WCYT

CAR buying scams are set up by bogus used-car buyers and it has only one heartbreaking finale - your bank account will be emptied and you end up owing your bank thousands. Many used-car sellers claim to be from abroad and are eager to buy the advertised car for the full asking price – no haggling – without even looking at the vehicle.
They will also send some "extra" money that must be returned to him. After some complicated email exchanges with the "buyer," the victim ends up with a worthless cashiers cheque or money order, a depleted bank account, and is still stuck with the car.
It's a scam that is easy to spot when you know what to look for, because the pattern is always the same, although some of the details may vary.
How does it work?
You advertise your used car for sale in a newspaper classified ad or on an "auto trader" website.
Your car may be one that is in less-than-perfect condition and has high mileage such that it may be difficult to find a buyer. You are anxious to sell.
You are contacted by an interested buyer who wants your car and is willing to pay your price, without seeing or examining the car.
He might tell you that he lives/works abroad and that he will arrange to have the car picked up by his "agent" and shipped to him. He offers to send you a certified cashier's cheque or bank cheque right away.
You deposit the perfectly official-looking cheque at your bank. The bank credits your account for the amount of the check, although the check has not actually cleared yet, and won't be for at least 10 business days or more — which your "buyer" knows.
Meantime, the "buyer" contacts you again and reminds you that he sent you too much money, and requests you to send him or his agent a money order or cashier's check for the excess amount, which might be a few hundred or a few thousand pounds. You do it, because you are anxious to sell your car.
You withdraw the "excess" money from your bank account (the same account where you deposited the "buyer's" cashier's check) to send to him or his "agent."
A day or so later, after you have already sent part of the money, the "buyer" may contact you again and may inform you that he (or his client) has changed his mind about purchasing your car, and asks you to send him the rest of the money.
Again you withdraw more money from your bank account, but now it gets worse, much worse. Your bank calls you a few days later and informs you that the cashier's cheque is counterfeit and is totally worthless. They debit your account for the full amount of the cheque. The bank now wants you to make good on the cheques you've written from your account that you sent to the "buyer" or his "agent."
Whatever money of your own that was originally in your account is now gone. Your bank wants you to pay them the rest of the missing money. The bank claims no responsibility in the matter. Your funds are not guaranteed under banking regulations. This is not considered a bank "mistake."
You're out of luck. You still have your used car but you now owe your bank a substantial amount of money. It’s then you discover the scammer was using a bogus name and can't be located. There is no one to sue or prosecute. These are professional criminals who know how to disappear and pop up again somewhere else. Law enforcement agencies are helpless to act.
Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common. It happens to real people every day. Although this scam has been around for a few years, there are still many people who haven't heard about it.
Don't get caught in this one. Many people have. If you are selling a used car and a buyer from a foreign country claims to want your car, sight unseen, for your full asking price, with some complicated scheme for payment that involves you sending money to someone else, then the chances of this being a scam are about 999-1.

WCYT

A community interest company keeping vulnerable residents in Essex safe from rogue tradesmen and doorstep conmen

www.whocanyoutrust.org.uk

Beware the car cashback fiddle

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