ScamVictimsUnited.com

Hey everyone. Need some thoughts on whether you think this is a scam or not. Admin knows full well that my husband and I went through the same thing she and her husband did and I thanked the Lord for finding her website before we lost $18,000 instead of $5,000.

Anyway, since we were scammed once, we are paranoid about taking cashier's check. My husband, who sells cars on-line regularly, is pretty much able to tell when he gets e-mails from scammers. So, when this last one came in, he thought it was a scammer.

However, the guy seems genuinely interested in the car, asking alot of questions, askings for pictures, on and on. My husband thinks maybe he's serious. They finally settle on a selling price. The buyer, with very poor English, said I will overnight a money order to you. My husband said we had to wait for it to clear. He then said cashier's check, my husband said the same thing. It got worse last Wednesday when my husband said the guy was going to call us to and guess what? He's deaf and is going to use the TDY/TTY (can't remember for sure which) system. I said that's a classic sign of a scammer.

The buyer overnights a cashier's check to us, for the exact amount they agreed upon. He also e-mailed the name of the transport company he is "hiring" to pick up the car along with a quote number.

The check came in last Friday, my husband took it to the bank and explained the situation (this is US Bank). They looked it over, thought it looked good, called the Integrated Payment Center (national center to check status of issued checks) and the check had been issued the day before. Okay, so the guy didn't pluck the top counterfeit check off his pile, type our name in it and send it to us. It actually WAS issued and WAS in the system.

Next bad thing, and Admin's can relate, it's from WaMU. Okay, but it actually WAS issued. I called the manager of our bank on Saturday, it had already cleared our account (gee, that's amazing). She said to keep checking the Integrated Payment Center to see if it cleared, which it did, today, which is Tuesday.

So, today I called WaMU's 800 number, they can't help me. I have to call the branch where the check was issued. She gave me the four branches in Kissimmee, FL, which is where the check was sent from. I called the Cypress Parkway branch, since, coincidentally, the guy overnighted the check from the UPS branch on Cypress Parkway.

The gal I talked to (and no I didn't get a name cause I got disconnected) got very indignant with me when I said I wanted to verify the authenticity of not the check, but what actually FUNDED the check. She stated that if they issued a certified check, the bank was certifying it to be good. I said, send me that it writing. Yeah, right. She also couldn't tell me if the man who bought the check was a customer, which I understand due to privacy laws. However, like I told her, I'm not only trying to protect myself, I'm trying to protect you. She seemed confused.

I said, okay, I'm not a customer of your bank, I walk in and cash a cashier's check for $5,000 and buy another cashier's check for $5,000 and you give it to me and I send that to someone as payment for something. The check I send them is "good" and clears the system. Two days after that, the cashier's check I cashed to purchase the "good" cashier's check turns up counterfeit and you didn't catch it til now. Then what? Who's liable? The person that received the cashier's check that cleared the system and thought it was "good"? Well of course they are and they have to pay the money back, even though WaMU screwed up and took a counterfeit check in the first place. I think because I pushed the issue, this is why I got "disconnected".

So, what do you think? We know for a fact that 1) the check actually was issued for the exact amount; 2) it has cleared the system; 3) the guy hasn't called us to say that his great uncle thrice removed has died and can we WU the money back to him; but then, 1) the guy used the TDY system; 2) he will only give my husband a P.O. Box to mail the title to even though my husband is insisting on a physical address to FedEX the check to; 3) to his detriment, he has poor English writing skills.

We don't know: What actually funded the check to begin with? Could it be counterfeit? Will it come back to bite us in the a$$?

I've told my husband to string this guy out for several more days by telling him the check hasn't cleared. I want to give it til at least next Monday which will be 7 working days before mailing the title. Then, after he mails the title, the guy sends the transport company to get the car which will buy us another 2 days. Should we trust it?

Sorry this is so long. It just totally pi$$es us off that we have to be so leary because of all of those out there who want to rip us legit people off. Like my husband said, it makes us look bad if this guy really is legit and we keep putting him off. My husband even went so far as to look up the DMV laws in Florida to see what the requirements were to drive a car if you were deaf, you only need an outside mirror on both sides.

Paranoid, yes. Smarter, he!! yes. Sad situation, yes.

Let me know your thoughts group.

Wow!

I do have a few questions on this . . .



The fact that he changed his mind on the type of payment is a red flag to me, but is the check for the amount you are selling the car for? Do you have to send any part of it back or give any part of it to the shipper?

Where is this guy from? I know you said that the check was mailed from Florida, but so often they say that they live over seas and "a client" in the US will be sending you the check. Where does he want the car shipped to? You can't send it to a P.O. box . . . he has to have a real address that the car will be going to. DEMAND that he give you that address for you to send the title to.

Shawn:

That's why this whole thing is so real - it had scam written all over it from the beginning and then when the guy wanted to call on a TDY system, that just did it for me.

But....the check is for the exact amount, he is not hounding us to wire him anything, the check was UPS'd from Kissimmee, FL, the bank the check is from is from Kissimmee, FL, the caller ID the night he called is in FL, he wants the car for himself, he is not a "procurement agent" or whatever they want to call themselves now days. The night he called, even though he was "deaf", he sounded more hispanic than the Nigerian ones we have spoken to before.

We're beginning to think it's a legit. My husband is going to e-mail him tomorrow and say he needs a street address so he can Fed EX the title to him. We won't be available for him to pick up the car until after Monday so I guess that buys us some more time.

His only other sidelines might be a) he wants the car for chop shop and he funded the check with a counterfeit check, but then I would think he would be pushing for shipment; or b) he's hoping we take our time, then says he wants out of the deal and can we send the money back. Which if that happens, I will go see the manager of our bank and insist that they call WaMU and trace this transaction from beginning to end, including what funded the check.

For those of you who I've read posts on here that say they can't believe we've fallen for this, I say pshaw! If it wasn't for Shawn and this website the first time, we would have been out $18,000 instead of $4,400. And all the knowledge I have gained from following this website for the last two years has been priceless, so I say KUDO'S to Shawn and all those who help her manage this website. THEY are the priceless ones!

No genuine buyer buys a car without coming to take a look at the car.
Is the car you are selling rare or not? If not, why can't the buyer buy this sort of car locally in Florida, which is far easier then somewhere else in the country, plus no shipping costs? Have you tried to validate the shipping company he wants to use? does it really exist?

personally I wouldnt sell aniything to someone overseas such as a car . reading what you said, I have to say I smell SCAM. They are just a wee bit smarter and more seasoned than the average joe over there and know to ask a lot of questions to make it look authentic in interest.be VERY careful VERY Careul.

The guy e-mailed my husband today to see if he had mailed the title. My husband told him no, he had gone to Fed Ex to send it and they only will send to a street address. The guy responded right away with a street address. My husband works as a computer programmer for a national marketing company and has access to just about any information you could want. He looked up the guy and his address and he has lived at that address in Florida for two years.

He also looked up the delivery company and they are legit.

We are into the 6th day since we deposited the check. As I said, it has cleared the integrated payment system, it was a check that was actually issued through a bank.

As far as to why would someone buy a car without looking at it, my husband buys and sells corvettes all the time. He has purchased every corvette he has on-line and never looked at a single one until it arrived on our doorstep, thus far, he has never been disappointed with his purchases. In fact, this one we're selling came from Tennessee. Why'd he buy it on-line? Because it was a great bargain.

As far as the buyers, he has never had anyone come to look at one the cars either before they purchased, this includes selling them on e-bay and on regular websites. My guess is, it's the way we do business in this world today.

The guy said it would probably be another five days after he gets the title before the shippers will be here to pick up the car. That gives us until at least next Wednesday. He seems to be in no hurry to complete the transaction in order to "beat the banking system" because of something fishy.

Is there any joy in this transaction, no there isn't. It's sad that we have to be so paranoid about this type of thing happening. Do I 100% trust it, no I don't. Which is why the money will sit in our account for some time. The car is insured, we've checked, if the check comes back bad and the car has shipped, that's the same as theft and we can collect.

For now, we have to believe it's good, doesn't mean it won't come back to bite us in the butt. We're just praying that it doesn't.

Simply tell him that you have to be cautious and he certainly can understan that, but you would like to wait until you find out whether the check has fully cleared the bank. It is your right to do so by law and you need to stress that.

IF you have the name from the account that was on the check, go to http://www.theultimates.com and look up that name in the city in florida you are to send it to. Call that number if its a listed number and ask to talk to that person, explain to them that a cashiers check was issued to you with their name on it as the account holder and it was to purchase a car from you. Ask them if they indeed issued that cashiers check to you. If they say yes then you are pretty safe in assuming it is good, if they havent a clue what you are talking about then wait until you know the other bank has paid your bank for that check, which the accounting department can verify with you.