AutoTrader Paypal Scam

Welcome to Scamwarners Tommytrubbs,

You have nothing to worry about the scammer having your email address. The worst thing that can happen is the scammer will send you some scam emails.

Below vehicle scam from ebay, same phone number and text as previously mention on page 3 of this thread.

Full Name: Bridget Austen
Country: United Kingdom
Primary Telephone: 0743 8782401
Secondary Telephone: 0743|8782401
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi, Am highly interested in buying this off you, is it still on for sale and what price are you willing to take? can you pls respond to me via my email [email protected] as i don’t check my eBay often.

Regards


- hiltern09

Hi, I have registered just to post this scam so it will help others

I advertised a car on Gumtree and Ebay and got the below reply. I thought it was too good to be true that someone was interested in buying the car without even coming to see it so I googled the email address (which was Bulgarian and made me more suspicious) and it brought me to this site.

Full Name: Bridget Austen
Country: United Kingdom
Primary Telephone: 07448201064

Hi, Am highly interested in buying this off you, is it still on for sale and what price are you willing to take? can you pls respond to me via my email [email protected] as i don’t check my eBay often.

Regards

- keith0909keith

Dear keith0909keith,

Hi,

Yes it is still availabe and I will take £xxxx for it

- hxxxxx2

Dear hxxxxx2,

Thanks for your swift response,I'd like to know the rock bottom price you willing to take and i will be paying by PayPal as it is attached to my bank account more so its safe and secure way to make payment on eBay. I hope you accept my payment method? If you do,can you just send me the email you associated with your paypal account (Paypal ID) in order to make the payment now, about the collection; have got a private courier that will come for the collection as soon as you confirm the payment via paypal so no shipping included and if you dont have a paypal account, you can easily go to http://www.paypal.com and sign up. its very easy. I await your reply asap


- keith0909keith

Thought I would share my story. Was selling a car on auto-trader and I got a text from this number 2894344059 saying he is interested in the car and to email him back at [email protected].

Being a first time seller and my judgement slightly clouded by the excitement that I received such a quick response I took the bait initially. I replied back and received the following email.

[i]okay, i just wanted to know if any there is anything else that need to know about this vehicle. i would like to ask some details concerning this vehicle before before making a purchase? How long have you owned it? Have you owned it from new? If not how many previous owner? what sort of condition is it? I'll be paying you via PayPal. do you have PayPal account? also i'll require the pics (both interior and exterior parts) of this vehicle for proper examination. what is your last price?[/i]

The spelling was off but then again spelling mistakes over internet communication are common whether English is your first language or not. I sent him more detailed pictures and answered his questions. I told him I do not have a PayPal account and insisted that we meet. I thought it was odd that he didn't want to come and inspect the car for himself. His response...

I'm very glad you want to sell this to me, i actually wanted to buy this for my dad, i reside at (202 3rd St South Wakaw, Sk S0K 4P0)) due to the distance, also due to the nature of my job (site supervisor) at a mine site, i am out of town at the moment so i wont be able to come to see for myself or pay cash but i rely on the information you gave me about the vehicle, also the pics you sent which depicts the vehicle is in a good condition.. if you can open a PayPal account, I'll be very happy to go on with this transaction? can you get the account ready.

I told him that I won't do PayPal and if he can do a certified cheque or money order. At this point I was getting more suspicious that he was a scammer. He replied...

I will arrange with a shipping company to have this picked up at your location once i have paid.I would have love to transfer the funds for the vehicle into your bank account but I can't access my bank account here presently, I can only pay you via PayPal, I will very glad if you can setup a PayPal account so that we can complete this transaction soonest.

After that I did a bit of searching online and found out that this scam was quite common. I was irritated that at one point I believed he was a legitimate interested buyer. I could of been scammed out of a $30,000 car and my money. Told him no thanks (only I was a bit more rude and swearing was involved). It's a shame that most of these scammers never get caught and law enforcement is powerless to really do anything about it. Most of these scammers operate from godforsaken third world shit holes. Hope my story helps to educate others so they don't fall victim to swindlers. Being a first time seller he almost had me convinced. After going to this site I realized how common these scams really are.

[email protected]
Autotrader PayPal fraud attempt
Same day another attempt :I was just about to pay when i had this problem with the pick up, my pick up
agent says i will need to pay for the pick up before they can schedule a
pick up time, they charged me £300 for pick up and delivery, and
payments or pick up made through them is made to their corporate
international headquarters which is in the states and the
payments is made through western union money transfer, i will add the
£350 to the money i will send through paypal as soon as i have made
the payments, i will email you and let you know and please i will need
you to help me send the money to my pick up
agent HQ in the states through western union money transfer, this can
be done from any post office ,there is always western union money
transfer section in most post offices...,i would have done it myself
but we cant bring
some of our personal effects
along, i am a little incapacitated.....I will appreciate your help here

Here is my number-+447031932747
<[email protected]>

I'm a first time poster here. I placed an advert to sell my car on Gumtree and smelt a scam when I got a reply straight away wanting payment by PayPal. I googled his email address [email protected] and was brought straight to this thread:

First he texted me, I left his errors in, written just like this -

I'm interested in your car..What is your last asking price &its present condition? Kindly email me at ([email protected])

Me: Hi Mikel,

Thanks for your text and interest in the car. It's in very good
condition considering that it's 2003. The exterior paint and bodywork
was tidied up at the beginning of the year as someone scraped the car
in a car park and I was able to get all the little scrapes and
scratches removed at the same time on insurance.

I'm a private seller and not a dealer so I didn't add anything on to
the price that I could take off as a discount. The asking price of
£1500 is what I'd like for the car. I priced it by taking the What Car
valuation for a private sale (£1800) and undercutting it to get a
quick sale - I attached a screen shot of the valuation,

Let me know what you think,

Regards,

mikelrichy001: Hello thanks for reply, i am a marine engineer, i am at sea right
now.I am buying this for my son as a surprise gift. However,does it
haveany history I should be aware of? and why are you selling if you
don't mind my asking and I will really appreciate if you can email
more info and if possible more photos. I can only pay through paypal
at the moment as i don't have access to my bank account online(i dont
have internet banking with it), but i have it attached to my paypal
account, and this is why i insisted on using paypal to pay,all i will
need is your paypal email address to make the payment, and if you dont
have a paypal account yet, you can set one it cant take you less than
3mins to do that, i will be expecting your paypal email so l can pay
and your phone number. I have a pick up agent that will come for the
pick up after payment has been sorted, l will be waiting for your
reply asap..

Me: Hi Mikel,

I work at sea too, on offshore oil rigs, although I imagine you go for
longer trips as I only go for two or three weeks at a time.

The car doesn't have any unexpected history. I bought it in 2007 from
the same Toyota dealership that had originally sold it new. It only
had one previous owner. It's been serviced and MOT'd regularly and I
have the full service history.

I'm selling it because I've bought a new car. I fancied something a
bit flashier and bought a BMW this time. The Corolla is still a great
car, take a look at all the owner reviews here -
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-reviews ... olla/22414

I'll send photos tomorrow as it's too dark to take pictures now. In
fact I was already planning on uploading some photos for the advert,
as it's still work in progress and I didn't expect so much interest
this soon.

I have a PayPal account, but I am wary about accepting such a large
amount of money because of PayPal chargeback scams. If you decide you
want to buy the car could you send the money to your agent who could
then pay me in cash? I think I would rather proceed like that.

all the best

mikelrichy001: I can only pay in directly to your PayPal due to my present location
and the payment will be fully made and cleared in your account before
my agent to come there for the pickup.. You can send me a payment
invoice to this email([email protected]) and get back to me with
your registered email with PayPal so i can pay in today




And that's where we stand. Would the Police be interested at all?

I also wanted to add... a few hours after listed a vehicle on AutoTrader I received a text message asking for me to email pictures. He stated his name was Daniel and email was [email protected]. The phone number was 949-238-7182. This is clearly a scam and anyone who gets any generic text or email stating they were interested in "the vehicle you posted on autotrader" rather than actually referring to the vehicle, such as BMW, Lexus, etc... do not answer, delete the message, and definitely do not reply or send anything!!

First post, guilty of not reading all of the threads, but just received same scam from [email protected].

Initial contact by text from (310) 299-5098.

I do tend to taunt, but first they are in IL, then near Shreveport LA, a California phone number, and asking questions that were answered in the previous email.

And, yeah, my dad would fall for this scam.

Started with a text for more pictures:
[email protected]
210-564-7954

Thank you for getting back to me,can you assure me that i will not be disappointed if i buy this Vehicle as a Birthday gift for my brother? as I'm ready to pay your asking price but not cash in person because I'm software engineer in Hewlett Packard,(HP) and a contract staff so i cant handle this in person.My only means of payment is PayPal,its safe fast and secure and i will be responsible for the paypal transaction charges so you can get your expected amount.If you don't have a paypal account,its pretty easy to open one,Just log on to www.paypal.com and sign up.I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible? as my brother's birthday is fast approaching. I have a mover that will come for the pick up once payment clears in your account and he will handle the title for me.I look forward to hear from you with the information below. I will also need your contact to discus this better on the phone

Your PayPal e-Mail Address :
Your last asking price:
Your Zip code for pickup

Today I received a text from 619-720-3048 asking to email them about this car at [email protected] and then it seams they just copy and pasted everything the same as below. I mean it is literally verbatim. please keep an eye out for this email and be safe.

Look Familiar!!! What is the purpose of this scam? Wasting time?

Thanks for the mail. Do you have the extra keys, Do you have the spare tire, Where did you get your car serviced, Have you ever had any transmission repairs and Is there any rust on the vehicle? I'm ready to pay your asking price but not cash in person because I'm currently in a conference and calls are restricted at the moment and my only quickest payment option is PayPal, its safe fast and secure and i will be responsible for the PayPal transaction charges so you can get your expected amount. If you don't have an account with PayPal, its pretty easy to open one,Just log onto http://www.paypal.com and sign up. I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible? As I am buying the vehicle for someone and I'm very sure he will love this vehicle, his a mechanic and a handy man, so if there is anything that need to be fixed in it just let me know he will handle it. I have a mover that will come for the pick up once payment clears in your account and he will handle the title for me. I look forward to hear from you with the information below.

Your PayPal e-Mail Address :
Full name:
Firm Price:
Zip code for pickup:

Second Email:
Thanks for the info. I am glad to inform you that I have made the payment and you ought to have gotten the confirmation from PayPal by now. Kindly check your PayPal email address for the confirmation alert from PayPal and follow the PayPal instructions. But I had a little problem with the mover they said they can only schedule the pick up date and time after they receive their money for the pick up fee via Western Union money transfer. So I included $1500.00 they charged for the pickup and $100 for the Western Union charges and $18,500.00 for the vehicle. PayPal will instruct you on how to get the money sent to my mover.

The payment has been made and the money has been deducted from my account...Kindly get the shipping fee sent to the name and address below and send the details to PayPal email customer care for your total funds to be credited. I believe that since payment has been made, the advert should be taken off the site and please do let me know your free date and time so that i can give it to my mover to use it to register the date and time they will be coming for the pick up in your location.


Needless to day that there was no payment made...so what's the point?

I had exactly the same thing here I really thought it was too good to be true I put my car up on Gumtree and Cars guide and bamm I got several replies from 2 people from an oil rig and it just gobsmacked they can't use their mobile phones to call me this is what they had to say which really done my head in and he got a bit edgy i dont know maybe his real maybe there not but whats the chances of the same people working in NZ oil rig overseas wanting to buy a car like it will cost more to buy a car overseas to ship over there.

-Richard Moore

Apr 24 (3 days ago)

-to me
Thanks for the response,I would have loved to call you directly but due to the nature i work with New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and we are presently offshore in New Zealand Taranaki Basin on kupe project work, we do not have access to phone at the moment,which is why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.

Does it have any history I should be aware of? and why are you selling the car if you don't mind my asking. I don't mind adding an extra $100.00 for you just to take down the posting..I am already in talks with freighters that will handle the pickup and delivery .I will really appreciate if you can email more info

Due to the nature of my work i am a very busy man working all day, am a (Operating Manager) am presently on-board, i don't have access to my bank account online as am not with my credit card details here but i have my ANZ bank account link up with my PayPal account so I will be paying you through PayPal to your nominated bank account or better still is if you have a PayPal account ,please get back to me with your BSB and account details or PayPal account so i can proceed with the payment and contact the courier agent who will come to pick it up and deliver it in NT for me .Await your reply



and this is the other guy ....

-Denis James

10:45 AM (1 hour ago)

-to me


Thanks for getting back,i'm cool with the price likewise the condition as described on the advert,i work with New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and we are presently offshore in New Zealand Taranaki Basin on kupe project.We do not have access to phone at the momement and that's why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.Regarding the payment,i will be paying you through PayPal linked up with my westpac bank account,please get back to me with your paypal details so i can process the payment,you can alternatively send your bsb acct name and number if you have no PayPal acct.I have also contacted my courier who will come for pick up and deliver it to my place in Darwin after the whole fund has been cleared into your acct.
Await your reply



what a coincidence there both from an oil rig and plan to buy my car what are they best mates working together to pull a prank or massive scam.....

^^Welcome to Scamwarners,

Thank you for the update.

What was the email address the scammer used. Some people may search for the email address and your warning will help them.

Hi All
We were also targeted with this scam. We had a bike on gumtree and recieved several messages asking if it was still available and if we would contact her via her email address. She went on to say that she was in a wheelchair so would be getting the bike via courier service even though we said we could deliver for the cost of petrol. The bike was £550 and she said she had credited the paypal account with the £910 to cover the courier costs and we should pay that money to moneygram. When I clicked on the email address which the paypal confirmation was recieved from I realised it was not the usual '[email protected]' it was [email protected]
Fortunately I suspected something wasn't right about it straight away when they were asking for money so didn't send the money. Then after searching the fake paypal email address I found this site.

Just to add another email address to this list : [email protected]

Similar to the poster above me, posed as somebody in a wheelchair interesting in buying my car off Gumtree for the full asking price ASAP.

Tried to get me to send £395 to Western Union in Ukraine (I'm from the UK and am selling my car in the UK only) at which point I decided to google the email from [email protected] I had been sent with an invoice.

Remember, if something seems to good to be true, it is.

Was selling a car online. This clown Dylan tasse (sic) [email protected] offers to buy it sight unseen, using PayPal. The 8 hour time difference was a clue. Blatant scam.

On Jul 2, 2015 10:32 PM, "Dylan tasse" <[email protected]> wrote:
what?


On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 6:29 AM, Me <[email protected]> wrote:
No.

On Jul 2, 2015 10:23 PM, "Dylan tasse" <[email protected]> wrote:
I just got an email from the shipping company that they won't be able to come for inspection and pickup until they receive the shipping and insurance fee, they charged me $850 and the only means of payment they accept is MoneyGram but i dont have access to that right now as i am out of town. Can i include shipping and insurance fee to the total cost.? Please, i will need you to help me send the additional funds to the shipper via Moneygram. Let me know if i should proceed with payment . Thanks