is filed every 90 minutes, according to a Consumer Reports article citing FBI stats. Regarding auto-related complaints, every hour a car buyer loses more than $1,000.
The online car sales company Cars.com employs a fraud team to help weed out the most fraudulent ads on its website.
“The number one piece of advice we can give for buyers and sellers is to listen to that inner voice that says, ‘This is too good to be true,’” advises the site’s spokesperson, Ron Hall, “because we've found that it always, always is.”
While it may seem like a no-brainer, never purchase a car or send money for a vehicle without seeing it first. “You'd be surprised at how many people do that,” he says.
The Cars.com fraud team put together this list of the most common scams in auto sales.
Keep in mind the schemes and tactics that follow are not mutually exclusive — some scammers take pages from numerous playbooks.
Check Scam
Scams involving checks (i.e. personal, cashier's, third-party checks, money order) take many forms. In a typical example, a thief posing as a car buyer “accidentally” sends a check made out for an amount higher than the selling price of the vehicle and requests that the seller deposit the check and return the difference via a wiring service (Money Gram, Western Union, etc.). After the seller has wired the money, he or she learns the buyer’s check is worthless, and the thief disappears with the seller’s money.
The Snopes page dedicated to check scams (including the famous strain originating from Nigeria) recommends waiting three weeks for any sizable check to fully clear. Even if it looks like the funds are available in the bank account before that time, checks could still turn out to be counterfeit.
Sympathy Scam
Preying on the sympathy of a mark is one of the oldest tricks in the book. In a common auto scam, a thief posing as a seller supplies a sad story to a potential buyer about why he or she needs to sell the car quickly (he or she is about to be deployed on active military duty or is dealing with a divorce, illness, the death of a loved one, etc.). The sob story explains why the car’s asking price is so much lower than its current market value, and puts pressure on the buyer to make a quick decision. Buyers who fall victim to this scheme can end up with a lemon, or with no car at all.
Shipping Scam
In the shipping scam, a thief posing as a seller requests a deposit on a vehicle and promises to ship the vehicle to the potential buyer for personal inspection within a set number of business days. Typically thieves will tell prospective buyers a third-party shipping company will be in contact with the buyer to ship the car after the deposit is sent via wire service. Scammers often use forged or copied websites to appear legitimate. An investigation by the BBC revealed criminal gangs are often the perpetrators of shipping scams and other types of auto fraud.
Purchase Protection Plan Scam
In this scheme, the con artist pushes a protection plan for the transaction. The potential buyer is encouraged to send a deposit for the full purchase price of the vehicle. The protection plan states that if the buyer does not receive the vehicle, he or she will be reimbursed for the total amount of the transaction invoiced. Common tools for this scam are fake websites that mimic real websites customers are comfortable with such as EBay, Edmunds, Google Checkout, Cars.com and NADA Guides.
Photo Scam
The photo scam happens when a vehicle is listed online, with the text giving a normal market rate of, say, $13,000, while the photo accompanying the ad shows a price written on it of $4,000. The thief tells the potential buyer the price of the vehicle is $4,000, saying it was reduced for some reason designed to elicit sympathy (e.g., a recent layoff or death in the family). The victim pays the reduced rate thinking it’s a bargain, but then never receives the vehicle.
Location Scam
Another shady practice in car sales occurs when a potential buyer finds an ad for a vehicle that is for sale locally. After contact is made, the scammer tells the buyer the car is located someplace other than where it was advertised, but it can be shipped anywhere in the world…for a fee, of course. The victim pays the money but never receives the car, and the thief gets away with the “fee.”
Sight Unseen Scam
With this maneuver, fraudulent sellers make up a story about why they aren’t able to physically show the vehicle due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., they’re traveling for work, or they’re away on active military duty, etc.). The sellers request that payment be sent in full and advises that the title will be sent when the vehicle is shipped. Now is a good time to reiterate the advice of the experts at Cars.com: Never purchase a car or send money for a vehicle without seeing it first.
Also, keep in mind that even though a vehicle may look OK, the background check should go further. Have a licensed mechanic check the car for damage or defects, and to ensure it’s not a flooded car.
Wire Service Scam
Wire services such as Western Union and Money Gram are a favorite with scammers because financial transactions can be conducted anonymously and the recipient doesn’t have to offer proof of any service rendered or goods exchanged in order to collect the cash. A wire service scam in auto sales involves a potential buyer receiving an invoice stating that wire services can be used to complete transactions online. The buyer is advised this is the common payment method used by the site. If the supposed car seller doesn’t recommend using a legitimate escrow service, such as Escrow.com, to complete the transaction, it’s probably best to carry on the car search elsewhere.
Phone Scam
In an auto sales phone scam, the thief provides a contact phone number for potential buyers to use to inquire about the vehicle for sale. With Cars.com, for example, a field for a phone number must be completed, so scammers might enter a fax line, or a number they’ve just made up. Then the potential buyer is forced to email, and the fraudulent seller will inform the buyer that they prefer to do business over email anyway, and the scam proceeds from there.
Scorp
03-16-2012, 09:39 PM
#3
Junior Member
JOURNEYMAN
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: london Ont.
Posts: 25
scammers
i didnt catch this at first buyer ill give u 10 grand for your car ill have sec.send u the money and have shipping company pick up car.Ah no.Id like too see car in person myself.So hear ill pay u 12000 and when the shipping company shows up pay the 2 grand and car is not picked up and im out 2 grand or maybe a car as well?The big tip off is "im busy and respond quickly"Not needing to see car in person.look up persons user name on line.this person lives in hamilton Ont. Florida,Washington,and the UK.Well people have to understand this info is on World wide web.Nice try dude.
03-17-2012, 07:58 AM
#4
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Augusta, Ga.
Posts: 2,276
Re: scammers
Originally Posted by todd8525
i didnt catch this at first buyer ill give u 10 grand for your car ill have sec.send u the money and have shipping company pick up car.Ah no.Id like too see car in person myself.So hear ill pay u 12000 and when the shipping company shows up pay the 2 grand and car is not picked up and im out 2 grand or maybe a car as well?The big tip off is "im busy and respond quickly"Not needing to see car in person.look up persons user name on line.this person lives in hamilton Ont. Florida,Washington,and the UK.Well people have to understand this info is on World wide web.Nice try dude.
03-17-2012, 06:42 PM
#5
Junior Member
JOURNEYMAN
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: london Ont.
Posts: 25
no dout was a little upset.anyhow.have a car on RJ a person sent mail stating"ill offer u 10 grand for car enter your paypal info ASAP for i am busy and i will have my secrutary send that out and will have shipping company retrieve your item where they will handel all paperwork on my behalf".
Personally i would like to see more detailed pics or see the car in person.
anyways NOW there is a problem with shipping company,he will now send
12000 and i pay the shipping company 2 grand out of my pocket for shipping and i will get my money back when paypal clears.my paypal account is MT.And his email account was shut down.Yet i still have a shipping company wanting 2 grand befor they retrieve my items.
Personally i would like to see more detailed pics or see the car in person.
anyways NOW there is a problem with shipping company,he will now send
12000 and i pay the shipping company 2 grand out of my pocket for shipping and i will get my money back when paypal clears.my paypal account is MT.And his email account was shut down.Yet i still have a shipping company wanting 2 grand befor they retrieve my items.
03-17-2012, 07:26 PM
#6
Member
JUNIOR BUILDER
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 97
Originally Posted by todd8525
no dout was a little upset.anyhow.have a car on RJ a person sent mail stating"ill offer u 10 grand for car enter your paypal info ASAP for i am busy and i will have my secrutary send that out and will have shipping company retrieve your item where they will handel all paperwork on my behalf".
Personally i would like to see more detailed pics or see the car in person.
anyways NOW there is a problem with shipping company,he will now send
12000 and i pay the shipping company 2 grand out of my pocket for shipping and i will get my money back when paypal clears.my paypal account is MT.And his email account was shut down.Yet i still have a shipping company wanting 2 grand befor they retrieve my items.
Personally i would like to see more detailed pics or see the car in person.
anyways NOW there is a problem with shipping company,he will now send
12000 and i pay the shipping company 2 grand out of my pocket for shipping and i will get my money back when paypal clears.my paypal account is MT.And his email account was shut down.Yet i still have a shipping company wanting 2 grand befor they retrieve my items.
03-18-2012, 09:15 AM
#7
Junior Member
JOURNEYMAN
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: london Ont.
Posts: 25
:roll: for ex.i want to buy your car for 10 grand
i give u 12 grand through pay pal
u pay shipping company 2 grand
shipping company never shows up to get car
u check your paypal-its emty.
u call law
shipping company is fake
buyer is fake
its a big thing going on.Can't trace from US to Can.and vice versa
you're out 2 grand.
not knockin paypal but cover your tracks.
in alberta canada RCMP arrested a couple with over 30000 stolen credit card numbers. And 650,000 dollars worth of items,3 cars and 4 homes purchaced using these numbers.
i give u 12 grand through pay pal
u pay shipping company 2 grand
shipping company never shows up to get car
u check your paypal-its emty.
u call law
shipping company is fake
buyer is fake
its a big thing going on.Can't trace from US to Can.and vice versa
you're out 2 grand.
not knockin paypal but cover your tracks.
in alberta canada RCMP arrested a couple with over 30000 stolen credit card numbers. And 650,000 dollars worth of items,3 cars and 4 homes purchaced using these numbers.
04-21-2014, 07:20 AM
#8
Junior Member
SHOW GUEST
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 3
Hey Folks I have had several text msg' from a Lami Hinten that he wants to buy my Corvette said hes ok with the price wants to send me the money via Pay-pal and he will have a shipper pick up the car... never had one of these guys use Pay-pal before heard of and seen all the other scams but never like this... anyone heard of this guy.. I had read that he tried to buy and trailer and some parts doing the same thing after I did a internet search of his phone number... he said he wanted to send the car to his cousin in NY but his phone number check out to a town in CA. Thanks in advance for any info ...and I hope this guy is watched...
04-21-2014, 04:08 PM
#9
Junior Member
SHOW GUEST
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 2
Originally Posted by fatboy427
Hey Folks I have had several text msg' from a Lami Hinten that he wants to buy my Corvette said hes ok with the price wants to send me the money via Pay-pal and he will have a shipper pick up the car... never had one of these guys use Pay-pal before heard of and seen all the other scams but never like this... anyone heard of this guy.. I had read that he tried to buy and trailer and some parts doing the same thing after I did a internet search of his phone number... he said he wanted to send the car to his cousin in NY but his phone number check out to a town in CA. Thanks in advance for any info ...and I hope this guy is watched...
04-21-2014, 04:44 PM
#10
Junior Member
SHOW GUEST
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 3
Tell me more about this phoney account through Pay-pal... cuz its his money he's sending me thats the only thing I dont understand and can't figure where the scam is did he steal a card, Im not sending him cash hes sending it to make payment for My Corvette.. and I always wary of new people checking in here to see if there name pops up
I googled his name too, didn't get anything, no real person by that name exist or about a phoney Pay-pal account. I did however get his real name and address and his location and location of his last call he made.. plus the account his phone is in and the last two pages of his phone calls he has made... and i will be working off that this week finding him and the way he does things if anyone is interested.
I googled his name too, didn't get anything, no real person by that name exist or about a phoney Pay-pal account. I did however get his real name and address and his location and location of his last call he made.. plus the account his phone is in and the last two pages of his phone calls he has made... and i will be working off that this week finding him and the way he does things if anyone is interested.
Last edited by fatboy427; 04-21-2014 at 04:48 PM.