Used Car Scam To Watch Out For

This might be a little off-topic, but if you are selling your old car privately, it's one you should be aware of.
Basically, the scammers respond to your advert by e-mail, and usually sound like very serious enquiries. However, they are generally very easy to spot, as their English is very poor, and they often go down the old route of being very over-friendly. For example, they will often wish you and your family all the best, or promise to pray for you etc, etc!
Most of the ones I'm receiving at the moment are coming through Auto Trader, and they are beginning to adapt to be more convincing. However, they all have one common theme, and that is to trick you into actually giving them your car, and some money aswell, for good measure!
The way they do this is to pose as overseas buyers, with all sorts of reasons why they particularly want your car. They will offer to buy your car, and have it collected by a shipping agent. They will pay you, usually by cheque, the asking price + the shipping costs, which you will pass on to the agent when he collects.
All will proceed smoothly, until after your car has departed and your bank informs you the cheque has not cleared!
It is very important to remember that cheques can be returned even after your bank has cleared the funds into your account.
Once this happens, you have actually paid somebody to take your car away for you!

Here's one I received recently:

Received: 24 November 2010 08:13

Customer Details:
NAME: MR James Butler
TELEPHONE:
EMAIL: james.jbutler.smith@gmail.com

Vehicle Details:
MAKE: NISSAN
MODEL: MICRA
PRICE:

Message:
IS THE ITEM STILL FOR SALE ?CAN I MAKE YOU TELL ME THE BEST PRICE YOU WANT TO OFFER IT OUT AND THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CAR


I actually replied to this one, and received the following response:

Hello
Thanks for your mail and I'm satisfied with the asking
price of the car . I will need you to provide me with your
Name,Address and Phone # so i can forward it to my colleague to issue
you a check that will include the cost of the item ,shipping,insurance
and delivery and when you get it i will give you instructions on what
to do. Once you have the payment, the shippers will contact you to
make arrangement for the pick up of the item at your location. I will
like to take off the advert from the internet and consider it "SOLD"
to me in order to avoid miss-understanding with other customers.
Thanks.

Regards,
Mr james


Once you receive this request, it's best to steer well clear! Most sites are aware of these scams, and advise that you should only deal face-to-face, and with cleared funds. In fairness, you can be caught out with any payment method, but cash is favourite, just check notes carefully.

Remember the Golden Rule: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

Always trust your instincts, if something doesn't feel right, walk away. You're better off not selling your car than giving it away!

Meanwhile, if you are buying privately, consider using an HPI type check like: