Camper van Scam

Welcome to Scamwarners podrush and congratulations in avoiding becoming another of his victims.

This one scammer has stolen hundreds of thousands of pounds from victims and his gang in total have stolen millions and, to my knowledge, UK law enforcement don't consider what he's doing a crime, and UK banks willingly provide bank accounts to launder money for his criminal organisation.

The FBI have posted the photos of some gang members on their wanted list but UK police don't even have photos of their camper vans. I strongly suspect they'll find the UK a place where'll they'll be safe from arrest. A number of people spend all day reporting fraudulent adverts on ad sites, as they have become a playground for criminals, and this particular gang have become an organised criminal business with a well organised set up posting adverts, setting up bank accounts and laundering money.

The camper van scam has become a criminal classic and I often 'bait' him so that I can report the current bank account he's using but his operation is so large it hardly makes a difference.

Just a quick word to apologise for my language on my previous post and thanks to the site admin for masking my details which I had simply pasted into the item. I was just so cross and simply wanted to share my experience with everyone, as that helped me.
Just to say thank you for your time and efforts in maintaining this site.
For what its worth the email 'he' is using is: [email protected]
the google wallet link I received was different to the others as it seems to be hosted in russia?

http://wallet.google.escorw.obeton.ru/u ... #how-works
For my part I wish there was something more being done about this person as they have hoovered up a lot of peoples hard earned cash. Anyhow, sites like this are the next best thing.
thanks scamwarners and keep up the good work...
Xxxxxx

I'm so glad that that information and posting here helped you. Thank you for taking the time to add information to this topic for others!

Let us know if you have more questions, and please feel free to post any other scammers you come across. Every piece of scammer information posted here has the potential to save a lot of other people from becoming a victim.

Hi, thought i'd share my experience of what looks like the same scam.

I replied to an advert on autotrader .. http://motorhomes.autotrader.co.uk/used ... e/min/3999

..and the email i received back is the same as other's have got apart from the name. here's the first email:

Hi,

I can confirm that the vehicle is still for sale and that never been involved in an accident. Nobody smoked in and I never carried pets. Full service history and V5 document are present, the HPI is clear.
It still has 5 months MOT and 5 months road tax.
My last price is £ 2850.

The only reason for selling this vehicle so cheap is because I am involved in a military project and move to Mali on December 10 and come back after 6 months. It is the first time I will go to Mali so I'm a little nervous but excited.

It would be a shame to keep the vehicle in the garage 6 months without being used and I also need some cash before leaving to Mali.

Right now I am located in a small military base in the Isle of Man because our squad do some special training here.
The vehicle is here with me inside of the base garage.

In case you are still interested to buy it please write me back since I can deliver the vehicle anywhere in UK on my cost.

Thank you for being interested in my vehicle.


Colin Tanner,

I then replied asking if I could arrange a test drive and viewing but the reply to this was only concerned with sorting a payment through google wallet, which made me kind of sure this was a scam.

Anyways, have reported the advert to autotrader and hopefully by posting this will stop anyone else getting caught out.

Steve.

Welcome to Scamwarners stevegalaxy.

It's good to hear that you avoided being scammed and stuck to insisting on viewing the vehicle you wanted to buy. Camper vans are a favourite advert for scammers to post.

It's annoying that I note that the advert is still live, and I also note that it was previously offered for sale here

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0RgE5ZIZvY8J:motorhomes.autotrader.co.uk/used-motorhomes/auto-sleepers/executive/2000-auto-sleepers-executive-diesel-ely-mfpa-8aa7c01f41a0578b0141c7e31dfc6c95+&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk

I've posted it with a person who specialises in handling scam adverts and the photos of this camper van will remain on Google in case it goes on sale again.

Hi all, I am currently in contact with what must be the same scam. Having read about the scam I have said that I'm not happy sending money over the Internet and that I'd much rather send it direct to his account. He kept coming back to me saying that it was the safest way to do the transaction but he has eventually given me some account details of the delivery driver:-

I will send you the bank account of the delivery agent who will deliver the van to you.
It is:
Representative Account Name : PAYROSIANU (Client Holding Account)
Representative Bank Name : Barclays
Google Representative Account Number : 20075531
Google Representative Sort Code : 20-29-41

You can transfer the funds tomorrow, half and another half after inspection of the van.

Regards!
Colin

Is this of any help to those that have lost money?

@podrush

Thanks for posting the correspondence from Joe Romo. The website he is using will be killed as asap.

Hi, have just been reading everybodys questions and complaints about these scammers, and unfortunatly those of you who want to "catch" them is going to be an impossible task! These scams are normally from pakistan, or india. Even if you were able to find out exactly which part of either country these people are hiding... You will never get your money back... Because there are hundreds of people that wirk at these call centres, internet centres etc... That get paid next to nothing, to get money off of...sorry to say it, greedy people.

There is only 1 rule.... If it is too good to be true, it always is! In todays world, you will never find a "too good to be true, but is" deal! Because so many people have the internet, and everybody knows what there car is worth!

Sorry to those that have been stung.... But next time just think to yourself.... Would you sell something in good condition for a fraction of its real price?

Welcome to Scamwarners Walulu88.

There is some truth in what you say, largely the part about there being little chance of victims getting their money back but, as regards the location of the scammers, I have not seen any evidence of any being located on the Indian sub-continent. Though there is at least one large organised group who are responsible for the largest proportion of scams there are also many individuals imitating them. The most likely location of the main group is Eastern Europe, Europe and the UK. Certainly people need to be much more cautious in any dealings they have online but, as a baiter, I don't scam scammers but I have duped many of them, so it's too glib an explanation to write off victims' losses as being their own fault. If I had a criminal mind, which I don't, I would be able to dupe most people and I have skills, knowledge and abilities that would make me even more dangerous than most scammers.

If scammers can get access to a bank's back office computer systems, as two gangs did recently in the UK to perform major frauds, the biggest risk is complacency and, if a bank can be duped, don't think you can't.

Just had an email with the exact wording as other users. have just contacted him via email and am waiting on reply.he is going under the name john burridge and is trying to sell a 2006 Eldlis caravan for £3200.as always if it sounds to good to be true it normally is.
I do feel very sorry for the people who have lost money and hope that there is some way of getting it back.
Be warned he is a trickster who should be dealt with either in this life or the next.

Welcome to Scamwarners Maffey.

Where was he advertising ? - Gumtree, Ebay or Autotrader.

He, or other members of his gang, have been operating for years and, if the UK is in charge of the afterlife, he won't have much to worry about.

The more we know about what he's selling and where, the better his activities can be disrupted by reporting what he's doing.This isn't one scammer trying to sell one vehicle. It's a criminal organisation operating a major fraud on a large scale. They're selling non-existent cars, camper vans, boats, caravans, agricultural and construction machinery and the victims cover the whole of Europe and beyond.

Well what a relief, other fellow sufferers of these scams. I received an email in response to an Autotrader add for a VW 355
Compass motorhome- same Isle of Man/army.....ect from [email protected] same bull....
This is a growing problem, my faith in ebay has been destroyed by the number of con artists on ebay, I reported a scam involving a classified add for a mini cooper 05 park lane, item no 171165554274 / alisonjack44 that almost took me in last month, they did nothing & relisted the add. Apparently, once they-ebay get paid for the classified add they couldn't care less. View all classified adds on ebay with caution.

Welcome to Scamwarners jimwuddy.

I've spent quite a while researching these scams and I can confirm that all major ad sites are riddled with scams on a scale that would amaze you. I've posted details of 50 scams posted on one major ad site in just a day and details are in the ad site forum, and some are worse than that. Also, I only post details of ones that are obvious frauds. The actual volume of scams are without doubt even greater. Another blogger specialises in Ebay fraudulent adverts and he's posting and reporting them all day long.

The problem is that if you look for a bargain on these sites, you'll only get a scam. I'm rather amazed that the sites don't do more, as they serve no purpose if they become overwhelmed with scammers. Advertisers can't compete against the scam ads and buyers will learn not to use them.

Just to let you know this guy is still out there and is now or may as well be advertising other vehicles, is advertising a Range Rover Sport for £5750. advert was on piston heads.

I thought it was too cheap and after wanting to confirm the price with him the email I received seemed a little supiscious, checked out isle of man military base and came across the scammers website with the same email wording just different vehicle, plus why would I send money for a car I haven't test driven and looked over!! email copy below

From: John Burridge <[email protected]>
Sent: 09 December 2013 13:40
To: Tophies
Subject: Re: 2006 RANGE ROVER SPORT TDV6 HSE 128,000 Miles.
Attachments: 1.JPG; 2.JPG; 3.JPG; 4.JPG; 5.JPG; 6.JPG; 7.JPG; 8.JPG; 9.JPG
Hi ,
I can confirm that the vehicle is still for sale and that never been involved in an accident. Nobody smoked
in and I never carried pets. Full service history and V5 document are present, HPI is clear.
My last price is £ 5750.
The only reason for selling this vehicle so cheap is because I am involved in a military project and move to
Mali on December 29 and come back after 6 months. It is the first time I will go to Mali and I'm a little
nervous but excited.
It would be a shame to keep the vehicle in the garage 6 months without being used and I also need some
cash before leaving in Mali.
Right now I am located in a small military base in the Isle of Man because our squad do some special
training here.
The vehicle is here with me inside of the base garage.
In case you are still interested to buy the vehicle please write me back since we can deliver the vehicle
anywhere in UK on my cost.
Kind regards,
John Burridge

These people make me sick!

Welcome to Scamwarners tophies and thanks for the information.

Any details about where this gang is operating is useful. They aren't solo criminals. They're part of a large criminal organisation operating across all ad sites. I've got them well covered on auto trader UK and when I'm confident I have the greater part of their scams covered there, I'll move across to other sites.

They're setting up fraudulent ad sites to recruit money mules, phishing log in details and fraudulent ad spamming and this isn't the work of individuals working separately. It's organised crime on a large scale.

It's very important that anyone report any instances that they come across this type of fraud as we can pick up tell tale details that will enable us to link up other sites where they're placing adverts.