Warning "scam"

[avro]

Just a warning to anyone trying to sell their racecars.

I received an email from a person wishing to buy our racecar (this is from an old advert on an internet race car sales site as the car is not for sale now), the email asked what I would sell the car for and requested a few more details, the bit that caught my eye was it asked what MOT and tax was with the car.

I replied with a price just to see if it was a serious enquiry and explained that it was a racecar etc,etc.. and sent a picture, I put it down to the very broken English used.

The reply came saying that he wanted to buy the car and would forward the money by cheque via an associate in the UK plus £4,400 for me to pay the shipping line MSC Ocean Liners of the Netherlands.

At this point I was not sure so I typed in MSC Ocean liners on the net and it highlighted that this was a SCAM now being used in the UK, I spoke to a chap in the car trade who had been aware of this and he has confirmed my fears, the cheques sent are fakes and the shipping money comes from your account after you bank the cheque, therfore potentially losing £4,400 of your own or company money.

Therefore please be aware and warn others of this scam, as racecars become harder to sell people will be more prepared to take a chance without checking fully.

Be carefull out there !!!!!

[Fireblade]

This is a well know racket.
However one motorsport trader has the measure of the scamsters and runs a site with some humourous excerpts from his many replies.

See here

[avro]

Very good !!!, luckly I spent just a bit more than zero time on this scam, just the time it took to type msc onto the web, but others might not be so vigilant.

[topwelshman]

I got one today! Here it is

"Dear sir/ma,

Good day sir i saw the advert of your '05 BMW Championship and put intrest in buying it please what is the last price you want to sell it and i will pay you through cheque and talk about the pick up .and let me know if it as the recent condition of the car as well as its history of it and if it as the recent Mot and tex cert .

And inportant also,please do state the corent location of the car.

Thanks and hope to hear from you.



Best Regards"

I just replied saying it wasn't for sale.

Here's their email just in case Mark Johnson [markautos111@outgun.com]

[Triple J Motorsport]

And heres 1 I got the MOT and TAX was a give away for a FF! from mark_sola@keromail.com

Dear sir/ma,

Good day sir i saw the advert of your Mygale SJ2001 Scholarand put intrest in buying it please what is the last price you want to sell it and i will pay you through cheque and talk about the pick up .and let me know if it as the recent
condition of the car as well as its history of it and if it as the
recent Mot and tex cert .

And inportant also,please do state the corent location of the car.

Thanks and hope to hear from you.



Best Regards.

[Fireblade]

"MOT an tex"(sic)

And you thought the MSA scrutineers were vigilant!!!!

[Old Ropey]

I actually got a cheque for £15k, drawn on the Abbey, for my Jedi, of which I was supposed to return £5k with the car to Holland.
Surprise, surprise it, the cheque, bounced to the sky & hasn't come down yet.
The whole thing was clearly a scam from the start, but I just played along to see how things developed.
The e-mails got quite rude when I didn't send the £5k by return.

[StephenRae]

Originally posted by Old Ropey
I actually got a cheque for £15k, drawn on the Abbey, for my Jedi, of which I was supposed to return £5k with the car to Holland.
Surprise, surprise it, the cheque, bounced to the sky & hasn't come down yet.
The whole thing was clearly a scam from the start, but I just played along to see how things developed.
The e-mails got quite rude when I didn't send the £5k by return.

What would you have done if 'the heavies' had come to collect the car during the time the cheque would have shown as good on your bank statement (had you put it in).
If they were to forcably remove it I don't think the police would be much help, it would have become a civil matter!

I did hear of another scam where the deal was for £7500 but on closer examination the written ammount on the cheque was for £7.50p.

[MikeHoyer]

Sure, I'm okay with this. I would just like to check some points with you.
Due to the excessive vibration in the kart (it is a very extreme machine at
the pinnacle of the karting world) you need to take a vitamin suppliment
before driving. I have these in the form of tablets, they can be sourced
from any karting shop and are a common form of pill (used to combat motion
sickness), they are sold in the UK under the name of "Sheet" (trademarked).
I have two spare containers of Sheet I can sell with the kart (no extra costs).
Can you eat sheet?

So, if you are okay with eating Sheet, I can pass on the payment details to you.

Cheers,
Graeme.

P.S. I hope that you you are not allergic to vitamin suppliments because I
would hate for you to eat Sheet and die.

Nice one!!!

[JustinDawkins]

Had loads of these, but this was the funniest:

Hello,
How are you doing? How is your family and your work? I hope everything is going on well smartly.
Well my name is Pastor M Bolcan from France, i'm an Trader of Electronics Supplies.
I saw your advert online for your item and i am extremely interested in purchasing it, because i want to get it for my In-Law in West African, so i would like to know the asking price of your item, so that i can show an area of interest in purcashing it from you and the avalaible pictures.
Thanks to God.
Best Regards,
Pastor M Bolcan.

[Old Ropey]

StephenR
In fact I paid £10 for quick clearance of the cheque, just to prove I was right about it bouncing!! Must have money to burn.
Did think briefly about "heavies" but reckoned the whole thing was no more than a try on.

[Fireblade]

Originally posted by JustinDawkins
Well my name is Pastor M Bolcan from France, i'm an Trader of Electronics Supplies.

Thanks to God.
Best Regards,
Pastor M Bolcan.

The Electronic Vicar then eh?

They really beggar belief don't they.
There is probably a Scammers Manual that tells them to pretend that they are a trustworthy man of the cloth and the Brits will send them money on a whim.

I bet they queue at the Internet Cafe to send this rubbish.