[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by Sarvodaya

...the car is brand new, clocked 2,200 KMS ...

'Brand new' and '2,200kms' in the same line doesn't make sense when we are referring to a mass produced car in a developed market. I can understand it if one is buying a Trax vehicle in India : it will be driven all the way from the factory, and would have clocked more than 1000kms before making it to any South Indian dealership. But not a 'brand new' Toyota Corolla.

It will be interesting to know if anyone falls for this so-obvious scam.

[Sarvodaya]

Here is the PDF of Bangalore Mirror which carried the article. The third PDF is the email conversation.

[blackbeast]

These type of ads are very common everywhere. In India it was toyota. In abroad, its BMW. I am sure the fraudsters are making reasonable success. It would not have spread so much otherwise.

[thedreamcatcher]

He would have to pay 5+ lacks to bring it into India.

And the car is definitelty a generation old, so it must be the fair price out there for a second hand car that has not been used for long or has got the speedo wound back

[Raj1008]

Old Nigerian scam in new clothes. Its an on going sham to get your bank details and at some point get some money from you. Keep away, dont even reply emails!

[sam003]

Its very old style, pretty common in US. I remember I saw lexus for $2300 or something. As per him Car was in UK and he works for Army etc etc. So when you come across something really cheap then market stay away.

[tanwaramit]

if its an online ad Ignore, if its an email, delete. Thats the policy I follow.

Thanks for sharing this here, as there are still people who fell for such CON.

Had checked some complaint board website, hundreds of complaints lodged for Toyota Lottery. We have enough people who fell for such traps.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

if its an online ad Ignore, if its an email, delete. Thats the policy I follow.

.

I win a 50 million Euro lottery every other day.

Mail box flooded with these spams.

[vineethvazhayil]

Oh well this is the same trick that happens in the US, and the folks always say that I'm on a casino in the ship and don't use my car much and it is in Europe.. You pay for shipping and stuff and you get the car in the US. Craigslist prominently marks this as scam and a flashing message appears on every page.

[thedreamcatcher]

Like someone mentioned here, everytime I open my mail, I seem to have some BMW. But till date nothing seems to have come

Probably, one day I might just make the call to claim the so called BMW's, and after I have collected enough, I will start a dealership

[Keychain]

This looks like the enhanced or say upgraded version of the scams that we get often through mails manipulating transfers of money $xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx.

Don not ever fall in these.

[GTO]

Speaking of internet car scams, here's another one. When I listed my car for sale on New & Used Cars for Sale, Auto Dealers, Car Reviews and Car Finance Advice (in 2003 and from Boston), I received a very well-written email. Sender stated that he's very impressed with the car and would like to buy it immediately. He said that a draft will be sent across and he will come down for delivery once the payment has cleared in my bank. I got highly suspicious when I received a draft for $5,500 (my listing price was $3,500)! Says he mistakenly sent a draft for a larger amount and to go ahead deposit it anyways. Once it clears, I wire $2,000 (excess amount) to his bank account.

Did a google and found out that I nearly got scammed! These fraudsters frequently fish through used car classifieds & send a bogus draft with a larger amount. The naive wire an excess amount back to the seller....as you'd guess, that's the last anyone hears of him.

How then does the amount get credited to your account? I don't know if the American financial system has changed today. But back then, it took the bank 7 - 10 days to detect a fraudulent DD (they'd credit your account anyways). Thats when the bank debits the entire draft amount back, and asks you to pay out of pocket for the $2000 wire.

Link to full article on this scam

P.S. Car eventually sold to a fellow desi for $3,200.

[downsouth]

Originally Posted by Raj1008

Old Nigerian scam in new clothes. Its an on going sham to get your bank details and at some point get some money from you. Keep away, dont even reply emails!

+1 to that, if you notice the English in the email response it reeks of a Nigeria scam and boy they don't improvise ever be it lottery, cars, hidden stash its all the same, never changes.

[wanderernomad]

Why should they change if it continues to work, haha. But I must say a nice touch to scams in what GTO has posted. These crooks sure know how greed makes a mortal gullible.

[nowwhat?]

On July 20 2010, I placed an ad to sell my 2004 Esteem LXi on Craigslist.

On July 21 2010, I receive the following email.

JAMES MUIY
From: James Muiy (muiyjames@gmail.com)
Sent: Wed 7/21/10 8:41 AM
** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: craigslist | about > scams

Is this car still available for sale?

I replied as below.

ME
Sent: Wed 7/21/10 11:40 AM
To: muiyjames@gmail.com
Hi James,

Yes, the car is still available for sale. I posted the ad on craigslist only yesterday.

I am trying to show the car probably this weekend, if not next weekend as there is a likelihood that I may be held up this weekend.

Regards,

I get this reply the next day. All replies come at roughly the same time but surprisingly the timestamps are different (Not sure if this is a hotmail problem).

Probably some guy is sending this from some Internet center (in Nigeria) which explains the emails coming at the same time.

JAMES MUIY
From: James Muiy (muiyjames@gmail.com)
Sent: Thu 7/22/10 5:18 AM
Thanks for the prompt response.. I am willing to buy it now as
birthday gift for my Reverend Father that was transfer to motherless
home and i am at sea at the moment as i am a marine engineer and due
to the nature of my work,phone calls making and visiting of website
are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send
you an email regarding it, due to my work that i can not call out. I
really want the Vehicle to be a surprise for my Revered Father so i
wont let him know anything about the Vehicle until it gets delivered
to him, I insisted on paypal because i don't have access to my bank
account online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my
paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you
to give me your paypal email address and the price so i can make the
payments as soon as possible for the Vehicle. I have a pick up agent
that will come and pick the Vehicle up after i have made the
payments.i will be paying you with my PayPal account because it's
attached to my bank account and its safe and very secure way to make
payment.

I need you to ascertain if your PayPal account email address is
XXXX@hotmail.com,so that i can send funds as soon as possible to
your PayPal account and you will have money in your account and if you
dont have paypal account.you can easily set up your paypal account
through www.paypal.com for free. I await your reply as soon as
possible and kindly get back to me with your final price and take off
the item from listing on the site.

Thanks and God Bless.

Up until the time I received the above email, I thought this was a legitimate buyer.

Someone in my family is a captain in the merchant navy, so I initially thought this poor person is unable to access email as I know it is quite difficult for them to do so.

What raised my hackles though was someone calling a priest "My Reverend Father". I have never known anyone who calls one that.