ScamVictimsUnited.com

I don't know if anyone has posted anything on this...I'm selling a car on Autotrader for $12999. I was offered a cashier's check for $21,000, and was asked to return $8100 (we agreed on $12900). I called Shenanigans on the situation. I called me bank to see if they heard of any scams that sounded similar to this; they informed me of the Nigerian Cashier's Check Scam.

I just wanted everyone to know they're using Autotrader, too!

They are using all of the Trader magazines. Don't be suprized if you don't start getting phone calls from some place called Northern Auto Trader.. Never heard of them, and couldn't find them anywhere either. Anyhow how it goes is like this.. They call and tell you that they can sell your car for more than you are asking for it. They will sell it for you on a customized ebay account. It will be on ebay for 7 days. Free shipping for you, and they will even finance the deal. You can have all this for only $399.95. What they don't tell you is that you can get the same deal threw ebay for a whole lot less than they will do it for. You shouldn't have to pay the shipping charges on your car.. You are not the one buying the car.. That is up to the buyer to pay for shipping, and as far as the financing goes.. That's what PayPal is for. Oh, they also said that the buyer would be told to put at least $2500 down on the car right away. That is just customary on deals done that way. I have been called by these people 5 times. Only one time with Auto Trader. 4 times with Deals on Wheels which is owned by the same company.. Auto Trader owns most of those.. My first one with Auto Trader was he would send me $150,000. I would take out $21,000 and send him back $138,000. He said the money was for shipping.. I told him for $100,000 I would drive my car out to the East Coast myself. Some how he didn't think that was funny.. Good luck with your sale.. Al I have learned so far is to look close at there email address. If it is someone with a UK on there address. More than likly it is a scam..

I just got the same email.......this is a scam! Here it is.

Thanks for your mail,I have spoken to my client
and he has instructed me to inform you that payment
will get to you in a cashiers check of $ 21,500.00 made
by my client.
Due to company policy this check has to be made out in
this amount to you ,because company policy only allows
a refund payment on one check,so you are
required to deduct cost of the vehicle i.e $13,500.
when payment gets to you and refund balance $ 8,000 to my
customer's agent via western union money transfer for
him to be able to offset shipping charges. Since I reside in
texas.
After payment has reached you and balance sent back to
him,our agent will come pick up title and drive to a
prepaid shipper to be shipped to my customer. I could
send the check to you through ups or fedex courier
immediately. Please forward your full names, address
and phone number now.
Thanks,
SCAM FOLKS< BEWARE!

Same thing happened to me:

From : CARL NEWTON <newtonplaza@yahoo.com>
Sent : Thursday, November 10, 2005 11:30 AM
To :
Subject : payment and shipping info.

| | | Inbox


Hello,
I have spoken with my client, I am delighted to tell you that he has recommended your Vehicle and hope to pay $9800, he has instructed me to carry on with this transaction and he also instructed me to inform you that payment will get to you in a cashier check of $16000 , which is a refund payment of a cancelled order earlier made by my client. Due to company policy this check has to be made out in this amount to you ,because company policy only allows a refund payment on one cashier check. So you are required to deduct the cost of your Vehicle ($9800) when payment gets to you and refund $6200 balance to the shipper for him to be able to offset shipping and other tax charges. After payment has reached you and balance sent to shipper, the shipper's agent will come for inspection, pick up & signing of papers and take to a prepaid shipper to be shipped to my customer. Confirm this and forward your Name, Address and Phone number for payment to be made to you as s oon as possible.
Carl




Beware

i recently put my car for sale on carsdiect and autotrader.com and within one week i received 5 scam offers using the exact word for word M.O. for overpayment of purchase price and the difference payed to the shipper by me ! yeah right!! as soon as i took my e-mail address of the autotrader and carsdirect websites the e-mails stopped . all of them using a yahoo address.

My husband and I were victims of this scam last September. We listed our SUV on Autotrader.com and received very few replies. Then one day we received a response from an interested party, who turned out to be a scam artist. Luckily I smelled rat and stopped the wire transfer in time so they could not get the money. We lost some money but not all of it.

Then this morning I saw an article on the front page of the Washington Post about this car/check scam. Here is a link to the newspaper article:

Banks Honor Bogus Checks and Scam Victims Pay
By Caroline E. Mayer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 1, 2006; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053102004.html?sub=AR


What I think is really bad is how the banks are not held accountable for one thing accepting and then telling customers that the funds have cleared.

This is the article that we (meaning all of the victims here) helped out with! The person listed as the writer is the same person that was our contact at the Washington Post.

I am actually in the middle of a scam right now. The same thing happened to me we sold our car on autotrader. they wanted me to wire transfer an excess amount of $5,000. I received my check and went straight to the bank. Luckily, our bank looked into the check while I waited and figured out it was counterfeit. The man who identifies himself as Patrick Louis has called about 5 times today. He said he was locared in Canada. The shipping company was supposedly in New York. We have not answered because we dont know what to tell him or how we want to go about this?
Do you have any ideas?
Thanks

This guy has your telephone number? Does he have a West African accent? If he calls simply tell him the check he sent was declared counterfeit by the bank, give him the phone number for your bank so he can discuss this with them if he wants, then cease all further communication.

Yes he has our telephone numbers from the ad on autotrader. We do believe he is from Africa or some other foreign country. We can barely understand him on all the messages he has left. The number coming up on the caller idea is foreign and changes everytime he calls. Thanks for the info.
Thanks