If you have been scammed, please post here and share your experience; it may help others avoid the same situation!
#167018 by Lollieg Mon May 27, 2013 9:37 am
Just wanted to post I have seen this scam with various diff names the one I received was from [email protected] - Barry rich. I advertised me car for sale on carsguide and Gumtree and received a text to email this guy with my FIRM price. I emailed back thinking it was legit then I got the following email reply:

Thanks for the response,I would have loved to call you directly but due to the nature of my work we do not have access to phone at the moment,which is why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.

I am buying this for my first son who just graduated on top of his class at Charles Darwin University in NT ,He studied Building Design & Architecture. I want it to be the perfect graduation gift for him and am making it a surprise package ,Does it have any history I should be aware of? and why are you selling if you don't mind my asking.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 sailor 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 my son .Await your reply .

Regards,
Barry

Hope this helps someone :)
Advertisement

#167064 by juber Mon May 27, 2013 8:07 pm
Pretty much the same story here. Got 7200 ffered by [email protected] for a car when my price was much lower. same old same old: he's a marine in Spain and cannot access his bank account, he insists on paying through paypal and me paying his shipping agent 800 for picking up the car, once he has sent me a (fake) confirmation payment email on my paypal account.

I checked all the info he gave me, and I tracked his IP address with www.ip-adress.com/trace_email/ I got an address in california, more specifically this one:
Email Sender: [email protected]
IP address: 209.85.217.194
IP address country: United States
IP address state: California
IP address city: Mountain View
IP postcode: 94043
IP address latitude: 37.4192
IP address longitude: -122.0574
ISP of this IP: Google
Organization: Google


he says he's in Spain and his family in Florida. I say complete BS.

Just a few tips I learned from this experience:
(Please share if you think they are helpful, let's put a stop to this kind of dirbags who wanna take advantage of honest buyers and sellers)

-paypal does not require any agent to supervise the transaction nor anything like that.
-When buying/seelling through ebay/online, always make sure who the buyer is: ask for official ID (passport, driver's license, etc. have them scanne the document and send it to you; most scammers are really bad in photoshop and you should easuly spot a fake ID: letter fonts don match throughput document, signature is different in several document. Photo is usually pulled off the internet, a quick google image search should yield results of the image being taken fomr the internet.)
-Buyer is always in some remote location, different from where he is supposed to be living in.
-Buyer insists on buying something that froma normal person's point of view makes no sense: an american girl buying a rare small boat from a guy in Finland(the boat is too smal to navigate the Atlantic ocean); an american deployed soldier in Spain buying a car from a guy in Mexico (cars from Mexico cannot be imported to the US); an oil engineer in the Pacific ocean buying a motorcycle from a guy in NY (shipping costs will more than triple the costs of an equal, brand-new bike bought at a retailer).
-Buyer is always more concerned in the payment process than in the object itself.
-Buyer is overly eager to buy the item, even if he has not seen it/received much info on the condition of the object.
-Buyer never, or rarely and just a few times, asks for the condition of the object.
-Buyer is reluctant to offer info that can be checked: passport, driver's license, Army dog-tag #, etc.

Please be wary of these indicators as they might help you spot a scammer and save you from a pointless, needless discussion with them. Report their email addresses to paypal/google and block them immeadiatly.

hope you never get tangled in one of these scams as it is not a pretty experience.

;)
#168120 by Leewat Fri Jun 07, 2013 9:53 am
Thank you so much for posting this. I had the same e-mail from barryrichie345 (would have thought he would be clever enough to use another e-mail address) I responded but then thought I check it out before giving out any of my bank details. So thankfully I was able to stop right there. Thought it was strange that someone would buy a car without even looking at it.
#168220 by Leewat Sat Jun 08, 2013 1:17 am
Since "Barry Rich" has contacted me I've had 2 more SMS's from the same phone number with different e-mail addresses - one is a exactly the same as the first and the other is slightly changed but also asks for a firm price and condition of the car and a request to reply to an e-mail address.
The e-mail addresses are:
From Nathan: [email protected]
From Paul: [email protected]

The phone number from which the SMS's are coming is +61428465117
#181742 by bridge99 Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:23 pm
I have got this:-

Thank you for the mail,i am okay with the little details have read in the advert compare to the others have seen recently and please Does it have any more history I should be aware of and why are you selling if you don't mind my asking.I work with New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and we are presently offshore in New Zealand Taranaki Basin on kapo project. We do not have access to phone at the moment,its 20days off and 11days on,which is why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.


I am buying this for my first son who just graduated ontop of his class at Charles Darwin University in NT ,He studied Building Design & Architecture. I want it to be the perfect graduation gift and a surprise package for him .Where is it located at the moment and I will really appreciate if you can email more info.


In regards to payment ,all i will need is your bank details or pay pal payment email and name to set up purchase,as i don't have access to my bank account online as am not with my credit card details here on our mine site but i have my ANZ bank account linked up with my PayPal account so I will be paying you through PayPal to your nominated bank account .Have been introduce to a reputable shipping company that will handle the delivery after the payment clears to your account.I will really appreciate if you can email more info..


Regards,
Travis.


text from mobile +61428465117
#181746 by TerranceBoyce Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:31 pm
How did he know his son graduated if he doesn't have access to a phone ? :laugh-s:

It's undoubtedly a scammer with a meticulously devised story that is so detailed it's ridiculous. It's a failing of West African scammers that they think that a well composed and detailed lie is as good as the truth. In his mind if you didn't believe him he'd be upset because he's worked out that it's a possible explanation and some buddy of his has worked out all the detail. The fact is that only a scammer feels the need to tell a seller where his son's studying, the course and his graduation results. :lol:

Though it's irritating, there's an amusing side to it, unless you fall for it.

CAR ADVERTS - If a car seller mentions escrow - he's scamming you Never ever for any reason pay anything until you have seen and inspected the vehicle

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 31 guests