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Old 29th December 2017, 12:21   #61
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

There are some unwritten rules older business people follow
1.Try to follow official channels(like exchange in showroom or True value like dealers) if the gains through the unofficial channels are meagre or to a relative/friend, even for a lesser price.
2.If the gains outweigh the risks involved, do see the buyer or seller in a neutral/public environments like office, busy hotels etc., never go to places you are not aware of.
3.Verify documents twice and make sure atleast one document is traceable(like aadhar/passport). Don't trust office id etc.,
4.Go slow through the deal, give a gap of few days from initial communication to initial money transfer. If the other party is in undue hurry, there might be something wrong.
5.Don't fall for stories like Had to travel urgently, family emergency etc., walk out of the deal if other party is pushy.
6.Try to have somebody along(like friend/ well known neighbourhood mechanic) if the deal is worth more than couple of lakhs
7.Try avoiding cash transactions and try to take/give delivery of the vehicle with all the documents simultaenously at the time of money transfer.
8.Foremost rule is be reasonable and never greedy.,(easily said)
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Old 29th December 2017, 12:31   #62
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

No offense, but come on, we cannot call this a scam. This is just plain ignorance, if someone transferred money for a car that he has never even seen in the first place.

Online or not, one needs to see and verify the vehicle, its documents and also the service history to be on the safer side. Some might even go as far as checking the vehicle number on Govt. portals for any open cases or tickets with the vehicle.

So, there will be robbery and scams, as long as there are people who are ignorant enough to let them be used like this.
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Old 29th December 2017, 13:52   #63
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aravind.anand View Post
So, there will be robbery and scams, as long as there are people who are ignorant enough to let them be used like this.
Although I agree with you on the fact that one needs to do their Homework and be vigilant in such matters. The fact is that these 3 crooks have fraudulently taken money from an individual. Why that individual fell for it is, in my view, immaterial. Why blame the victim? For his expectation of decency from his fellow humans?

When i visited Turkey, i was scammed by a cabby, where they play tricks with 5 Lira and 50 Lira as both look similar and have similar colour scheme. Even though I was aware of the scam (Read about it in a guide), i was still taken by it. It doesn't reflect well on me, but things happen sometimes.
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Old 29th December 2017, 14:39   #64
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aravind.anand View Post

So, there will be robbery and scams, as long as there are people who are ignorant enough to let them be used like this.
Recently i read that a city based doctor fell for a Nigerian lottery scam.Please note that he is a super specialist who has traveled extensively but still got conned.

This guy is a small town dweller with limited exposure and hence he was easily tricked.

Waseem.
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Old 29th December 2017, 15:26   #65
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

I came across an interesting scam myself when I was on the hunt for a used car. The ad was posted on multiple portals by someone who claimed to be working at Polish embassy. I contacted him using the given phone number (even though I was pretty sure that it was a scam, but hey, doesn't hurt to try). He took my email ID and sent me an email. I'm attaching the email he sent so that we can spread awareness about the type of emails one can expect in case of such scams.

Quote:
Hello

Thanks for the interest in my car but before we proceed, you need to
Make payment of 10% of the entire price before i send you office
Invitation letter to come in Poland embassy Mumbai.
You are to make the payment to my secretary account and this payment is
Refundable on the spot if you happen to dislike the car after viewing.
Thanks for understanding. I am working with Poland Embassy and i am selling
off my car because i am trying back to Poland and i will not be coming back.

Vehicle Specs:
Make: Mahindra
Model: XUV500 FWD W8
Mileage: 20,000 Km
Make Year: 2014
Asking Price: 6,00,000
Make Month: Feb
Fuel type: Diesel
Transmission type: Manual
Condition: Used
Is the Car Certified?: Yes
Warranty type: 5 warranty
Insurance Type: Comprehensive
No. of Owners: First
Colors: White
One Time Tax: Individual
Registration Place: Mumbai
Registration No. : Mh04
Address: Nirmal Building 11A, 11th Floor, 241/242 Backbay Reclamation Nariman Point, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400021

Mr. Antoni Jan
This email confirmed my suspicions and I called him out on his scam. I also reported the listings on whichever platforms I could find them on. This wasn't the only listing - there were multiple ones available for multiple cars including another one for the XUV. I wanted to call up the Polish embassy just to make them aware of scammers trying to use the embassy as a cover but the call did not go through.

While one may be tempted to give such sketchy listings a shot, I strongly advise against it. There's always a risk factor involved while purchasing a used car from anywhere, but as a rule of thumb I recommend walking away if the seller is asking for any payment before you see the car and its details (unless you are buying from an auction sight unseen and know what you're doing, but that's a completely different thing all together). It simply isn't worth the risk. While purchasing any car - new or used - you should be the one in control.
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Old 29th December 2017, 17:37   #66
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aravind.anand View Post
No offense, but come on, we cannot call this a scam.

...

So, there will be robbery and scams, as long as there are people who are ignorant enough to let them be used like this.
+100

This is not a scam. This is a case of plain stupidity. Simple as the saying goes Aa bail muje maar (Translation: Calling out to the bull to come hit me)

Thread creation on tbhp seems to be taking the pattern of the social "news" sites, with catchy headings just to get you to click the thread and look into it. What next - pickpocket scams at busy railway stations?
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Old 29th December 2017, 17:56   #67
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

I had interacted with this "Pooja" lady in Bangalore when I was looking for a car for my wife. Smelled something fishy and avoided. They were selling me a 2010 i20 petrol Asta for 3.5 lakhs. Got a 2007 petrol swift.
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Old 29th December 2017, 18:08   #68
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

There was an article in Bangalore times of India this morning about scams related to used car sale. There were 3 incidents reported where the victims were asked to deposit money even before seeing the car with a promise that the money would be deducted during final settlement. How could someone trust such people

Surprisingly all 3 sellers (conmen) advertised the cars on OLX and the recent incident where a Techie had gone missing trying to sell his car was through OLX The online platforms have to take some action on this.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/62289499.cms

Quote:
Fraudsters are offering to sell used cars on online marketing platforms like OLX to cheat gullible buyers.
The gangsters initially post an advertisement on OLX, claiming they want to sell their car
Prospective buyers are told over phone that the vehicle is parked at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the parking fee has piled up and the same needs to be paid online.

Vijay Kumar V, a private firm employee from HSR Layout, lost Rs 2.29 lakh to the online fraudsters.
Police said Vijay saw an OLX advertisement of a Maruti Swift Dzire on sale for Rs 3.8 lakh on December 11.
He contacted Manj, in whose name the ad had been posted, over phone. Vijay was told the vehicle was at the KIA parking lot and he has to contact one Savitha to see the car.
On contacting Savitha, Vijay was told he can see the car if he clears Rs 1.8 lakh due towards its parking fee.
Vijay got back in touch with Manj, who asked him to pay the parking fee and promised to deduct it from the final settlement.
Vijay promptly paid the money through netbanking and contacted Manj the next day.
Manj asked him to contact Basavaraju, who demanded Rs 49,000 towards tax dues. Vijay deposited that amount in the account number provided.
After the second payment, all three mobile numbers remained switched off and Vijay realized he had been cheated. Vijay lodged a complaint with HSR Layout police on December 20.

In the second incident, Venkat, a private firm employee from Annasandrapalya, responded to an OLX ad offering to sell a Maruti Brezza and lost Rs 4.88 lakh to the gang on Saturday.
Venkat told police on Sunday he was told the car was at the KIA parking lot and he had to pay Rs 4,88,000 towards parking fee and tax dues to own the vehicle.
The sellers assured him the amount would be deducted from the final settlement and Venkat paid the money online.

In the third incident, Bhasker BN, a resident of Muneshwara Layout, lost Rs 96,500 to the gang that offered to sell him a Maruti Swift.
Bhasker said he saw an OLX ad offering to sell the car posted by one Kavitha and contacted her on Friday for the deal.
She told him her car had been parked in the airport and she had to pay Rs 96,500 as parking fee.
After transferring the money to her bank account, Bhasker rushed to KIA only to realize that there was no such vehicle and he had been cheated. He approached police on Monday.
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Old 29th December 2017, 20:31   #69
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

I am sorry but I feel such guys deserve to get cheated and robbed off their money. Why on earth will someone pay so much money towards some stranger's car as parking fees etc without even having met the owner or seen the car in person. And it is common sense that KIA or any other parking facility will not allow a parking fee bill to climb to a lakh or more and would probably involve the cops by then and get the matter sorted. The fact that these are all educated people makes this even more crazier. I honestly feel like urging the companies they work for to get their degrees checked for any fraud.
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Old 29th December 2017, 21:04   #70
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This scam aside, it is actually very unpredictable to deal with online sellers and buyers. There has been another incident in Bangalore where a guy has supposedly gone missing post trying to meet some one online for selling his car. Not confirmed as yet, but initial reports state something amiss when he went to meet a buyer.

Another cheap tactic used by used car dealers is that they will post a car for selling at an incredibly VFM price and when the buyer contact the given phone numbers, they wouldn't pick up. Later they would call from another number asking if the person is interested in buying a used car, completely unrelated to the posted Advertisement.

That said, there are genuine buyers and sellers as well, but it makes it difficult to sift thru the fake ones and the real listings these days.
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Old 29th December 2017, 21:27   #71
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

Such scams are on the rise. Vintage and classic owners are taken by surprise, after seeing their car photos on OLX, Quickr and even on WhatsApp groups by such scamsters. The modus operandi is to post pictures and get the gullible buyer to enquire by ringing a mobile number. After the scamster gets the buyer's call, he usually tries to contact the owner, who is chagrined as to what is happening ?

About two years ago, my Landmaster was on OLX and was quoted for Rs 4 L by a seller. I asked OLX to withdraw the advt within 48 hours and warn the advertiser, failing which I will initiate legal action (incl FIR). the advt was withdrawn within 15 hours.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnInternetUser View Post
I came across an interesting scam myself when I was on the hunt for a used car. The ad was posted on multiple portals by someone who claimed to be working at Polish embassy.
Incidentally, nearly all embassies and High Commissions are located in the capital viz. New Delhi. Only a Consular office could be located in Mumbai. So this advertisement is by a fraudster per se.
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Old 30th December 2017, 01:09   #72
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

My uncle was about to be conned in a similar way . There was a similar ad in OLX for a 2014 Toyota Innova for 8 Lakhs . With cars being sold for peanuts in the aftermath of the Chennai Floods , the price was justifiable .

He had asked me to contact the individual . The guy on the other side of the phone told that he was from Delhi and asked me to contact his friend in Chennai with whom he lad left the car . When contacted , a lady on the phone told some basic details about the car and when asked where we could we inspect the car she told us it is in Airport Lot and asked to transfer INR 25,000 for booking it before even inspecting the car . She gave us account details and when looking up the IFSC Code it was an account based in Indranagar,Bangalore .

Guessed it was a scam . Glad that our brains worked a little better than our hearts !
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Old 30th December 2017, 11:12   #73
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Re: Online Used Car Selling Scams.

People really need to think hard. The only money to be spent is that on the travel to view the car.

Why should one pay the airport lot fee? The seller needs to ensure the car is available for a full and proper inspection. At the most, stump up for 5 litres of fuel for a road test!
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Old 31st December 2017, 04:23   #74
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Re: Conmen in 2nd hand car sales

OLX did not take action
Some time back (April 2016) I was looking for a used car, had been calling a lot of people and came across these conmen a couple of times. The moment they refused to show vehicle, I knew something is fishy and ignored them. Googled it and found the scam popular around Chennai and Bangalore. Immediately, I wrote the following email to Olx.

Quote:
Thank you for your e-mail. Please make a note of ticket id (329667) generated against your e-mail.
The ticket is being reviewed by our support staff and will be updated within 48 hours.

2016 Apr 4, 13:55

Dear Sir,
I came across a fraud gang today when I inquired about an add (Ad ID: 981045275).

I think you would be aware of a fraud that involves foreign nationals pretending to be flying abroad and are in urgency to sell their cars. They would post fake photographs of cars with a lucrative deal. When some one approaches them, they would say that the car is in airport parking and the owner is not in station, if the customer can bear the parking costs/excise duty he shall have a steal deal.
Please refer the following article

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/15062...d-online-fraud

The gang: A Chinese Guy pretending to be leaving the country (Phone number 8807845972).
An Indian Lady pretending to be someone at the Airport facilitating the deal (Phone number as given by that Chinese Guy 7411484276.

I request you to please take immediate action and get these fraudsters as soon as possible, as I think these numbers are active as of today and we may narrow down, if not now it will be too late. I wish OLX will take immediate action and I would be happy to assist you in this regard. This could protect several innocent people who trade on olx.
Olx did not respond. Had myself or Olx informed Police, some of these conmen could have been nagged long back.

Anyway, the take away is, all scams have two elements, Greed and Time. They are too good to be true to incite Greed. Before the mind overrules the heart, they create an illusion of urgency, take it or leave it-countdown starts now.

Last edited by Thermodynamics : 31st December 2017 at 04:51.
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Old 31st December 2017, 20:27   #75
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Re: Conmen in 2nd hand car sales

There are such posts in our classifieds as well e.g. http://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy-...da/Amaze.html/ usually they ask for some payment upfront
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