Carzone and Scammers

Bearcat

i had a landcruiser for sale testing the market on c.z The amount of bullsh@ters and scammers who rang was amazing. I pulled the ad after 30days of not one genuine call. Keeping the LC now as it maybe boring but never misses a beat.

06 Amazon

LolaDub

I was lucky enough with my car, sold in a week but i had priced it fairly low to get that. I'd say 90% of calls and emails were between scammers and UK advertisers. I know there are a lot of cars on the site but i think they should go through some sort of screening or maybe have to give the reg and the address its registered at when you sign up to an ad. There has to be something more than the nothing they're doing now. As i put in my original post i reported an advert that was copied from a current garage one which went to sold but then was for sale again.

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Mazda/RX-8/car/1155777/

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Mazda/RX-8/car/1207500/

I emailed the garage with it so they could report it to carzone and then it was put to sold and stayed that way.

Riche670

I've found another scammer on Carzone while searching for a VW Beetle for my girlfriend. This one is hilarious as the automated message sent to him from carzone was underneath his reply directly to me. His email address says his name is "Robert Host" and the automated message reffered to him as "Robert Foxhall" :pac:

The only odd thing about this one is that he, who lives in Italy wants to meet up in Manchester (where the car is ) and do a cash exchange?

See below:

"The price is 4200 euros
Manual transmission,
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has service book, the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings. It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland. The car is at the moment in Manchester, UK.
I live in the Italy, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Manchester for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.

Many thanks"


I replied to this saying:

Hi Robert,

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Despite these circumstances I am still very interested, as I have relatives in Manchester to aid me.

Can you just confirm that the car has Irish registration plates? (New registration system in ROI since July ’09 would mean an extra charge if it is not on Irish plates)

Oddly enough I’m just back from a week in Milan myself, beautiful city.



I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?

smash

tell him you're going to send a relation to go and look at the car and ask him where it is....

Riche670

steve06 wrote: »

tell him you're going to send a relation to go and look at the car and ask him where it is....

Will do when he replies. Maybe then he will introduce the "shipping company" line.

It just struck me as odd, the whole meeting up and cash only exchange in the original email... Has anyone heard of this before?

smash

he'll probably drag that out and then say that something's come up and he'll have to get the car shipped instead.

Or maybe their more sophisticated now and could do something like leave a key at a hotel reception and say to you "I had to leave the country but the car is at the carpark in x hotel, once you transfer the funds I'll instruct the receptionist to hand over the keys" and then you transfer the money and get the key and it doesn't work in any car in the carpark!

fm

that guy is also selling a gti for 4200 06 model,got the same story from him.i told him my brother works in bolton and am trying to get him to go to meet him in bolton to give him the cash. but he is insisting on w union.hes actually getting crankier every in each email when i tell him i wont use w union.i reported it to carzone and sent them the email but its still up now with an irish mobile

http://www.carzone.ie/1228163

QUOTE=Riche670;57636576]I've found another scammer on Carzone while searching for a VW Beetle for my girlfriend. This one is hilarious as the automated message sent to him from carzone was underneath his reply directly to me. His email address says his name is "Robert Host" and the automated message reffered to him as "Robert Foxhall" :pac:

The only odd thing about this one is that he, who lives in Italy wants to meet up in Manchester (where the car is ) and do a cash exchange?

See below:

"The price is 4200 euros
Manual transmission,
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has service book, the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings. It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland. The car is at the moment in Manchester, UK.
I live in the Italy, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Manchester for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.

Many thanks"


I replied to this saying:

Hi Robert,

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Despite these circumstances I am still very interested, as I have relatives in Manchester to aid me.

Can you just confirm that the car has Irish registration plates? (New registration system in ROI since July ’09 would mean an extra charge if it is not on Irish plates)

Oddly enough I’m just back from a week in Milan myself, beautiful city.



I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?[/QUOTE]

daveharnett

fm wrote: »

I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?

If I had to guess, punters who turned up at the meeting point would be mugged, then possibly abducted and forced to empty their bank accounts, depending on how ambitious the scammers are.

Biro

I'll be worried when they get to the stage of meeting people for a cash sale and when you arrive a gang of them attack you and steal the cash that they know you'll have with you.
Everyone should register their e-mail addresses with dodgy websites that spam the mail addresses!

Biro

daveharnett wrote: »

If I had to guess, punters who turned up at the meeting point would be mugged, then possibly abducted and forced to empty their bank accounts, depending on how ambitious the scammers are.

Beaten to it!

poreilly101

Look at this for effort

"Hello,
Thanks for the mail.I really like the car and i am interested in buying it, i like to pay you in cash at hands but right now I'm not within your reach that i could easily come for the payment and pick-up the car myself, so we need to talk better on another means of payment which is by (Bank Draft or Cheque),which is more secured and better than any other means of payment.

It's what i have been searching for in the last 6 months.Thanks for everything. Please help me take good proper care of it because i know by now its mine.But right now the month is drawing down to an END and i can see that i finally got one.

Really i want you to please send more pictures if available and if not its okay.
I'm from London in England,UK. But i live by the sea side in The Republic of Denmark cos am a SAILOR. I always come home (London) every 4 Months and travel back to my place of work in Porto

kindly get back to me,so i know which of the two is your most preferred means of payment for the said item.Thanks for the mail...The payment will be in advance by Cheque and i will need the following info:

1)Get back with the name to be written on the Cheque.

2)Your address where it is to be deliver.

3)Your phone contacts (home/office/mobile) for an effective communication.


Also,I have forward your mail to my Associate to send you the payment and also instruct him to include the shipping fee to your payment,because he has arrange for the shipping.
I am really glad that you want me to get the item and i will be happy also when i actually get it.Please email me back today.

PLEASE NOTE: That the cheque /Banker's Draft will be cleared first before releasing the car ok .

Hope to read from you soonest, Please kindly get back to me fast. you can also call me on XXXXXXXXXXX

Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

What good are just the details requested? Can they hack with just that infromation?

Bearcat

f-ing brill. we should all paste and copy the above and email it to that scammer selling the golf.

Riche670

Riche670 wrote: »

I've found another scammer on Carzone while searching for a VW Beetle for my girlfriend. This one is hilarious as the automated message sent to him from carzone was underneath his reply directly to me. His email address says his name is "Robert Host" and the automated message reffered to him as "Robert Foxhall" :pac:

The only odd thing about this one is that he, who lives in Italy wants to meet up in Manchester (where the car is ) and do a cash exchange?

See below:

"The price is 4200 euros
Manual transmission,
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has service book, the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings. It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland. The car is at the moment in Manchester, UK.
I live in the Italy, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Manchester for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.

Many thanks"


I replied to this saying:

Hi Robert,

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Despite these circumstances I am still very interested, as I have relatives in Manchester to aid me.

Can you just confirm that the car has Irish registration plates? (New registration system in ROI since July ’09 would mean an extra charge if it is not on Irish plates)

Oddly enough I’m just back from a week in Milan myself, beautiful city.



I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?

Got a reply to the above:

"Thanks for your e-mail!
As I allready explained , I live in Italy and I will go to Manchester, only for this sale.
I could meet you there this week or next week, if that is ok for you too, but I have to be sure that you are serious, because I have a long way ...from Italy to UK .
So here are my conditions:
I won't ask for any money in advance, but you must reserve the car and I will come only if you are decided to buy it. And as a warranty that you really want to buy the car and that you have the money (in cash) for the car, I require that you arrange a payed deposit on your name , for the price of the car ( 4200 euros). Regarding the deposit, there is a service very fast and easy to use, named Western Union, also you can find it to any post office (AN POST). It is used for sending cash money . All that you have to do is to ask a friend or family to go to Western Union with the cash and to send it to Manchester, to your name as receiver.
Your friend will be the sender and you will be the receiver in Manchester.
(I ask you to do this because I want to be 100 % sure that you will be there and you will be ready to buy it because last week I went to Manchester for nothing. A person from Dublin told me that he wants to meet me and buy it , so I went to Manchester, but he never came and never answered to my emails .)
After you make the transfer, I want you to send me an email with the scan of the receipt, then i will come to Manchester to close the deal.
You will verify the documents and test the car and we will make the sale documents. Then we will go to a Western Union office, you will take the money and pay me.
PS: I told you that someone else must be the sender, not you, because some Western Union offices do not give you the money if the receiver is also sender.
Regarding the transfer fees, you will deduct them from the total amount, So that you won't pay nothing more, just the price that we agreed ( for example 4000 euros+ fees 200 euros= 4200).
This transfer is also good for you because you avoid the risk of a traveling with the money in pocket.

Let me know if this is OK with you as soon as possible , let me know if I should reserve the car for you.
My phone number is: 0044XXXXXXXX .

Thank you"


Same old story it seems...

razorblunt

Got an email looking for the reference number for my car advert. Which is strange seeing as its in his first email and i replied with the same details.

Biro

What's the story with Western Union anyway? Are they the only bank that give out money from some account to anyone coming in asking them? Why do all the scammers use it?

Davidth88

Ok.

Can people explain to me how this scam works.

I can see these deals are obviously bogus ( too complex/stupid to be real ). but how are you eventually ripped off ?

Are you mugged for the money , is the car stolen or something ?

Maybe I am stupid , but I just don't get it !

Eoin

They send you a dodgy draft for more than the actual amount you asked for, and ask if you can refund the difference. So you lodge it to your account. Your bank temporarily increases your balance until it is found to be dodgy, and it's in this window that they hope you send them money.

ResDub

Davidth88 wrote: »

Ok.

Can people explain to me how this scam works.

I can see these deals are obviously bogus ( too complex/stupid to be real ). but how are you eventually ripped off ?

Are you mugged for the money , is the car stolen or something ?

Maybe I am stupid , but I just don't get it !

This is how they do it i believe

1) Copy details of genuine at ad i.e picture and spec change price contact details

2) when someone emails they give their patter about the car and ask for deposit by escrow method (western union).

3) Deposit lodged and they ask punter to scan and email a copy of receipt of money lodged.

4) They print this off go in and get their money and are never heard of again.

see more

http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/fraudtypes/escrowfraud.aspx


Surely Carzone can do something about blocking bogus posters by blocking ip address of ones that have been reported or email addresses they keep using.

I know their running a business and they wont say no to money but the amount of crap you have to go through on the site, bogey ads and replies, now makes it far worse site than it was 12 - 18 months ago. Surely quality control ads is in their interest to protect their business.