Alli - Attempted fraud

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sun 11 Mar 2012 12:02
Alli - Attempted fraud - tony g
VOLKSWAGEN Beetle 1.6£1,350
2005 (05 reg), HatchbackTrade seller, distance: 80 miles
61,000 miles
Manual
1.6L
Petrol
5
0
3 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 61,000 miles, Black. ! ! ! PRIVATE SALE CONTACT THE SELLER DIRECTLY ON THE EMAIL DISPLAYED IN THE PICTURES ! ! ! ABS, Central locking, Front …
See all 28 cars from Station Garage Newcastle

Hi ,this is a copy of an add currently available on autotrader ,too good to be true ? Definitely .

The fraudsters have managed to find a way past the two levels of security that dealers have on autotrader and have taken over the dealers website .

The scam works by having a buyer e mail rather than ring the dealer .

The story is always the same ,you are asked to deposit money by western union in your own name ,if you're not happy with the car when you see it you can recover the money .

The key to the fraud is that you are asked to e mail a copy of your deposit to the seller ,the fraudster then uses that receipt to remove the money from western union.

To give credit to western union ,they are asking anyone making a larger deposit what the funds are for ,they are telling potential buyers that it it is a common fraud ?

Wonder how many people have been caught by it ?


















Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 12:11
Alli - Attempted fraud - unthrottled

The use of block caps and triple exclamation marks should be enough to turn off a genuine buyer. I don't agree with fraud but maybe if the greedy have their fingers burnt, they will learn a salutory lesson.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 12:38
Alli - Attempted fraud - CarTrader
100 percent agree,can't believe people are stupid enough to pay any money over by western union. I've had customers who have been stung by half price cars like this type of advert. Also 2 dealers I know have recently had there autotrader accounts hacked by these scammers even though auto trader said it wouldn't happen again .
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 17:35
Alli - Attempted fraud - Roly93

Good post, however you'd have to be pretty stupid to buy an 2005 car blind though.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 18:34
Alli - Attempted fraud - balleballe

Sadly - there are plenty of stupid people who buy/drive cars.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 19:53
Alli - Attempted fraud - tony g
(Sadly - there are plenty of stupid people who buy/drive cars.)

A bit harsh I think guys .Car enthusiasts and dealers like most of the regular posters
on here are unlikely to get caught by such an obvious con .

However their are lots of people who lack the know how or the experience to see the offer for what it is . In addition I believe that many potential buyers still have the idea that their is a real bargain out their ,all they have to do is find it .

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 20:42
Alli - Attempted fraud - balleballe

Anyone with any common sense will see that all the cars the 'dealer' is offering are waaaay below market value. It should ring alarm bells! This applies to everything in life - not just cars. There are stupid people in every walk of life - not just those who buy cars. It's the way of the world

The word stupid may sound harsh, so feel free to replace it with a 'softer' word such as naive/daft

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 21:01
Alli - Attempted fraud - tony g
You're largely right ,however I would still say that common sense is gained from experience ,get your fingers burnt a few times and you will then have lots of common sense.

As I said earlier, lots of car buyers still believe there are bargains out there ,all they have to do is find them.

In a similair vein ,how often do we see posts on this forum ,saying how buyers got the better of the dealer selling the car .(i got a much better deal than they wanted to give me.)

I don't believe a dealer ever sells a car unless it suits the dealer.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 21:29
Alli - Attempted fraud - balleballe

It's all about showmanship.

I went into a mazda dealership asking which mazda 6 models had the "0% VAT" and "0% finance for 4 years" offer. He took me over to one of the diesels that was in the offer

So I asked if it was available on a non-diesel car - he said no. So I thanked him for his help and was about to make my way to the exit

He then asked why I wanted a petrol - so I told him. He then went for a 'chat' with his 'manager' - came back and said they could do the same deal in the petrol, but only on a certain trim.

I told him I was looking for the trim level above the one which was on offer, unless he could sweeten the deal further. By now he realised I was quite serious about it all so he 'threw in' 3 years free servicing too, on the spot

Had he been a better actor he could have given it the whole "you're really twisting my arm now, i'll do it just for you" malarky - the sort of thing which makes people think they are getting a real deal. Had he said any of that rubbish - I would not have been impressed

I'm a straight talking guy - and prefer people of a similar nature

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 11 Mar 2012 22:16
Alli - Attempted fraud - tony g
So,do you believe you got the better of the dealer ,or did he sell you one of the less desirable petrol models ,at a price that suited him.

I wonder how much in real terms ,three years free servicing actually costs a dealer ,perhaps a hundred pounds in parts and wages ,a good value way to close a deal ?

It's all smoke and mirrors ,theirs no such thing as a free lunch.

Tony g
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Mar 2012 07:55
Alli - Attempted fraud - TeeCee

(Sadly - there are plenty of stupid people who buy/drive cars.) A bit harsh I think guys .Car enthusiasts and dealers like most of the regular posters on here are unlikely to get caught by such an obvious con .

So if it were advertising a washing machine we'd fall for it 'cos we're car enthsiasts and know nothing about washing machines?

Stupid is right. To fall for that you'd have to overlook both "Caveat Emptor" and "If it looks too good to be true....."

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Mar 2012 08:06
Alli - Attempted fraud - madf

Stupid?

There are people who send £30k or more to some Nigerian widow to help her get her $14million out of the country in return for a share...

So a cheap car? Sounds fine to me.

PS I have £100million in a bank I cannot access...

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Mar 2012 12:05
Alli - Attempted fraud - tony g
Stupid is right. To fall for that you'd have to overlook both "Caveat Emptor" and "If it looks too good to be true....."

I wonder how many people really know what caveat emptor means,it takes experience and getting your fingers burnt ,to avoid fraud like this .

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Mar 2012 14:20
Alli - Attempted fraud - janliv18
there are loads of these types of adverts on autotrader, I cant beleive they are not removed. I searched 3 year old Diesel Mondeo, Bmw 320 and Audi A4 last night. The first three or four adverts that came up in the search results were all 'please dont call me, email only '. They were all silly prices as well, like £5000 for a 3 year old A4 tdi. Why do autotrader allow these adverts and does anyone actually fall for this scam? They must do as they wouldnt be still advertising at £30 odd quid a pop.

Edited by janliv18 on 12/03/2012 at 14:23

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 12 Mar 2012 15:53
Alli - Attempted fraud - tony g
Hi jan,if you look at the original post ,the fraudsters have found a way past autotraders two levels of security ,they actually take over a dealers website ,hence no cost to them .

I spoke to the dealer in Newcastle who's site had been taken over this weekend ,he says the fraudsters had removed all his stock and replaced it with theirs .

He also said he had hundreds of phone calls from people ringing him rather than replying to the email. A completely wasted weekend for him .

The fraudsters had changed his passwords so he couldn't get onto his own website to sort it out. He had to wait until Monday for autotraders IT staff to sort it out .
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

From which small car to buy at which price point to the best UK-built cars, our Top 10s have the lot. Click now for your shortlist.

Unsure of what to buy? Our Top 10s are here to help you....

From economical vans to those that have the largest payloads, we have a shortlist for everyone - click to find out which will suit your needs.

Undecided on which van to buy? Our Top 10 shortlists can help...