SCAMMER USING YAHOO AND AUTOTRADER - UK

Hi all.

Would like to alert you to a very well put together scam! The scammer is a seller of a vehicle which is advertised in Autotrader, and there are lots of great photos of the vehicle in question. When contacted about the vehicle, the scammer then lets you know that he/she is in Spain - where he is from, and that the car is in Spain too. The only reason he is selling it cheaply is because it's right hand drive and no-one in Spain wants a right hand drive car. When checked out on the DVLA website, the car does exist, the registration and chassis numbers match the vehicle description, and it is also marked up as being in Spain.

The scammer then advises you that a Yahoo Representative will be in touch and will act on both parties behalf (please note that there is NO exclamation mark after Yahoo, whereas if it was genuinely Yahoo, it would look like this Yahoo!). The scammer goes on to say that he will make shipping arrangements and the vehicle will be with you in 10 days. He also goes in to how using Yahoo Finance will protect both parties...and that they will hold the monies paid until such time as you are happy with vehicle and advise Yahoo Finance to release the funds (you will have 15 days to make up your mind whilst test driving the vehicle, which has been shipped at the seller's expense).

A congratulations email from Yahoo Finance Inc arrives a matter of an hour or less later. It then congratulates on on your ability to purchase/trade through Autotrader and Yahoo, and it is colourful and very detailed abut the terms and conditions of the transaction. Then the invoice from Yahoo Finance Inc turns up in your mail box. This is just a normal email in black and white, which advises you that you should make the payment by a Bank Transfer and also make it a priority payment. Several of these arrive along with emails from the scammer (oh, sorry, I meant 'seller'), asking how the transfer is coming along.

You then get an email from the 'seller' advising you that the shipping arrangements have been made, and miraculously the time has gone from being 10 days to approximately 2 weeks or just under. The vehicle has been shipped from Cadiz, Spain. At this time no tracking number is given, but the 'seller' says that he will contact you in a few days to advise you of the shipping and tracking details.

When the email from the 'seller' arrives a few days later, it gives you the tracking number for the vehicle that has been shipped...He also gives you a link which includes the tracking number...Check out the link! It's very very good, but there are 2 obvious problems with it...Firstly, there is no telephone number. Yes, I did say NO TELEPHONE NUMBER...For a Shipping Company??? Also the date, which is in dd.mm.yy format reads '02.21.11'...That would mean that there are 21 months in this year...Wow!

http://atlantictransportship.com/gettra ... 9&mail=yes

Now here are the related email addresses etc to watch out for;_

His email is: [email protected]

The so-called Yahoo Representatives emails are:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

also:[email protected]

there were other odd ones which came up too:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]


I can assure you that this has all been reported to the fraud team at Autotrader, and everything new I am getting is sent directly to them. I have been trying to keep this scammer dangling, but it is getting harder to keep up the farce! He/they nearly defrauded me of £4000GBP, but fortunately small details weren't their strong point! The total lack of exclamation marks after all things 'Yahoo', the lack of communication from the so-called 'Yahoo Representative' - which was meant to happen and didn't...only invoices sent. The Shipping Companies web site, so many little things just didn't add up. This criminal network are netting themselves £100million per year, and that's not an accurate figure as for every one person that comes forward admitting they have been scammed, there are probably another 5 or 6 that are too embarrassed to come forward. Therefore the whole scam is worth more like £500 - £600 million per year!!!

Thankfully, for the sake of one tiny error on the scammers part (a digit was wrong in their account details), my money never made it into their grubby thieving hands. Yes, I was stupid to think that such a lovely car would be so cheap, and also to not actually/physically view the car. Also thankfully, I am managing to get so many emails and tons of information about them and forward it all on...Today I will be contacting the Police.

PLEASE DON'T BE EMBARRASSED...COME FORWARD AND HELP TO CATCH THESE AWFUL PEOPLE...IF YOU REMAIN SILENT, THEY HAVE WON!

Thanks for reading this, and I hope no-one comes as close as I did...

Best wishes to you all

mrswesty
[email protected]
[email protected]

Welcome MrsWesty,

I am glad to hear that fate intervened in this case and saved your money for you!

Does this look familiar?
http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=23867
It should, because it is actually the same scam. It is what is known as a fake escrow scam, and unfortunately it is a type of scam that yields high profits for the scammers. This is the first time I have seen Yahoo! used, but as more people become aware of the fraudulent use of eBay and Paypal's names, it's not surprising the scammers have picked another big name.

The scammer will either use the name of a known company involved in internet selling (often ebay or paypal, but it can be any company that someone might believe would be involved in a transaction), or they will use the name of a real escrow company. They will then send emails describing how an escrow transaction works, and claiming that they have initiated the process.

Escrow scammers often take the extra step and set up fake domains and or websites to make their mailing addresses look more authentic (i.e. close to the company they are impersonating) and their shipping claims look more real. It looks like you hit the motherlode of fake domains on this one!

Our fake site killers can try to get some of these fake domains killed--doing so will at least put a dent in the scammers' business, as potential victims will get suspicious when mail starts bouncing! You can help us to do this by posting the emails received from the fake domains, including the headers (but removing your own address to protect your privacy). This will help our site killers to start to compile the evidence needed.

Domain name: ATLANTICTRANSPORTSHIP.COM
Created on: 2011-09-14
Updated on: 2011-09-14
Expires on: 2013-09-14

Domain Name: YAHOO-UKFINANCE.COM
Registrar: ONLINENIC, INC.
Whois Server: whois.onlinenic.com
Referral URL: http://www.OnlineNIC.com
Name Server: NS5.B-SMARTHOSTING.NET
Name Server: NS6.B-SMARTHOSTING.NET
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 26-oct-2011
Creation Date: 26-oct-2011
Expiration Date: 26-oct-2012

Domain name:
finance-yahoo-com.co.uk
Registrar:
eNom, Inc. [Tag = ENOM]
URL: http://www.enom.com
Relevant dates:
Registered on: 25-Oct-2011
Renewal date: 25-Oct-2013
Last updated: 25-Oct-2011

Domain name:
yahoofinance-inc.co.uk
Registrant:
Frances Smith
Registrar:
Webfusion Ltd t/a 123-reg [Tag = 123-REG]
URL: http://www.123-reg.co.uk
Relevant dates:
Registered on: 27-Oct-2011
Renewal date: 27-Oct-2013
Last updated: 31-Oct-2011
Registration status:
Registration request being processed

All sites lined up for the kill - Michael

Dotti...Hope this helps
From: James Burt [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 23 October 2011 11:57

Subject: RE: Nissan

Hello again,

Due to the fact that i am located outside UK and we can not deal in person,i`ve contacted Yahoo Finance regarding this issue and they told me that they could offer to me a program that is created especially for international transactions that protects both of us. They agreed to supervise this deal.
You will send the funds to Yahoo Finance and they will keep the money until you receive the vehicle and test it.In this way both buyer and seller are 100% covered during the steps of this transaction. They will hold and insure your money until receipt of the car in good condition. That is how their service is working. As far as the seller concerns, i will be glad to know that Yahoo Finance is in possession of the funds during the delivery period.
You will be given a 15 days inspection period from the day you receive the car at home( i will ship it to your address insured for full value to you ).
If you decide to keep the car, then you will have to authorize Yahoo Finance to release the funds to me, and the transaction is complete.If the vehicle is not as described ( perfect interior,exterior,mechanical condition ), you will be able to send the vehicle back through the same shipping company ( return postage at my expense ), and ask Yahoo Finance to return the money to you.

If you want to check the car here are the reg details #:

Registration YB07JTX
The chassis number is VSKCVND40U0192418
MOT-02-2012
Road Tax till 02 2012

If you want to read more about Yahoo Finance service please visit :
http://yahoo-finance.com-incuk-ftse.uk. ... index.html

If you want to get more info about their terms and condition please contact Yahoo Finance at: [email protected]

If you wish to purchase it and agree to these terms i will need you to provide your full name and address. I will then notify Yahoo Finance and they will contact you to explain the entire procedure.

I will be waiting for your reply as soon as possible

Thank You!!