Can anyone give me an explaination as to some bizzare calls I’m getting when advertising my car for sale?
Background: I’m selling a fairly expensive car, A Mercedes S600 AMG. I’m asking $67,000.00. The car was listed in my local paper and, apparently, the listing got picked up by Cars.com.
So far I have gotten 3 odd calls. I listed my cell number in the ad and all 3 calls came across as “restricted” in my caller ID. All 3 we’re VERY enthusiastic to buy the car and didn’t even talk price. One guy didn’t even know the difference between my car and another Mercedes model.
So…
-Could they be looking to steal/carjack it?
-Is there a safe method for me to have them see the car if they are legit?
Yes, there are bizzare people out there. I once tried to sell a Mustang and got similar calls/issues.
One guy I spoke with brought his wife and then asked if I wanted to have sex with her while he watched.
But this might be more to your point:
Expensive cars/owners/sellers are often victims of scams. I know this because I work for a national credit bureau and a number of doctors have been scammed out of their cars. I don’t know the exact details, but at the simplest level, it involves bogus checks, bank checks, certified checks, 24 hour delays, etc
For very expensive cars, the scam is to get the vehicle, even if by test drive and get the thing into a truck and shipped overseas. Owner beware of swapping seats during the test drive, or flat out violence.
Check out this website, which lists some of the standard scams and frauds. Most of these schemes target the buyer, not the seller, but scroll down to the “Counterfeit Cashiers Check” section near the bottom of the linked page. The guy who runs this website also has a good description of the Nigerian scams. Required reading!
My advice is simple: refuse to deal with anyone who blocks Caller ID, and ignore any calls from anyone outside of the U.S. or Canada.
A very basic scam that I’ve seen pulled off goes like this:
It’s getting late in the afternoon. The buyer agrees to purchase the car for at least the asking price because he needs it immediately. Of course, no prudent person would walk around with several thousand dollars in cash so the buyer invites the seller to accompany him to the bank for the cash or a cashier’s check. Damn! The bank’s closed for the day! Dang banker’s hours! Shoot! (buyer is very put out and a little embarassed at his bad luck)
“Listen, I really won’t have time to get back out here until the weekend–I took today off work and have been car shopping all day, etc. Let me write you a personal check…” and so, since the guy was willing to withdraw cash for you and you thus believe he is alright, you agree and he writes the (duh! BAD) check and you sign over the title. He hits the DMV right when they open (7 am) and transfers the title into his name (some states won’t release a new title immediately, some do). If you have half a brain, you’re at the bank right when they open (9 am) and they tell you the check is no good. Meanwhile, your car has just been traded to a dealer toward the purchase of another car, which will soon be sold for cash. The thief then disappears while you and the car dealer (and maybe the police if they feel up to it) argue about who really owns your car.
Congratulations. You’re screwed. Want a kiss?
Typically the con-man is a young, clean-cut productive member of society. He will prey on old folks or meek single moms who take stock in the appearance of others, and who really want to help someone in need.
“So, on getting the check, you are to cash it and deduct the cost price then do me a favour of sending the remaining funds meant for shipping to my International shipper”
I don’t see how the victim gets scammed by this. If the victim does exactly what the “buyer” asks, the scam falls apart at the “cash it” stage.
I seem to recall that in this scam, the cashier’s check is a convincing forgery drawn on an account that may exist (but which may also be empty). The important part of this is that it passes scrutiny in the short term and results in a large sum of money being (fraudulently) deposited into the victim’s account.
If the victim at this very point realizes he’s been scammed and closes his bank account, taking cash with him, and hops on a jet to Brazil, he might come out ahead.
Otherwise:
victim withdraws the “shipping and handling” from his own bank account, of his own volition, and sends it to the shipping company.
victim is informed that the cashier’s check deposited in his account was a forgery and his account is being debited for the value of the check.
victim waves “Hello” to OpalCat
victim has already handed over his car, wired the shipping money to a numbered account, and headed out to the bar to get solidly drunk.
You may have scammers, or potential carjackers calling you. I can also imagine that you may also have people who just want joyrides in a car as fast and powerful as yours. I can confess that if you offerred me 15 minutes driving a car like that, not only would I be willing to do it… but I’d be willing to pay a small sum. Mayhaps the callers are trying to get a free joyride out of you.
the famous case in Ohio, where the mother was kidnapped, killed, and her unborn baby taken from her body, was kidnapped/killed by people pretending to buy her car.
i have never bought, sold or driven a car in your class. but i would speculate that the potential market for such a car would be small, especially if you expect the buyer to have 67 grand in cash on hand, and prospective buyers probably aren’t spending a lot of time reading used car classifieds. i would also speculate that a car like that is red meat for thieves and scammers. getting untraceable phone calls by itself sounds a little scary–if they are legitimate buyers, they would want you to contact them, right? is there any way that you could arrange to pay a dealer either a flat fee or a commission to market and sell your car? a dealer has a steady stream of prospects, he can probably get a higher price than a private seller could expect, he can offer financing (on which he also makes money), and he knows how to deal with security issues. it might be worth one or two percent off the top to avoid the predictable hassles, not to mention the potential catastrophes.
Flash, I can’t say I worked out the details of the scam as it was posted, but the point was to make the seller aware of the types of things that might be thrown at them. Upon reading the scam, it sounded like something I was familiar with and was typical of rare/expensive autos.
That is what scams are all about: It looks legit, but you can’t even wrap your brain around it to realize the scam part.
The common things to be aware of: scams invloving delays or any unusual set of circumstances, delays in checks clearing, having the buyer get a partner involved, or associate from overseas, etc.
Also, a test drive. This has happened: test drive with buyer, buyer swaps seats with you, leaves you outside the car and your car is loaded into a truck. Now, you may be thinking to yourself that you would let him drive from the start so that you don’t have to swap, but two things can happen:
-he says he is uncomfortable driving and wants you to switch
he pulls out a gun
Now, in the first example, you are now saying to yourself, “Well, I’d just slide over the center console so I am not standing outside the car.” Which is fine, except you never would think that if someone didn’t alert you to the scam.
For an AMG Mercedes, I’d say that the scenario where your car is loaded into a truck and then shipped overseasis within the realm of reasonable possibility.
And another thing about scams that you should remember so that you are never so bold as to thinnk you won’t be scammed: Like a simple magician’s trick, no matter how sharp you think you are, there is always that moment when you smack your head and realize how stupid you are for not figuring it out up front.
It is these very characteristics that open you to scams. Trust or overconfidence stand to cost you 67 large.
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings. --Prov. xxii. 29
diligent: Interestedly and perseveringly attentive;
As for vigilant, when I lived in the inner city, and car theft was running rampant in my neighborhood, I was vigilant when I hid behing other cars with a baseball bat.
