So, I'm selling my car...and
 

This guy from england contacted me to buy it. It's a 91 eagle talon TSI AWD, etc etc. Nice car, however, i'm not sure about this, after a series of emails back and forth, we've ended up with this final email. I'm not sure about all this...:

"HELLO,
THANKS FOR THE MAIL, THE PRICE IS OKAY BY US WHICH IS
{$3000USD} AND I WANT U TO KNOW THAT I AM WILLING TO PAY {$3,200USD} FOR THE
[CAR] DO U KNOW WHAT, I WANT U TO FORGET ABOUT THE SHIPPING WE WILL MAKE
ARRANGEMENT FOR THE SHIPPMENT BY OUR SELF, SO I WANT U TO KNOW THAT THE
OUR CLIENT THAT IS INTERESTED THE [CAR] SAID U ARE GOING TO RECEIVE THE
CHECK AMOUNT OF $7,000USD SO WHAT I WANT U TO DO FOR US NOW IS THAT AS
SOON AS U RECEIVE THE CHECK I WANT U TO DEDUCT UR $3,200USD AND MAKE
SURE U FORWARD THE REMAINING $3,800USD TO SHIPPING COMPANY THAT WILL MAKE
ARRANGEMENT FOR THE PICK-UP IN UR LOCATION AND I WANT U TO KNOW THAT
THE CHECK WILL BE DRWAN IN USA BANK SO WHAT I WANT U TO DO FOR US NOW IS
THAT AS SOON AS U GOT THE CHECK I WANT U TO TAKE IT TO THE BANK AND
CASH IN UR ACCOUNT AND DEDUCT UR! OWN AMOUNT SENT THE REST TO THE SHIPPING
COMPANY THAT WILL SHIPPED THE (CAR) IN UR LOCATION. SO IF ALL THIS IS
OKAY BY U I WANT U TO GET BACK TOME WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATI
ON.
FULLNAME THAT WILLBE ON THE CHECK..............
FULL HOME ADDRESS WHERE TO SEND THE CHECK TO...
HOME PHONE NUMBER SO THAT WE CAN HEAR UR VOICE.
CELL PHONE NUMBER ALSO NEEDED..................
SO WE WILL EXPECTING UR MAIL ANYTIME FROM NOW.
THANKS
BUBBY K........"

So, could this be some kinda scam or should I just be OK with it? Any advice? Anyone? He just talks kinda weird, and i'm not sure about everything, nor do I know how cashiers checks really work...

It sounds like a scam to get your bank account information.

The use of U instead of you is also a warning flag.

I had an even more bizarre email exchange earlier this year. I received an email from a man in Belgium claming to be a wealthy retired oil trader. He said he wanted to invest $30M in my company. This was too good to be true - but I was curious as to his angle. He had his "lawyer" contact me to ask for the bank account information so they could wire the funds.

Yeah right.

THe all caps is giving me a headache...

He's giving you a check for 7000 which you are supposed to cash and take out the 3200 for the car, and give him back 3800 for shipping?

Cashiers checks are as good as cash, but something about that just doesn't sound right.

has he given you the name of the shipping company to check it out to make sure it's legit?

I don't know man. That looks really shady. How did someone from england find out about your car? Give us some background info on this.

If is sounds like a rat, and it smells like a rat, then it's probably a rat.

Well, he never asked me for my bank account information though. However, as you can see, did ask for the full addy and such. No name of the shipping company, I think i'll keep replying, but if he asks for bank account info, then i'll be like "uh no". Not like it would matter, as my current checking and savings accounts = 20 dollars...

I got an idea... I think it's a scam... if you ever read the p-p-p-powerbook story, I think you should do something similar. Get some hotwheels!

Riddle me this...

Not that this is your problem, but it also flags it as a concern.

Why does he want the car? I'm sure it's a fine car, but it's also 13 years old - is this a collector car? Something really popular?

In England, their cars are configured differently than they are in the US -- I don't think he could legally drive the car on Englands roads without putting some money into having it configured.

Why would he pay more than the car is worth to have it shipped?

I would try to use some other form of payment method. Maybe paypal or something.

It just sounds very strange and suspicious. From him saying he'll pay more than you ask to him, to sending you more than you want for the car for shipping even though it seems there's no set price for shipping (i.e. "ok i'll give you this extra 4000 dollars even though i dont know that it will cost that much or that you wont take off with it") to even the "do you know what" part. It just sounds scamish.

Things that sound to good to be true usually are.

I'll bet it's a money laundering / drug transaction kind of thing.

Person A (who e-mailed you) wants to buy drugs or something else bad from Person B (the "shipping company") without being traced as easily. You give the car to Person B along with the $3800. He picks up your car and resells it to get the remaining money, and then delivers $7k in goods to Person A. And as far as the Feds can tell YOU bought the bad stuff -- not only did you write him a check but you signed over the title for your car.

So in summary, no fucking way would I make a deal like that.

I wonder what would happen if he clued in the FBI about this pending "deal".

Do it!

definitely sounds like a ppppowerbook ordeal to me. sounds real shady....

Ding, Ding, Ding! We got a winner.

it's a known scam - started by the nigerian idiots.

Here's how it works.

You charge him 1000
he sends you 2000, asking you to deposit it, and then send the extra 1000 to his "shipping company," so you write a check and do so.

Thirty days later your bank does its accounts and discovers that his 2000 check is from a fake account, and removes the deposit from your account. You've now sent him $1000, and your car, and he hasn't sent you anything.

This is what it sounds like to me.

Yeah, I just emailed them back, and told them the car was sold. Sounds way to fishy to me, not worth the risk.

I dunno, it may be a scam, but if he's willing to give you the money before you ship the car, aren't you in control of the transaction?

Yep scam, good idea you blew it off. Read as it says in my Signature...

not if the "money" he gives you is drafted on a fake bank account. When you deposit a check, the teller can't verify that the account # is real right away - the checks go into a pile where they're all processed. It usually takes about 20-30 days to get that done. If after that time the bank discovers the check is bad, they remove that money from your account - otherwise the bank is out however much money the check was for. Of course, no one is gonna get a car payment check and then keep the car for a month, so you are not in control of anything in that situation ;)

Unless you tell him that you want the check to clear before the car is transfered to him??

Seems very reasonable to me.

Just tell him it has to be a cashier's check or a money order. If it's a scam he won't do that.

I would never take a personal check for that much money unless it was from a close friend/family member.

Thirded!
I agree - oh that'd be so sweet.
And if you pull it off - we expect a blog.

its obviously f*ked up.. a 91 talon isnt worth 7 grand usd.. and the point about not being able to drive in england..

good thing you backed out... dont give them your address

Never trust someone who uses "U" in a sentence. Sure... it just oozes with professionalism.

that was for sure a scam. im trying to find the newspaper article from our local paper. the same thing happened to a girl in my town. if i find it ill post it.

Yeah also if he really wanted to act all professional the letter would of looked way more formal.
Plus no offense I don't see how you car could be that desirable over in England?
I've had several people do the same to me regarding big $$$ car parts on ebay...some guy said he had a set of $1100 heads for $600 in italy and i needed to send a western union money order....yeah right....
Plus another thing regarding people buying cars overseas. If this was the real deal someone in the states would of talked to you about buying it and then ship it over to some people he would know overseas. One of my bosses does this with vintage harleys....he does all the buying and transferring of money, then he crates them and ships them to his contact in japan.

It's absolutely positively a scam.

As other people have alluded to, by federal banking regulations, the bank must credit your account within a day or two when you deposit a bank check.

Most people assume that if the funds have been credited to your account, the instrument must be good, but that ain't so.

There are plenty of articles out there on this exact scam.

And here's a link:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/carsale.asp

It's for sure a scam.

Just send them a simple email:
"The car is for sale. I will accept a cashiers check drafted from a US Bank in the amount of X for the vehicle and you are to arrange for pick-up of the vehicle. If you are interested, let me know."

They won't write back.

Thanks.

You can drive LHD cars here, it's just a bit uncomfortable. I know someone who drives a LHD imported Camaro.