Who's car is in this scam ad? | FerrariChat

Who's car is in this scam ad?

Discussion in 'Boxers/TR/M' started by Linas, Jun 16, 2014.

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  1. Linas

    Linas Karting

    Jan 26, 2013
    126
    Europe
    Full Name:
    Linas
    #1 Linas, Jun 16, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Just got an email, offering to buy a TR for a super low price. No clue, how they got my email address. My German knowledge is very limited, but you could put that into google translate to get the essence. Are they using picture of any forum member's car?

    Sender's email is [email protected].

    Hallo,

    Ich schätze Ihre Absicht, mein Auto zu kaufen.
    Das Auto läuft sehr gut und es ist in einem sehr guten Zustand und ich hatte nie irgendwelche Probleme. Der Preis beträgt 18.000 Euro und ich denke, es ist bequem für uns beide.

    Mein Name ist Britt und ich bin 28 Jahre alt.
    Meine Familie und ich leben in Trelleborg, Schweden . Meine Familie und ich hatten ein Ferienhaus in Deutschland , wo wir unseren Sommer-und Winterferien verbringen. Ich habe das Auto aus Deutschland gekauft, und es ist noch in Deutschland registriert (und hat alle rechtlichen deutsche Dokumente). Es wurde immer in der Garage von unserem Ferienhaus gehalten, und es wurde nur während ich in Deutschland war gefahren.
    Leider mussten wir unser Ferienhaus in Deutschland diesem Jahr verkaufen und jetzt leben wir ständig in Trelleborg . Also müssen wir, dieses deutsche Auto zu verkaufen, weil wir keine Verwendung mehr für sie haben, da Ich bereits ein anderes Auto mit schwedisch Dokumenten hier habe.

    Wenn Sie ein ernsthafte Interesse an meinem Auto haben, bin ich bereit, mit meinem Bruder zu kommen und Sie in Deutschland zu treffen für die technische Inspektion . Wenn Sie damit einverstanden sind, schreiben Sie bitte zurück mit Ihren genauen Postleitzahl (oder Stadt), so kann ich ein gutes Treffenpunkt für uns beide empfehlen.
    Ich bin sicher, dass wir einen netten Platz in Deutschland finden können, was es für uns beide bequem sein wird.

    Ich habe die anzeige mit meine auto geschlosen,weil ich habe bereits ein paar potenzielle Käufer. Ich habe das gemacht weil ich bin sicher das ich ein Käufer für mein Auto finden werde,und Ich habe keine zeit oder vergnügen mit zehnen menschen zu sprechen dass möglicherweise keine ernsthaftes interessen an meine Auto haben.
    Ich habe in dieser E-Mail alle Bilder angebracht , so können Sie es auf Ihrem Computer haben.

    Grüße aus Schweden,
    Britt
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. Linas

    Linas Karting

    Jan 26, 2013
    126
    Europe
    Full Name:
    Linas
    #2 Linas, Jun 16, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  3. rpissm

    rpissm Formula 3

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,620
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Full Name:
    Joe
    Possibly stolen? Weird that he's offering to meet with you somewhere to show it to you, rather than "just send me money and I promise I'll send you the car - after all, I'm a Nigerian prince!"
     
  4. Bradley

    Bradley F1 Rookie

    Nov 23, 2006
    2,831
    Lakewood, Colorado
    Full Name:
    Bradley
    If I understand correctly, two things about this letter make it very suspicious:

    1. He doesn't know you, and you don't know where he got your e-mail; he just contacted you out of the blue and asked if you want to buy his TR.

    2. He is asking far less than I would expect this car to sell for in Europe.

    On the other hand:
    1. He could be someone you've met and forgotten about. (?)
    2. He actually appears to have this car available to view and test drive. (?)
    3. Maybe he's actually so desperate that he would rather let the car go for about 1/4 of its actual value. (?)

    Or maybe I'm just being really gullible. :)

    It's just weird that he's not asking for a "good faith deposit," or offering to send you a bogus "certified check" to cover "your share of taxes and import duties" or "transfer fees" or some bogus bullcrap. With most of these scams, there's a bogus "cashiers' check" from him to you somewhere along the line.
     
  5. Linas

    Linas Karting

    Jan 26, 2013
    126
    Europe
    Full Name:
    Linas
    I asked for VIN number. He responded:

    Hallo,
    Es tut mir leid aber ich kann ihnen nicht per Fax oder E-Mail-Kopie von meinem Auto Dokumente senden ( oder VIN/chassis Nr. etc ) .
    Gestern habe ich eine E-Mail von autoscout24.de erhalten und warnte mich, nicht Kopie von meiner Auto-Dokumente zu jedem potenziellen Kunden zu senden. Wenn Sie wirklich wollen, um das Auto kaufen, treffen wir uns und zusammen gehen wir zu einer Polizeidienststelle und überprüfen die Fahrgestellnummer und Fahrzeugpapiere des Autos.
    Hoffe, Sie verstehen meinen Standpunkt.

    Mfg
     
  6. Elsi

    Elsi Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 26, 2010
    1,630
    Zürich (Switzerland)
    Full Name:
    Markus
    That’s quite common. If you sell a car on an online platform here, sometimes somebody contacts you telling you he is interested in your car. You can usually recognize these guys because they are from a completely different country than you are. At the end they promise to pay some money but first you have to pay them some money. You can image how these stories end…

    In your case I assume you should pay some amount to them as sign of your interest. At the end you will find out that this car does not exist and that you just have lost some money.

    If you have some time at your hand you can play that game and say that you are interested in this car. See what happens, but never pay any money.

    If you don’t like such games, I would just delete this e-mail and drive your own car.

    Markus
     
  7. Elsi

    Elsi Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 26, 2010
    1,630
    Zürich (Switzerland)
    Full Name:
    Markus
    If you really have time you don’t know what to do with: Play the game but in the other direction. Start asking a lot of questions, requesting more pics etc. Plan to meet them somewhere but cancel the meeting one day prior. Tell them you need some money but that you will earn more than USD 100 000 by the next month to pay the car in cash and even more.

    There are lots of variants…

    Markus
     
  8. turbo-joe

    turbo-joe F1 Veteran

    Apr 6, 2008
    8,866
    southwest germany and thailand
    Full Name:
    romano schwabel
    markus, you sound like a nigerian :)
     
  9. Elsi

    Elsi Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 26, 2010
    1,630
    Zürich (Switzerland)
    Full Name:
    Markus
  10. Bradley

    Bradley F1 Rookie

    Nov 23, 2006
    2,831
    Lakewood, Colorado
    Full Name:
    Bradley
    #10 Bradley, Jun 17, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2014
    I like how you think. Keep asking for photos and see how quickly the car gets "sold" to someone else!

    The seller probably is Nigerian.

    If he and the car don't completely disappear once you start asking for detailed photos, try to turn it around so that he has to send you money. (My banker advised me when I was in a similar situation that if I do receive a phony cashier's check and deposit it, the money's mine if the bank doesn't detect the fraud after 30 days!)

    BTW, I see chassis (VIN) numbers posted here all the time. I've never heard of anyone encountering problems with vehicular identity theft or anything from putting that out there. Ironically, many photos of vehicles blur or edit out license plates. Strikes me as odd, as anyone can "steal" your license plate number while you're driving on a public road. . . though to what end, I can't imagine.

    For those who don't speak German, here's my colloquial translation of the above reply:

    Hello,
    I apologize, but I can not send a copy of my documents or VIN/chassis number, etc. by fax or e-mail..

    Yesterday autoscout24.de warned me in an e-mail not to send a copy of my automotive documents to any prospective buyer.

    If you really are interested in purchasing this car, we can meet and go together to a police station to check the chassis number and registration papers for this car.

    I hope you can see this from my standpoint.


    (I'm just sure he'd be delighted to visit a police station. ;) )
     
  11. lear60man

    lear60man Formula 3

    May 29, 2004
    1,829
    Los Angeles
    Full Name:
    Christian
    My next response would be, "Ok, when and where can we meet to inspect the car?"

    I have never understood the black out plate thing either. But when you put info on the web, its there for ever. Better safe than sorry.
     
  12. rpissm

    rpissm Formula 3

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,620
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Full Name:
    Joe
    Really, ask him to take a pic of the car with today's newspaper lying on it or something. If he says no, you know he doesn't have the car in his possession.

    Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
     
  13. Melvok

    Melvok F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jul 25, 2008
    14,101
    Amersfoort, The Netherlands, Europe.
    Full Name:
    Mel
    Markus,

    Just reading the offer in German language, it does not come suspicious over to me at all.

    What do you think ?
     
  14. Elsi

    Elsi Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 26, 2010
    1,630
    Zürich (Switzerland)
    Full Name:
    Markus
    Mel – The German language is OK. It is never written by a German native speaking person, but he is Swedish and does not claim to be German.

    What makes me suspicious:
    - Linas never asked for this car. The mail just “came in” and Linas has no clue how they got his mail address
    - The price (EUR 18 000) is very low

    I would not spend any time regarding this car

    Markus
     
  15. Melvok

    Melvok F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jul 25, 2008
    14,101
    Amersfoort, The Netherlands, Europe.
    Full Name:
    Mel
    Why not if it was a "forced sale" ... he HAS to sell because his garage will be sold ?

    And take that chance for that give-away price ?

    I would travel there and look ... if the Kraftfahrzeug Brief is there .... ?

    Not all people are croocks imo ... :)
     
  16. scs550

    scs550 Rookie

    Dec 25, 2012
    36
    Germany
    Full Name:
    Sven
    So, this now 28 year old "Britt" bought a Ferrari Testarossa for summer and winter (!) vacations in Germany some time ago..
    Must be a real car nut this lady... just strange that she does not write anything specific about this collectors car...probably she and her family just used it to go the shops in Germany
    And now she is selling it because she already has a car with swedish numberplates? Yes, for sure a reason to sell a TR...

    Everything sounds very convincing to me... ;-)
     
  17. Linas

    Linas Karting

    Jan 26, 2013
    126
    Europe
    Full Name:
    Linas
    Will post back as soon as I hear anything. I think, my request for a picture of dash with today's newspaper on top with visible date will be the end of the story...
     
  18. Jaguar 15

    Jaguar 15 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 27, 2013
    1,837
    Hunt. Bch/Palm Dsrt/Virginia
    Full Name:
    Jim Crawford
    These pics look very familiar....mmm.
     
  19. Bradley

    Bradley F1 Rookie

    Nov 23, 2006
    2,831
    Lakewood, Colorado
    Full Name:
    Bradley
    Yeah, legitimacy is still a possibility. . . but there's too much that does not add up, especially the "I-Can't-Share-VIN-or-other-documentation-with-any-potential-buyer" bit.

    But I would try to meet with him to inspect the car as soon as possible. If he's full of s**t, I want to put a stop to his wasting my time; if there's an 18,000 Euro TR in decent shape available for sale anywhere in the world. . . well, I'd like to snatch it up.

    I don't think this is legit, just for the record. But I'd be delighted to be wrong about this one. I'm eagerly waiting to see how this might play out.
     
  20. ME308

    ME308 Formula 3

    Nov 5, 2003
    1,542
    Munich, Germany
    Full Name:
    Michael
    scam all over !

    Britt`s name is also Bianca or Beatrice ... :D
    sometimes even part of a "retired couple"

    she will soon make a suggestion for a meeting in Germany, even provide a mobile phone number ...
    but - to prove your serious interest - she will also ask you to make an upfront wire payment to a wester union office of that town where you will "meet" -
    sure enough the money will already be picked up when you arrive ...

    just play around with her a little ... if you have too much time on your hand ;)
     
  21. Linas

    Linas Karting

    Jan 26, 2013
    126
    Europe
    Full Name:
    Linas
    As I though, story was over, after asking for one picture of today's newspaper on the dash.
     
  22. rpissm

    rpissm Formula 3

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,620
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Full Name:
    Joe
    Sorry your parade was rained on. :)

    Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
     
  23. Bradley

    Bradley F1 Rookie

    Nov 23, 2006
    2,831
    Lakewood, Colorado
    Full Name:
    Bradley
    If he didn't lose money, there was no rain.
     

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