HELP!! Trying to sell a used car. Is this a scam??

[bolido2000]

My sister is trying to sell her car and apparently there is a out of state company willing to buy the car even though they haven't seen the car personally. Here are the emails interchanged. What do you guys think??

UPDATE Thanks for the heads up. Just for the kicks my sis just emailed the guy to wire transfer $8000 and see what he says..
******FIRST EMAIL*****
Good day,
>
>We are procurement outfit specializing in the procurement and shipping of automobiles, motorcycles, their spares and accessories to our numerous customers worldwide.
>
>We presently have a customer interested in purchasing your Volkswagen Jetta mentioned above for your quoted price of $2,300.00. Please acknowledge the offer and indicate the current status/ availability of the item, so that the buyer can be instructed to have the funds remitted to your account as soon as possible. We will arrange a pick up of the goods, once payment is confirmed by you .
>
>Please revert as soon as possible.
>
>Thanks,
>Export Director

******FIRST EMAIL*****

****SECOND*******

Hello,

Yes, the car is still available, it is in perfect driving conditions and ready for selling.

The offer of $2,300 is also fine with me.

The only thing your client need to consider is that the car does have a dent in the front passenger side ( above tire), that does not affect the driving at all, and it's just a parking lot mishap! and an easy cosmetic fix. Also the sunroof is stucked, so you can see the sky, but you can't open it. Once again, I believe it is also an easy fix. I just haven't had the chance to take itto the shop and do it myself, therefore the low price on the car.

Let me know if your client is still interested, and we have a deal!

Thanks!

*****SECOND***********
*****THIRD*************
Hello XXXXX,
Thanks for your mail, I have contacted my client and he has instructed me to
inform you that payment will get to you in a cashier cheque of $8,000.00
which is a refund payment of a cancelled order earlier made by him.
The cheque has to be made out in this amount to you because company policy only allows a refund payment on one cashier cheque. I will therefore require you to deduct cost of $2,300.00 which is for your car when payment gets to you and refund the balance to my customer via electronic transfer for him to be able to offset shipping charges.
After payment has reached you and balance sent back to him, our agent will come for checks,test drive, pick up the item and move to a prepaid shipper for onward shipping to my customer.
Confirm this and provide name, address and phone number for check payment to
be delivered to you via courier at once.I look forward to buying your car for my client soonest.
Thanks,
Peter.
*******THIRD************

 

[FritzTheCat]

This is a joke, right?

 

[olds]

She has the money in her hands before they pick up the car? I wonder if she took the check to a bank if they could tell if it was stolen/forged?

 

[bolido2000]

Originally posted by: FritzTheCat
This is a joke, right?

Initially it seems safe since is a cashier check, but I am trying to see where a potential scam could arise.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: bolido2000

Originally posted by: FritzTheCat
This is a joke, right?

Initially it seems safe since is a cashier check, but I am trying to see where a potential scam could arise.

The fact that someone is willing to pay the asking price, sight unseen, should raise major red flags.

 

[halik]

umm im thinking the way its gonna go down -
you get check, refund him 8000-2300
Week later bank calls up check was forged, youre out the amount you refunded and possibly the car.

there is no reason why they couldnt go to the bank and have it deposited...unless the cehck is forged of course. And there is no way any company would risk 8 grand because they have no guarantee youll refund it back

 

[Riba]

That is a double scam, they will send you what looks to be a Valid Check, You will be able to cash it, then you will give them the car and the money back and your bank will bounce the check after 10-15 days.

 

[BDawg]

Even a cashiers check can be bad. Your sister wouldn't know until weeks afterwards...she would incur the entire $8000 loss and those people have the $5700 she sent them.

Be very suspiscious. With money like that, investigate an escrow service.

 

[Rastus]

Giving a cashiers check for well over the amount and getting cash from you is a well know scam. Like someone posted above, it takes a while for a cashiers check to clear. I'll bet if you string them along, they will get the check to you on a weekend also.

 

[Vic]

Check-kiting scam. Report e-mail address and any other contact info to authorities.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Rastus
Giving a cashiers check for well over the amount and getting cash from you is a well know scam. Like someone posted above, it takes a while for a cashiers check to clear. I'll bet if you string them along, they will get the check to you on a weekend also.

That's my feeling. It's total BS. Tell them to cash the "refund" check themselves, and wire you $2300, because there's no legitimate reason for them not to.

Better yet, to make them go away, tell them car has been sold. They'll quickly move on to their next "mark."

 

[forkd]

Check-kiting scam. Report e-mail address and any other contact info to authorities.

Actually it is not kiting. I have worked in banking since '94. Kiting is where you float funds through a couple of different accounts, kind of like the robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it is a felony but usually only done by individuals.

It depends on how much earlier they are going to give you the check. She can tell them she is a little concerned about the process and will gladly deliver the vehicle upon A. the check clearing in her account (depending on which bank it is drawn on it may take 10 days) or B. cash payment. Either way when you sign docs insist that you all go to a Notary ...this will not ensure anything but it does help to keep honest people honest and makes it difficult to pull a lot of crap since usually they will take a thumbprint.

btw...if they do send you the check and you bring it to the bank ask to speak with the Operations manager or branch manager and explain the situation to them. They will take a proactive stance and may be able to determine if the check is fraudulent within 5 minutes and they will also be able to bring in law enforcement a lot easier than you since we work with loss/fraud departments a few times a week. Then you just may have to help the police understand how you came across the individual etc. and relax...they will take care of the rest and you sell your vehicle to a paying party.

 

[kt]

Scam written all over this.

 

[Type-R]

Originally posted by: Riba
That is a double scam, they will send you what looks to be a Valid Check, You will be able to cash it, then you will give them the car and the money back and your bank will bounce the check after 10-15 days.

agreed

Originally posted by: forkd
Actually it is not kiting. I have worked in banking since '94. Kiting is where you float funds through a couple of different accounts, kind of like the robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it is a felony but usually only done by individuals.

It depends on how much earlier they are going to give you the check. She can tell them she is a little concerned about the process and will gladly deliver the vehicle upon A. the check clearing in her account (depending on which bank it is drawn on it may take 10 days) or B. cash payment. Either way when you sign docs insist that you all go to a Notary ...this will not ensure anything but it does help to keep honest people honest and makes it difficult to pull a lot of crap since usually they will take a thumbprint.

not worth the trouble since it is such a high risk thing. steer clear of it. (pun lol). nobody goes through so much effort for a piece of crap 2300 jetta (no offense)

 

[oniq]

Erm.. repost? These things get posted all the time.

 

[SportSC4]

SCAM!!!
take the check and don't ship the car, tell them that plans have changed and you will ship it out to them 30 days after it has cleared.
or keep the check as a souvenir.

edit: eh, just saw that you and your sister are going make them waste their time with, good job!

 

[forkd]

Oh yeah, Don't forget to ask them to ship the certificate indicating that you are a winner.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: forkd

Check-kiting scam. Report e-mail address and any other contact info to authorities.

Actually it is not kiting. I have worked in banking since '94. Kiting is where you float funds through a couple of different accounts, kind of like the robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it is a felony but usually only done by individuals.

It depends on how much earlier they are going to give you the check. She can tell them she is a little concerned about the process and will gladly deliver the vehicle upon A. the check clearing in her account (depending on which bank it is drawn on it may take 10 days) or B. cash payment. Either way when you sign docs insist that you all go to a Notary ...this will not ensure anything but it does help to keep honest people honest and makes it difficult to pull a lot of crap since usually they will take a thumbprint.

Ok, it's not technically kiting, it's fraud and forgery. The point is that the buyer gives the seller a cashiers check for $8,000. The cost of the vehicle is $2,300. The seller gives the buyer the car and the difference of $5,700. The check is bad but is generally such a high quality forgery that it takes the bank 2-3 weeks to know. By that time, all monies have been dispersed from the sale. The seller gets burned the whole $8,000 and the buyer disappears, never to be seen again, with a car and $5,700 in cash.
It's an old scam.
Contact the police. They might even set up a sting on these assholes.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: oniq
Erm.. repost? These things get posted all the time.

Do you have a link to one?

 

[MrYogi]

definitely scam

 

[SilverThief]

scam

 

[Jhill]

Originally posted by: SilverThief
scam

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: Riba
That is a double scam, they will send you what looks to be a Valid Check, You will be able to cash it, then you will give them the car and the money back and your bank will bounce the check after 10-15 days.

yes this was in the news recently

not fake

tell them call the cops/Attorney Generals office where u live

 

[HyTekJosh]

Something of the alike happened to me while selling my car. Lets just say my father thankfully was watching the news the previous night and saw a story on these people. Basically they have FAKE cashiers checks that do clear for all of the prelim stages, but within two weeks the banks catch them. Then the bank comes after you for the money and you are out a car AND the money you sent the person ($8000 less the $2300 from the car). I spoke with a gal at our FBI field office and she just told me to foward her the e-mails. Case closed.

What you can try is to accept the money and then not send the extra to the person, but that will either get you caught by the bank or have a mob hit on you (if you do this I would deposit the check and wait about a month and then take the cash out).

 

[vash]

Its obviously a scam. Someone claiming to be in the middle of the transaction is always frought with problems. Report this to the local officials/FBI, they know how to deal with it. This is also similar to the Nigerian man stories, they like to prey on people selling cars.

vash