AutoTrader Scammer - [email protected]

I received a scam email via autotrader.com. The email headers are not useful because the message is relayed through autotrader. Unfortunately, the IP address of the "buyer" is not provided by autotrader.

Although there are not many clues in the message to indicate that this is a scammer ("Seller" and "vehicle" were the ones that jumped out at me), I do know that this is a scammer. I hope someone at 419eater will bait them.

Hello Seller, I just want to find out if your vehicle is still available for sale??? Get back to me as soon as possible. Best Regards, Mike.

Can you please post up some more information regarding this situation. Did you actually have a vehicle listed for sale on autotrader?

You are correct, the sender's IP will not come through from an internal message system. Autotrader would be able to check the IP, or should be able to.

More information will be helpful regardless. Thank you!

Note: I did some research on this scammer. I do not recommend others do this. I wanted to make certain this email address was being used by a scammer. It Is!

Yes Mike, my vehicle is still available. Let me know your interest and we can make a deal.

hi,
thanks for your mail and sorry for my late reply because am out of the country at the moment on a business trip (presently in London ,UK) and i don't know how soon am going to be back home and i really want to buy this vehicle for my business purpose when i return back home.
I can only pay for your vehicle via CHEQUE. If you're interested in order for me to proceed with payment immediately, kindly get back to me with your full details of how you want me to write the CHEQUE (your name, address, postcode, city/town, country, tel no & final price).
Also, could you please send me more pictures of the vehicle if they are available?
Many thanks,
Mike.

This is a check / cheque scam where the scammer sends a check for more than the price of the vehicle, instructs you to deposit the check and send them the difference. I will not be contacting this scammer any further.

Do notice, he offers to pay for a vehicle he has never seen and there is no price presented by me. These are hallmarks of a scammer. Offering something that is too good to be true.

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References: <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:19:11 +0000 (GMT)
From: Mike Adams <[email protected]>

Hi Bubbles,

Yes, I do have multiple vehicles posted on Auto-Trader. I received sufficient messages from this scammer to remove any doubt of his intent. If I had only received one query, I would have sent a message similar to the one you sent. I do get legitimate messages that ask if the vehicle is still available, but this was not one of those instances.

WRT Auto-Trader being helpful, that is extremely unlikely. I have lost all confidence in them since they were bought by Yellow Pages. They truly have no clue what they are doing. If you want specifics, send a PM.