SCAMMER ON CARZONE

Bandara

Hi all,

Just a warning about dodgy sellers on Carzone. I know its common sense but it will do no harm to remind people to be careful.

Ok, story starts 2 days ago, I seen this X5 on Carzone.

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/BMW/X5/car/1168737/

I knew the price was wrong but I thought it was a typo by the seller so I tried to ring them to confirm the correct price. The phone number was not connecting for me. I decided to email the contact and see what the story was....

My email :
"Hi, tried contacting you on the number above but it doesn't seem to work. I's like some more info on the X5 can you please email me or call me. Thanks ******. "

This email was sent via the carzone system to a guy called (allegedly) Martin Steen (his email was rywtenne@gmail.com).

The following reply came back yesterday evening, from a 'Daniel Pluto' with a totally different email to 'Martin Steen' :

"From: daniel pluto <storme7yp@live.com>
Date: Monday, August 18, 2008 10:38 am
Subject: RE: Enquiry about your BMW X5 from CarZone

>
> Hello, Thank you for your interest in buying my car.I can tell
> you that she is in perfect condition :has the original paint and
> is not altered and is not had been never involved in one
> accident.A non-smokers vehicle that looks and smells like new. The
> exterior is in mint condition. no door dings on this vehicle,
> looking and smelling new.This vehicle's transmission runs like it
> just left the factory. The engine in this vehicle runs like a top.
> Everything on this vehicle works perfectly. There are no known
> defects - past or present on this vehicle. The care of this auto
> has been well maintained, and its extra clean exterior. This
> vehicle's interior looks as clean as the day it rolled off the
> line. The engine in this car runs smooth as silk,i remind you that
> i am the first owner.It has all the necesseray paperwork:
> registration certificate in United Kingdom. In first of all i'm
> from Italy and I bought this car from United Kingdom when I worked
> there. Now I move from uk in my country Italy but here when I
> tried to register the car I realized that the costs was too highs
> and for this motivation I decided to sell it. Also I wanted to
> sell it here but like it self here it is guided different from UK
> and is very difficult to find a buyer and for this cause decided
> to experience to sell it in United Kingdom from where gained it,
> and also because the car is still registered in United Kingdom.For
> further information please contact me.Also,I ask this price but I
> think that we can still discus about the price.Now the car is in
> the custody of a shipping company in Uk and ready to be bought and
> delivered to the buyer (has all the originals documents together
> with the contract of sale purchase).If,you are interested I can
> ship you the car and I will arrange for a 5 days inspection period
> before giving me any money.
>
> Thanks and please let me know if you are interested"


I now know its bullsh!t but I want to see what his angle is......

My 2nd Email

"Hello Daniel,

Thanks for getting back to me. I'd like to call you to discuss the car further, do you have a number I can call you on.

Am I right saying the price of the car is £9,000, have you any idea on how much the import duty is?

Many thanks,
****** "

This evening 'Daniel' gets back to me.....

"I need to tell you this deal is official, so all business is done through an shipping/escrow company where I did all the arrangements with them. So what is left for me to do.. is to find a honest buyer . I feel more comfortable when I know that a verified institution is responsible for my car, and for your money. Here is how it works: I will send the car first. They will inspect it, check it, and see that the car is like described, because if you do not accept the car,the company pays for the shipment back to me, not you, not me !
Second, you will send the money to one of their verified agents.They will ask you 20% of the amount first,to be sure that you are interested and for not sending the car for nothing and the rest when you will get your car. I think this is fair enough.They will hold your money 20% ,until you receive and inspect the car. I all ready signed with them for a 5-day inspection period. In this period you can test the car and if you are not pleased with it's condition, your money will be returned to your account and they will deliver the car back to me.But i am sure you will love the car and will not want to return it back to me, it is good to know that you do have this second option available.
So, in order to start this transaction, I will need your shipping details (Full Name,Address,City,Zip code ,Country,Phone Number). As soon as I have these details, I will ship the car to you and email you the tracking number.
I can prepare the shipping immediately and in a day or a maximum of 2 car will arrive at your door. Best regards"

* So he wants me to send 20% of the money in advance *


My final reply obviously is a f**k off to him....

"Hello,

I am not an idiot, I would never send one euro to anyone befor:(e I have the car standing in front of me.

I'd imagine this will be the last I hear from you on this. As I now know you do not have a car for sale at all as I have run a police check on the plates on the vehicle.

Bye
Daniel Pluto
Martin Steen or whatever your real name is.

By the way why did you quote a Irish phone number that is not connected if you are living in Italy, how did you intend to answer the phone?"

I have yet to receive a reply from him.



Just a warning to you all, be careful out there.

Regards,
p.

(Mods I think its important to leave this up with these actually email addresses and names as this guy is as of today actively scamming people on CarZone - he doesn;t deserve to be protected).


Edit: The plates are listed as a diesel on Cartell !

Stephen

They'll just throw the email away and get another one. This crap is going on all the time on pretty much any site that does car listings.

DonJose

Carzone must be getting hit with a lot of scam ads as they now have the following link beneath the photo section, "Found a problem with this advert? Click here to report it to Carzone."

Just report the scam ad.

ronnie3585

€9k is still a bargain for an X5 though. I think I might buy it with the money I won from a Nigerian lottery last week, once my winnings come through:rolleyes:

Gary ITR

This has been done to death here... There's a megathread on it somewhere

ytareh

While this whole 'escrow'(very American...) thing is so far fetched few are likely to go for it there ARE scammers out there here in Ireland .I know someone who was sold a 10k+ car that had been stolen/VIN number changed in Dublin by a guy who was operating out of an office with secretary ...the works...

Tipsy Mac

The slow level of simpleton english should be a good indication of the scammers whereabouts

L-M

I hate that crap, just annoys me. I hope some people aren't THAT stupid to fall for it, i feel pity for those who do. Worst thing about it is that's actually a nice looking X5. All looks well.

Darragh29

Stephen wrote: »

They'll just throw the email away and get another one. This crap is going on all the time on pretty much any site that does car listings.

+1, anyone who falls for this deserves to part with their 20%!

bazz26

These scammers must be paying carzone a fortune in advert revenue. The site is riddled with them, all you have to do is look for the cheapest priced car. It is usually miles upon miles cheaper than the next cheapest one. Eg. A BMW X5 for €9k.


Other possible signs of a scam:

• Seller located in Dublin or Cork but the contact number has a prefix from another area code, etc.
• The phone number includes our international dialing code, eg 00 353.. Advert is being posted on an irish website aimed at Irish buyers so why include an internation code?
• Phone number provided doesn't exist when you ring it.
• No phone number, just an email address.
• Photos and description in the ad are stolen from a genuine ad, check for similar cars and you will probably find the original advert.
• Broken English e-mail response with some long story about why the car is for sale. Car and seller just happen to be located abroad when a buyer enquires about it.
• Seller will engage some sort of shipping company as part of the transaction and ask you to send them a deposit to secure the car.

I'm sure there are more.

cabrwab

Well some poor fool wil think he's onto a bargin and shhh say nothing ill give this guy the money im the only winner.
Its such bull.
The fact he doesn't answer the question with his simpleton english is a big indication that its a scam too.

bazz26

Darragh29 wrote: »

+1, anyone who falls for this deserves to part with their 20%!

Unfortunately there are gullible people out there with more money than sense, otherwise these scammers would have given up long ago. They must be catching a certain percentage of people to afford to pay carzone for the adverts in the first place.

peasant

Onkle wrote: »

This has been done to death here... There's a megathread on it somewhere

indeed

3ps

I know of somebody that fell for this. (not me!). Lost 5k.

Robertr

ronnie3585 wrote: »

€9k is still a bargain for an X5 though. I think I might buy it with the money I won from a Nigerian lottery last week, once my winnings come through:rolleyes:

:D:D Made me laugh anyway

peasant

thread now closed (for no particular reason other than this HAS been done to death)