The last 2 months I have been looking around on the Internet to buy a car over here in Australia. I am amased by the amount of active fraud scammers trying to trick people into transferring money to them.In most cases they come up with a story that they have a car for sale, but they are currently staying overseas at the time, so meeting in person is not possible. They offer a ‘almost new’ car, low kilometers, lots of extra’s for a bargain price. The only drawback is obviously that you have to transfer them your money first before they will ship the car to you.
Here’s all the scam emails I received when responding to cars advertised on the gumtree.com.au website:
Re: Reply to your “2006 TOYOTA COROLLA HATCHBACK” Ad on Gumtree
from Emilio Narsete <emilio.narsete13@rocketmail.com>
Hello ,
Thank you for your enquiry regarding my vehicle.
The vehicle is in perfect working condition i’m the only owner and it has 2009 Rego so you will have no problem registering and licensing the vehicle.
I’ve worked in Australia for the past 3 years and since the birth of my son in January 2009 i came home to Italy.
The vehicle is in Australia at DAS freight department and i have full access(i can deliver the vehicle anywhere in Australia).
I will arrange delivery on my cost to your home address and you will have a 5 days period for inspection.
The total price includes (stamp duty, registration, transfer fee, and insurance).
We can use an escrow agreement to facilitate payment so that we both can be 100 % protected.
I will also supply some more pictures as soon as i get home from work.
If you are interested,please reply with the following information’s in order to arrange shipping at DAS freight department:
-Your full name ;
-Full delivery address(with postal code);
Regards ,
RE: Reply to your “TOYOTA RAV4 2003″ Ad on Gumtree
from tommy dreamer <tommydreamer1@live.co.uk>
Hello,
Sorry for the delayed response, but I’m in Cameroon right now
and I have been very busy.Anyway,thank you for your interest in buying
the car. The car is located in Cameroon right now and has Australian/Cameroon papers.It’s been a great car for my wife to drive but we now need something a little bigger seeing as how she is pregnant.So all that I want to do now is to sell
the car at this price, because I need to sell it fast(I already made a
deposit here to buy another one).The title is clean and you will have
absolutely no problems to register the car in the States.I will tell
you a few words about the car..
my TOYOTA RAV4 2003″ car with manual transmission it is in immaculate
condition with approximately 56,500 miles on it,rust free , no scratch and hasn’t been
involved in any accident. The motor runs very well.The interior looks
great(NO SMOKING).This car needs nothing,the title is clear ,it is not
a salvage one. I want this transaction to go smoothly enough as I am
caught in the middle of some very important events and have little
time at my disposal. I already have tons of emails so I hope you
understand that I need to sort them out. The car is like new, in
perfect conditions,accident free, no scratches, no special marks, no
need for additional repairs what so ever. a genuine road runner ready
to be yours, but only if you shall understand and you won’t make me
loose time as it has already happened to me.
The price is $3,500 THIS IS MY LAST PRICE.I will not negotiate
the price.I will take in consideration only those buyers who are
really interested in buying the car ,to be sure that I don’t waste my
time with endless discussions.This way,I shall be assured of the
serious intentions .
So if you are interested please email me back for next step.
Regards !! call me on
Hi again,
Look how we will do this step:
Before leaving I had prearranged shipping and also the payment with MoneyBookers. so my presence in Cameroon isn’t necessary(The car is locked in a MoneyBookers warehouse Cameroon ready for delivery).The price of car $3,500 includes all the shipping costs and insurance, so you won’t have to pay any extra charges.
Here is what I suggest: we will use MoneyBookers which acts like an escrow service , you make a deposit of 1/4 the price of the car in a MoneyBookers managed trust fund ( they hold the money until you receive the car ), I send the car over( the car will be delivered with the title, owner’s manual, 2 sets of keys, service records, and of course the bill of sale authorised and signed by me),I will offer a 14 day period from the day you receive it from the shipping company,you can inspect it, take it to a mechanic to check it out, drive it and then if you decided to keep it, you’ll confirm to MoneyBookers the sale so that they can start paying me and then you send me the remaining money. If, by any reason, you will not be satisfied with it ( even though I can assure you that it is exactly as described), you can return it at my expense for a full refund of your money, no questions asked.I think this is more than fair for the both of us.
NOTE: The deposit (down payment) is refundable, and is just a security measure, to make sure that you are serious, and that I am not going to ship the car, and loose time and money.
So if you are interested to go ahead with the deal, please reply with your full name and shipping address so I can ask MoneyBookers to open a case! After, they will contact you explaining all the details regarding the payment..
I’m looking forward to hear from you.
Thank you,
tommy
RE: 2005 MAZDA 3 SP23 48200 km
from Vanessa Cubriel <vanessa.cubriel@googlemail.com>
Hello,
First of all I want to thank you for your interest for my car. I sell at this price(AU$5,000.00) because i just finished the divorce with my husband. When the divorce has finished i own this car. Now as a women i don’t need. This car is in excellent working conditions, no scratches, flaws or any kind of damage, slightly used in 100% working and looking conditions and comes with a clear title, 3 months transferable warranty. From the beginning you have to know that for the payment I request ONLY secure pay, I prefer the payment to be done using eBay services. We will use a safe payment method because I am affiliated at eBay and I have a purchase protection account for $20.000.00Au. The final price that I want for this car is AU$5,000.00 including shipping and handling.
PS If you are interested in buying it please provide me your full name and address so I can initiate the deal through eBay.
I will wait your answer(if you are interested to buy) very soon!!
Thank you and have a nice day
Vehicle Features*
- 17In Alloy Wheels
- 6 Speaker Stereo
- …
I replied to every of those scammers that I reported them to the police. Interestingly enough, at a later stage when I showed my interest in another car advertised, I get a reply from exactly the same email address! The fact that they don’t even recognise my name means they are trying to perform this kind of fraud on massive scales!
If you have a similar experience, you can find all info you need for reporting these kinds of scams in Australia on the following page: http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/reportascam#h2_160
