I am selling a car at present and have just received this email:
'Thanks for getting back to me on time, i am so interested in buying this as it is exactly what i want you posted in your advert. i am offshore at the moment so i wont be able to talk to you on phone, am sorry for that. i will be glad if you can forward me your paypal email for the payment to be done, because i will be paying you via paypal. I have a pickup agent that will come over to pick it up from your house as soon as you confirmed that money has been transferred to your paypal account. Thanks for the understanding, Await your response...'
That's awful dodgy sounding. We sold a van a few years back and got the odd phone call like that. We also kept getting one guy who kept phoning really drunk and saying he needed a van but could only give so much and to phone him back so he could come and see it and he needed it quickly, kept saying he needed it for his business. Stayed well away from him.
'Thank you for the reply, I wish to let you know that I'm satisfied with the price and I will appreciate more pictures . i work offshore, I am sorry I am not available to view due to the nature of my job, We are not allowed to make or receive calls frequently for security reasons but we have internet access and that is our major means of communication to the outside world. Therefore I want you to consider it sold by withdrawing the advert from the site. Note that you will not be responsible for shipping and handling and the pickup will take place after you have receive your money from paypal so you have nothing to worry about. My shipping company will come to your location for the pick up and as for the pick up i will need your address so i can forward it to the shipping company to calculate the cost of the pick up for me i will also include the pickup fee to you payment so you will help me to pay the pickup agent so there will not be any delay with the transaction..I will send the money as a gift so you'll not be charged by PayPal, I will need you to provide the following information to facilitate the Payment
1.What is the condition?
2.Are you the Owner?
3.Your address for pick up?
4.Your Registered PayPal Name and Registered PayPal Email Address For Me To Proceed With The Payment?
5.Your final price?
Thank you for your time and Look forward to hearing back from you! '
Not eBay this time but Friday Ads.
I've posted these mainly as a warning to others.I wonder how they do it. Do they cancel the Paypal transaction when they have the car? or do they string you along with a tale where they say they will pay you an excess amount into Paypal but they want the excess paying to them via bank transfer? They have no intention of picking up the car.Had one similar to that once.
The condition, ownership, etc is all padding. It's all about getting your address and identity. There was a post here where the seller played a game and strung the bogus buyer along. It made for an entertaining read as the would-be duper began to realise he'd become the victim.
------------- Mike
My advice is worth no more than the price paid for it
I had one off HMRC the other night saying I was due a tax rebate and to download the attachment and fill it in. I wonder if it required any banking details?
I know someone who fell for this. The scam is based on the time between the cash going into PayPal and into the bank. The period between the two is when the car is picked up, then the 'buyer' withdraws the cash from paypal before it is transferred into the bank.
------------- John
May/June.....France
Aug.......somewhere else in France
I have had the exact same email when selling my car through Gumtree last year.
He said he was offshore and buying it for his son but the wording was exactly the same and he wanted to pay by paypal and have it "collected"...........
I didnt reply and waited for a decent buyer to come through........
this one is a scam on autotrader ...half the price and the van is on a military base and the owner serving abroad...we had an email,
its getting more common and people have been stung for £££thousands