CAR HELP!

I have seen a car for sale on gumtree with a great price on it (Too good if i'm honest). So I enquired and asked why is it so cheap. The guy replied with this:

Thank you for the interest showed in my car, and sorry for the late reply but I have just moved to Ireland with my job. Don't worry though, the car is still there in UK, stored at a transport company in London. This car was left to me in my uncle's will, and to be honest I never owned a car before and I don't even have a driver license, but I can assure you it runs as great as it looks, my uncle was all about his car, took great care of it. The price I am asking is £ 2.800 and it includes shipping anywhere in UK. Because of this situation(I'm not in UK anymore), I have made special arrangements that allow me to sell the car there without me being present, so if you are still interested on it please email me back so I can explain to you how can this be done without me being there, safely for both of us.

Does this sound too dodgy and if so how could I get a check on the car done?

I done a check on here: http://www.freecarcheck.org and the results came back with:

Vehicle Identification

Manufacturer: Vauxhall
Model: Astra Selection 16v
Year: 2010
Colour: Silver
Fuel Type: Petrol
Engine Size (CC): 1398
VIN: Not available
V5C Issued: Not available

Tax
Tax Status: Licence Not Due
Expiry Date: 01/01/2011
Registration Date: 31/01/2010
6 Month Cost: £49.50
12 Month Cost: £90.00

Free Car Check: Not reported stolen

Sounds totally dodgy to me

Forget it, this sort of scam has been seen before. They have used it before when selling puppies on the chaep.

Any further contact and there will be a call for an amount of cash, for transport or something like that, they will sweeten the deal by saying you wont have to buy the car if you don't like it when you see it. However it will never arrive anyway.

Well that's my take on it. Look out for odd language within the emails as well, a bit like a poorly translated "Matey, Matey Letter"

Cheers both

I think its dodgy too but thought i'd ask.

It's definatly dodgy. When my ex was trying to buy a hairless cat, the same story would be there (obviously the situation changes) but its always "ohh well i can arrange for you to buy it and I'll ship it to you"

I think this one is to do with how you pay for the car, they use a 3rd party (like Paypal) to hold the money until you are satisfied, but you never see it again.

Saying that I'd have to get in touch again just to see if I was right.

It's definatly dodgy. When my ex was trying to buy a hairless cat, the same story would be there (obviously the situation changes) but its always "ohh well i can arrange for you to buy it and I'll ship it to you"

Why would anyone possibly want a hairless cat?!

Why would anyone possibly want a hairless cat?!

She's a bit of a freak They're ugly little aliens!

I think this one is to do with how you pay for the car, they use a 3rd party (like Paypal) to hold the money until you are satisfied, but you never see it again.

Saying that I'd have to get in touch again just to see if I was right.

I have , but i'm also reporting it to Gumtree

They might ask you to pay with something other than PayPal - if this is the case, gladly decline.

I think this one is to do with how you pay for the car, they use a 3rd party (like Paypal) to hold the money until you are satisfied, but you never see it again.

Saying that I'd have to get in touch again just to see if I was right.

I've heard of that scam a few times too Wayne, and like you say, I'd get in touch with the guy again, just to see if he asks for money up front or your bank details or something.

It's definatly dodgy. When my ex was trying to buy a hairless cat, the same story would be there (obviously the situation changes) but its always "ohh well i can arrange for you to buy it and I'll ship it to you"

Why would anyone possibly want a hairless cat?!

I thought the same, there is one on a friends episode Wrong, so wrong!

It's definatly dodgy. When my ex was trying to buy a hairless cat, the same story would be there (obviously the situation changes) but its always "ohh well i can arrange for you to buy it and I'll ship it to you"

Why would anyone possibly want a hairless cat?!

I thought the same, there is one on a friends episode Wrong, so wrong!

If it to good to be true, it usualy is, something i try to remember.

I think this one is to do with how you pay for the car, they use a 3rd party (like Paypal) to hold the money until you are satisfied, but you never see it again.

Saying that I'd have to get in touch again just to see if I was right.

I've heard of that scam a few times too Wayne, and like you say, I'd get in touch with the guy again, just to see if he asks for money up front or your bank details or something.

I've had to look into a few of these scams for work and you'd be suprised how far people go before asking the question, "Is this a scam" and it's usually AFTER they have parted with some cash.

£2,800 for a brand new Astra that, looking at the spec, probably sells for £17,000 and whose grandad has passed away but was all for his car? Hmmmm....

We had people advertising in the Echo, or trying to at least, before we cottoned on to them. they'd use the same wordinjg in the emails (apart from make, model, spec and price) and said that they'd just moved to Germany but the car was in the UK. We contacted the police who said it was a hoax

£2,800 for a brand new Astra that, looking at the spec, probably sells for £17,000 and whose grandad has passed away but was all for his car? Hmmmm....

9k its worth...weirdly I was hoping that his grandad had died and left it to him and he just wanted rid lol

JOP this is definatly a scam - to find out, ask if you can go and see the car personally, and see if s/he replies. If so, he'll probably say its somewhere obscure such as in the North-west of Scotland (on one of the islands).

Why would anyone possibly want a hairless cat?!

I thought the same, there is one on a friends episode Wrong, so wrong!

There is a joke there somewhere, but I aint going anywhere near it.

Keep us posted, keep him on the line and we will feed him lines that he can try and wriggle out of.

There is a joke there somewhere, but I aint going anywhere near it.

Nothing about hairless pussy I hope

Why would anyone possibly want a hairless cat?!

I thought the same, there is one on a friends episode Wrong, so wrong!

There is a joke there somewhere, but I aint going anywhere near it.

Why do all the threads I post on turn into filth?!

I said:

Thanks for getting back to me. What is the mileage on the car and what would the process be if purchased?

He replied:

21000 miles. Before leaving United Kingdom I have prearranged the deal with AlertPay https://www.AlertPay.com, so that there will be no need for me to be there!
I will need your full name, shipping address and phone number so I can register the transaction with Alertpay, after that they will contact you with the payment details. You will make a 50% deposit directly to AlertPay and they will hold the money secure until you receive and inspect the car for 5 days. The shipping will start right after Alertpay will receive your deposit, and it is paid by me! If you decide that after inspecting it you want to return it, than they will ship it back without any expenses for you and they will refund your money in 24h, but if you decide to keep it than the money will be transferred to me and you will have to pay the rest of the balance.
I am waiting for a quick response since I have 2 other people very interested in the car as well

I said:

Thanks for getting back to me. What is the mileage on the car and what would the process be if purchased?

He replied:

21000 miles. Before leaving United Kingdom I have prearranged the deal with AlertPay https://www.AlertPay.com, so that there will be no need for me to be there!
I will need your full name, shipping address and phone number so I can register the transaction with Alertpay, after that they will contact you with the payment details. You will make a 50% deposit directly to AlertPay and they will hold the money secure until you receive and inspect the car for 5 days. The shipping will start right after Alertpay will receive your deposit, and it is paid by me! If you decide that after inspecting it you want to return it, than they will ship it back without any expenses for you and they will refund your money in 24h, but if you decide to keep it than the money will be transferred to me and you will have to pay the rest of the balance.
I am waiting for a quick response since I have 2 other people very interested in the car as well

It's a scam.

The person has surprisingly good English. Usually they're Nigerians with really bad English!

I said:

Thanks for getting back to me. What is the mileage on the car and what would the process be if purchased?

He replied:

21000 miles. Before leaving United Kingdom I have prearranged the deal with AlertPay https://www.AlertPay.com, so that there will be no need for me to be there!
I will need your full name, shipping address and phone number so I can register the transaction with Alertpay, after that they will contact you with the payment details. You will make a 50% deposit directly to AlertPay and they will hold the money secure until you receive and inspect the car for 5 days. The shipping will start right after Alertpay will receive your deposit, and it is paid by me! If you decide that after inspecting it you want to return it, than they will ship it back without any expenses for you and they will refund your money in 24h, but if you decide to keep it than the money will be transferred to me and you will have to pay the rest of the balance.
I am waiting for a quick response since I have 2 other people very interested in the car as well

It's a scam.

The person has surprisingly good English. Usually they're Nigerians with really bad English!

Lucky I only sent him the £200 enquiry fee now...fheew

Lucky I only sent him the £200 enquiry fee now...fheew

I hope thats a joke!

I saw a programme about this very same scam. Cant find the link, but found this one on the BBC which is the same!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8090795.stm

Lucky I only sent him the £200 enquiry fee now...fheew

I hope thats a joke!

I'm not that dull! I've just bought a bald Pussy Cat instead for £200

I saw a programme about this very same scam. Cant find the link, but found this one on the BBC which is the same!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8090795.stm

Cheers Claire, just looked at it. Why are people so sly aye?? Makes you sick and mad!

Why do all the threads I post on turn into filth?!

You do seem to provide the perfect opening lines to send threads on a downward spiral.

Why would anyone possibly want a hairless cat?!

I blame Dafydd, he took it just a step too far.