Advice please - think Ive got a scammer

[Trash]

Ive got my caravan for sale on caravan sales website ( not gumtree ) for 50K

Its been on there for about 4 weeks .

A bloke rings me today ( I have his mobile no . ) says he is from WA

We talk about the van etc.

Then he says if I offer you 48 K today I will deposit $15 K then pay rest when I pick it up ?

I asked him to fly over & check it out & I would pay some of the flight & take off the price etc ...

He said , Im a bit pushed for time

But he also said he is retired .

I said thanks , I will think about it & call you back

Then he kept going in , its a cash transaction , I will deposit 15K & cash chequer in pick up

He said he was 69 but didnt sound that old .

If you were going to spend 50K on something , I would want to see it ......??

Thoughts ....

 

[FireandIce]

Personally I would not let the caravan go without the cheque clearing, they can still cancel them as far as I know. I would be more inclined to go with him to a bank and get the remaining money in cash. He can do that if he organises it ahead of time. Might be legit but never hurts to be too careful. Yeah and if I was spending that much money I would definitely want to see it first so that rings alarm bells for me.

 

[HippyProspecting]

Have you looked into a escrow service?
You will find out fairly quick if the buyer is legit or not

 

[Wally69]

Depends on the item, the details provided in the add to give me confidence on what condition it is in and if it represents a must secure it now bargain.

I would only offer a nominal holding deposit sight unseen, no more. $15k is a serious deposit. In saying that I purchased a $50k van with a $10k direct deposit and remainder on collection, but I inspected it first.

If he changes his mind and asks for it to be deposited in a different account or form it could be a money laundering scheme.

$15k bank deposit is hard, if not impossible to unwind. Validating a bank cheque however may be where the risk is as they are not infallible and can be cancelled whilst in the process of presenting the cheque.

Hard to say from what you present, what evidence of guenuine intent could he provide.....photo of drvers licence, passport, bank account statement, daughters hand in marriage ????

 

[old hand]

Look if he really wants the van he will make time to look at it.I had a simular deal put to me on a van I had for sale they were working interstate in a place where there was no phone service they wanted to pay with pay pal and there agent would pick it up ,I said cant your agent pay on pick up some excuses was given,once it was picked up they can claim there money back with pay pal and I would have lost the van and the money .I myself would not buy a expensive van with out looking at it first regards john :Y:

 

[Satman]

Who uses cheques now days?
I'd be wanting direct funds transfer. Now days it is in your account within minutes. Once the money has landed in my account then I would hand the van over and not before.
I would do the same if payment was via cheque.
Good luck

 

[Outback]

Sounds like a scam being built , be very wary of that bloke

 

[shakergt]

Probably worked on an off shore oil rig also.

 

[Nanjim]

Sounds like he is full of shit .....
I would be looking at whatever I was paying $50k for ...
If I was selling the item would not be leaving my sight till I had the cash in my hand...,.

Just my 2 bobs worth .....

 

[Tathradj]

That is a scam.
" I will deposit 15K & cash chequer in pick up "
Cheque will be a dud.
Also, He will then get a " Mate. " to pick it up.
And I bet the deposit is Western Union.

 

[PabloP]

Yep a scam for sure. Stay away from it as you will lose out.

Rob P.

 

[madtuna]

Take the 15k deposit, move house and change the rego

 

[Satman]

On the subject of scams, here is the latest text message I got. Ha ha
I can only laugh.
Alert!:Your Mobile No is Selected as winner of 2750000 on UKMobile Lotto.Go to www.auhap.net to claim. enter Ref: AU564718812.helpline:[email protected]

Shakergt, what is the problem with working off an oil rig?

Cheers to all

Matt I

 

[user 7268]

Then he kept going in , its a cash transaction , I will deposit 15K & cash chequer in pick up

Next he will suggest you pay whoever is picking van up for him and he will add the payment to the balance he owes you ........................ old scam :N:
Bank cheques can be cancelled ...................... no problem. Informed by solicitor years ago only cash is closed deal, bank cheque handed over is no closed deal.

 

[Dron]

Yep scam ... from what I understand the way the scam works is they will send a fake electronic receipt via email that looks like the electronic transfer is pending.
The scammee then gives the address to collect the vehicle ... then a tow truck comes and takes away the vehicle to where it will be re birthed or stripped for parts.

 

[Dron]

Hard to say from what you present, what evidence of guenuine intent could he provide.....photo of drvers licence, passport, bank account statement, daughters hand in marriage ????

Haha lol.

 

[Whisp]

Most of the time when they say they are overseas or working on an oil rig and will send their agent to collect the goods, they are not trying to scam you out of the goods but rather the so called agents fees.

I had this happen when I had a BMW bike for sale and he offers me $2000 more than what I had it advertised for. As soon as I saw this I knew it was a scam but didn't know how it worked, so I went along with him and told him sure thing.

He said he couldn't come and collect it himself as he was on a ship somewhere (how did he see my add?) but would send his agent to collect it and I would have to pay the agents $800 up front, that's when I twigged he wasn't after the bike, hence the $2000 more than I wanted (he thought I would go for that).

He was only after the $800 "agents" fee that I had to pay up front. Just for the record, no I didn't send any agents fees to anyone, but he did tell that he was going to take me to court, after several years I'm still waiting to go to court.

 

[RM Outback]

50k thought's are your onto him unless he's prepared to inspect the van you can back it in its a scam. Next time he calls tell him to F--- off because your now retired due to it being sold, nothing wrong with a white lie to a scumbag :Y: :lol: they thrive on it.

 

[Moneybox]

How sad it is that we've got to this point where we can't trust the average guy to make a fair deal. If you've got $15k cleared funds into your account and you still have the van I can't see the problem. Surely you'll have the remainder in cleared funds before the van leaves. I can understand the guy being too busy to make two trips. He's willing to risk $15k for you to hold it until he gets there. As long as I had good photos and felt comfortable with the seller that's just the type of deal I'd do if I was in his shoes.

 

[Trash]

Thanks people for taking the time to reply .

It must be the week for it , have learnt others have had similar experience this week ......

When I took the call , he sounded just like someone would , normal conversation , as in talking sense about whatever .
For a millisecond it sounded promising , maybe i was just thinking $$$$$ , then it just sounded too good to be true .....

He called again about an hour ago , I didnt answer ......

Just another reminder of all to be aware they have got balls bigger than King Kong ...!