http://www.carscams.co.uk listing of known scams and scam perpetrators daily 1 2007-11-19T18:39:29Z http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/vehicle-sellers-right-hand-drive-car-is-in-europe-he-says-he-will-ship-to-the-uk-and-the-money-will-be-held-in-escrow-until-i-am-satisfied-with-the-vehicle-is-this-a-scam After applying to an advertisement on Auto Trader the seller emailed me back stating he had moved to Germany due to a recent divorce. He had taken his Golf GTI 06reg with him. He was asking £7100 for it and that included shipping. He further suggested a company called Moneybookers look after the financial aspect. This appears to be an escrow account where the money would be kept until an inspection had been made of the vehicle and then once satisfied, the money would be released to the seller. I have checked out Moneybookers and they seem okay. I am trying to establish if there is a catch. No publisher conradm 2008-06-13T08:05:47Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/a-company-called-vehicle-network-called-me-after-i-advertised-in-auto-trader-promising-me-instant-buyers-who-never-showed-up-is-this-a-scam Vehicle network called me after I had advertised in Auto Trader. They said they had customers lined up on their finance system. The said if I paid a refundable deposit of £89.99 they would organise viewers within 24 hours. I foolishly paid this and after checking them out on the web found I could have made a big mistake... No publisher conradm 2008-03-30T17:49:24Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/canvassers-vehicle-world-said-they-had-buyers-who-would-pay-the-purchase-price-for-my-car-provided-i-paid-them-a-refundable-a3129-99-but-there-were-no-buyers-and-no-refund A company called 'VEHICLE WORLD' are operating a canvassing scam. They call regarding an Auto Trader advert provide reassuring answers and sound very feasible. The bait is a "refundable" £129.99 fee, taken by debit/credit card. They advise they broker finance and have buyers waiting for your particular car. They would then pass on my details to their client and the car would be sold via their contact. No buyers were ever sent! Do NOT give them payment details or have anything to do with them. You will nothing back and no buyers. If in doubt say you'll 'Google' the firm and get to them. If they're genuine they should accept this. I did it to late and am down £130! No publisher conradm 2008-03-23T15:14:00Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/email-from-sweden-offering-to-buy-my-car-for-export-when-i-laid-down-the-only-terms-i-would-deal-with-them-i-heard-nothing-more I had an e-mail from a Ben Johnstone [guarantor4ever@yahoo.se] in Sweden offering to buy my car for export. I am fairly certain this is a scam as I replied that it was all fine but I would not pay shippers fees - these must be paid direct beforehand - and the shipper must be a member of, and check out with, the BIFA (The British International Freight Association) beforehand. I have not had a subsequent response. No publisher conradm 2008-03-18T22:18:56Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/buyer-wants-to-send-us-a-cheque-for-our-car-plus-shipping-and-send-a-vehicle-to-pick-it-up-we-then-give-him-the-shipping-payment-is-this-a-scam A guy from Oslo wants to pay £6000 which includes £2295 for my car. Apparently once we receive funds from him a vehicle carrier will come to our address and pick the car up and we are supposed to pay £3705 to the carrier. He has asked for our details so they can send the cheque. Is this a scam or could it be genuine? No publisher conradm 2008-03-18T21:11:10Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/a-purchaser-wants-to-pay-cash-for-my-vehicle-and-collect-it-2-days-later-to-ship-to-cyprus-is-this-a-scam A purchaser wants to pay cash for my vehicle and collect it 2 days later to ship to Cyprus. Is this a scam? No publisher conradm 2008-03-17T15:55:48Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/a-company-called-cardata-called-me-and-took-a389-99-off-me-by-promising-they-had-buyers-ready-who-they-would-get-to-call-to-buy-my-car-they-seem-to-have-no-such-buyers-and-the-money-they-took-off-me-was-clearly-a-scam A company call Cardata appear to be operating a canvassing scam. They called regarding an Auto Trader advert, and took a "refundable" £89.99 from my debit card promising that they had buyers ready demanding information about my vehicle and would be sending them within the hour. No buyers were ever sent by them and now they are ignoring all calls of complaint, speaking rudely to me and putting the phone down mid conversation! No publisher conradm 2008-03-07T20:10:34Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/thank-you-car-scams-you-saved-my-a I advertised my 911 Porsche Carrera in AutoTrader and the day the advert came out I got an email from a 'Mr Lover' from Hong Kong. He stated he was so busy working he couldn't view the car but wanted to pay the full asking price of £23,995. Mr Lover wanted to send a bankers draft but over pay - I was to wire the difference to an 'agent' once the agent had checked it over. He wanted some more pictures and asked for my address to send me a cheque to. Although I was suspicious I sent him additional pictures. I did NOT send him a contact number or my address. Along with the pictures I asked for his agent's details so I could verify them (they were not included in his email which I thought weird). Needless to say I have not heard back from 'Mr Lover'. I then came across your web site and read about so many almost identical scams (the pay more than the asking price and wire me the difference scam). It would be so easy to fall into this trap had I of not read about all the scams posted on your web site - many thanks! No publisher conradm 2008-03-07T14:22:13Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/car-buyer-is-pregnant-lady-from-channel-islands-who-has-offered-to-pay-me-more-than-the-value-of-my-car-without-seeing-it-yet-another-variation-of-advanced-fee-fraud I received an email from a Mrs. Annabel Lawence who asked questions about my car for sale on Auto Trader. I gladly answered her initial questions but the response I got back was strange and I guessed from them it must be a scam! She basically said she was from the Channel Islands and was heavily pregnant with triplets so could not come and view the car. She said she would send me £7800 for my car even though it is advertised for £7650. She would arrange for shipping herself as soon as the bankers draft had cleared into my bank account: all she needed to know was my full name and address so she could send the bankers draft... No publisher conradm 2008-03-06T08:47:11Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/canvassing-scam-advertisement-in-auto-trader-led-to-calls-from-a-company-claiming-they-had-buyers-who-wanted-my-car-and-would-introduce-them-if-i-paid-them-a389-99 I recently advertised my car in the Auto Trader and was called by a company who told me they had buyers for my car. They actually stated that someone had offered £5,300 and someone else £5,500 and eventually persuaded me to part with a deposit of £89.99. It it turned out there were no buyers at all. They were simply advertising my car on their web site. I found this out when I contacted the Office of Fair Trading who said I should write to the company (recorded delivery) and request they return my deposit as this was verbal misrepresentation. I did so on Friday the 29th Feb. I have a paper trail and I have proof that they phoned me that week as I have their number on my mobile still. Do I have a case for getting my deposit back? as essentially I lost money on the sale also because I put off my private buyers for a week due to my commitment to the company. I also wrote to Honest John at the Daily Telegraph about this and he said he did not understand why no one is interested in stopping these scammers. No publisher conradm 2008-03-05T15:13:51Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/buyer-offers-higher-than-purchase-price-to-secure-car-unseen-and-wants-to-send-shipper-to-collect-it-after-bankers-draft-has-cleared-so-a-classic-advanced-fee-shipping-scam-except-buyer-claims-to-be-in-wales I have a car advertised on Auto-trader and received the following E-mail. I thought it might be a variation on the scam where someone sends over too much money and asks you to send the excess to their "shipping company?": "Good Morning, Firstly,i am very sorry for the late response. i'm having a little problem with my message box and that is why i could not response on time so i decided to email you through a new account in order to proceed with the purchase of your car. Thanks you very much for getting back to me regards the purchase of your car and am very excited that you still have the car for sale. Regarding the price of the car ,i would be glad to offer you £6,000 which i believe is fair enough for the car if i am right. Really i have read all the details of the car on the web and i am satisfied with every information i read regarding the car.So i will like to know if there is any other details about the car that was not included with the one on the web because i would like to see the car as it's described here on the web.Also i don't really know whether the mileage still remain the same on the web and also how long have you been driving the car?Are you the first owner of the car,and when will its M.O.T expires?Sorry i shouldn't be asking you this but it just that i did not know when you placed the advert if it's current details of the car or not. Pertaining to the payment of the car,i would pay inform of a Bankers Draft which i believe it is one of the fastest method to pay for the car and once the draft has fully cleared in your bank,i can instruct my shipping company to come for the pick up of the car!! I have a shipping company that will come for the pick-up of the car wherever the car is located in UK. Please Note that i agree to take the possession of the car only when the Draft has fully cleared in your bank and the money shows in your account to ensure that it's a genuine deal. So if you are ok with this kindly get back to me as i need to complete the transaction asap.. Marc Orton, Wales" No publisher conradm 2008-03-05T13:27:27Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/are-you-a-crash-for-cash-victim Insurers are claiming that there is an increase in the number of deliberate accidents aimed at securing exaggerated damage and injury compensation claims. No publisher conradm 2008-02-28T11:29:10Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/rented-a-car-in-spain-but-now-i-have-been-charged-20ac1-000-because-the-car-clutch-burned-out-and-the-hirer-alleges-this-was-my-fault I rented a car and signed the usual hire car contract in Spanish. My card company, Saga, now claims this gives the car company the right to charge anything due under the contract. My case is that I am not liable for a clutch which burns out after 7,000 kilometres which the car hire company claims was caused by my bad driving. No publisher conradm 2008-02-28T11:13:28Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/cheque-was-made-out-by-buyer-from-much-more-than-the-value-of-the-car-and-i-have-been-told-to-send-the-balance-on-to-him-by-western-union I advertised my little fiat for sale for 250 and I received an e-mail from a guy who wanted to buy it. He was adamant that nobody else was to get a look in and wanted my name, address, post code, land line and mobile number. He said that he would get his secretary to draw up a cheque. An e-mail the next day said that the secretary had made a mistake and had issued a cheque for £3,800. He said once the cheque was to clear I was to keep an extra £100 for my trouble and send the rest via Western Union Money Transfer to his shipper. I was very suspicious and have sent an e-mail saying that I would prefer he cancelled this cheque and re-issued one for the correct amount and I am awaiting a reply. No publisher conradm 2008-02-07T15:39:14Z Rich document http://www.carscams.co.uk/scams/autobuyer-scamming-auto-trader-advertisers-by-charging-a380-to-send-buyers-who-dont-exist I have had two emails from people wanting me to pay a representative or haulage company from overseas via a bankers draft. My main concern however is a company called 'Auto Buyer' who contacted me and told me that they worked in partnership with Auto Trader and for a fee of £80 they could sell my car as they already had a list of people on their register matching up to my car. The idea is that they have registered clients looking for a particular car and when it becomes available they inform their client and pass on my details. They said that they had a 95% success rate within the first five days and my advert would be kept on the Auto Trader website until it had sold. Once the sale was complete I would then get my £80 'deposit' back. Needless to say I have not heard from them since making the payment. My car has not stayed on Auto Trader's website because they are an independent company and do not liaise with Auto Buyer. My car has not even been put on their website either as promised. Auto Trader are aware of this and have confirmed that they do not have anything to do with Auto Buyer. This was also a sham and I am now in the process of trying to get my £80 back. Trading standards have advised me to write a letter. I would be grateful for any guidance you can give. No publisher conradm 2008-02-06T14:46:07Z Rich document