Motor-find?

Pub07

I put my car up for sale on carzone this morning and I got a call about half an hour ago from someone saying they were from a company called motorfind that puts sellers in touch with buyers and could help sell the car quicker. The fee was €140 and they some personal details such as home address. I was fairly sceptical so the guy transferred me to a supervisor who put me at ease somewhat and said I wouldn't have to give me home address.

But I'm a bit sceptical about the whole, I don't want my fecking car robbed when it is uninsured at present. I'm wondering is this cold calling procedure common and is the company well known (or could it have been someone impersonating motorfind)?

The number I was called from began with 357 which turns out to be the calling code for Cyprus?!?

Churchy

Sounds like a scam.
Many people have paid these fees and never heard from these so called "buyers".

R.O.R

Very common when putting cars up for sale. Last time I had one on Carzone got a call from London about the same thing.

If they call again, try to waste as much of their time as possible as that is really what they are doing to you - just they are charging you for the privelege.

omega man

Complete scam! This has been ongoing for quite a while now, particularly from UK based 'companys'. Having sold a couple of cars over the last few years I used to let them waffle on for as long as possible and let them think i was interested then advised them i was intentionally wasting their time as they were con artists! I believe Carzone and CBG gave clear warnings on these scams. Cyprus is a new one on me though.

Croc

Yeah its a scam, if i remember correctly it was featured on Liveline or some such program last year, don't remember the exact details.

Eoin

It's definitely a scam. Carzone automatically send an email out (see below) when you put an ad up - did you not get it?

carzone email wrote:

Many thanks for chosing Carzone to advertise your car.

As a Carzone.ie advertiser you may be contacted by the Vehicle Center, a UK based company, or a number of similar organisations using different names. The Vehicle Center will claim to have a potential buyer for your car. Our feedback from other customers is that such buyers do not exist. We recommend that you do not engage in any way with these companies; indeed the European Consumer Centre in Dublin has recently issued a warning about the Vehicle Center.

Typically the Vehicle Center claims they have a number of buyers in your locality who had specifically requested the model you are selling. The cost of the referral generally is about €100. This may seem reasonable if you get the impression that a hassle-free sale can result. However having paid the fee, all those who have called Carzone.ie and the European Consumer Centre Dublin to complain, have said that not only did no sale result but that they did not even get a single phone call.

We advise anybody selling a car to be aware that making payment to companies who offer to match sellers with potential buyers may not guarantee that a potential buyer will actually make contact.

We have also become aware of callers claiming to have a relationship with Carzone. At Carzone.ie we have no relationship with any referral service and we do not phone our private advertisers.

Indeed we have had been told of advertisers being called and asked to confirm contact information, claiming they are from Carzone and they need to clarifiy details of the advert and credit card information. We would ask you to be very cautious don’t give out any personal details or credit card details over the phone.

Be assured, none of the team here at Carzone will ever ring looking to confirm your details out of the blue and will certainly never ask for your credit card details over the phone!

We would also appreciate if you would get in contact with us, by email at classifieds@carzone.ie or by telephone on (01) 667 4280, if you do have suspicious calls or enquiries. The European Consumer Centre is also interested in this area and they can be contacted through their website www.eccdublin.ie or by telephone on (01) 809 0600.

bazz26

Avoid, definate scam. These type of scams are so common these days.

In any event go with your instincts, if it sounds too good to be true then most likely it is.

Pub07

FFS. I just rang the credit card company and they've already taken the money out and nothing can be done about it. I never bothered checking my emails when I put up the ad, just presumed it would be the usual site registration bs. I think carzone.ie would do well to show you this info on their site straight after you've placed your ad as these guys phoned me relatively soon after the ad went up and there is no requirement to check your emails to place an ad on carzone.ie.

Eoin

Pub07 wrote:

FFS. I just rang the credit card company and they've already taken the money out and nothing can be done about it. I never bothered checking my emails when I put up the ad, just presumed it would be the usual site registration bs. I think carzone.ie would do well to show you this info on their site straight after you've placed your ad as these guys phoned me relatively soon after the ad went up and there is no requirement to check your emails to place an ad on carzone.ie.

Don't know if they link to it directly after the payment process, but there is a section online:

http://www5.carzone.ie/my/index.cfm?fuseaction=help.page&page=help_fraud.htm

Anan1

Pub07 wrote:

FFS. I just rang the credit card company and they've already taken the money out and nothing can be done about it. I never bothered checking my emails when I put up the ad, just presumed it would be the usual site registration bs. I think carzone.ie would do well to show you this info on their site straight after you've placed your ad as these guys phoned me relatively soon after the ad went up and there is no requirement to check your emails to place an ad on carzone.ie.

Carzone do show you the warning on their site straight after you've placed your ad. I placed an ad on Carzone two days ago, and I was warned. A couple of hours later, I got the phone call. Told the guy that i'd seen loads of warnings about them, he apologised and hung up. How about that, scammers with manners!

cantdecide

I might be the only other person to admit this so don't feel alone OP. I got caught on this one also- they go to great lengths to prove that they're legit and I had them on the phone for an hour.

I think they set up as a legit company to provide a service they can't/ won't deliver. The wording of their contracts probably covers them legally so they can survive. Probably why they don't apply for hundreds from your credit card. In other words, a legal contract they don't have to legally honour. Money for nothing, literally.

Not a nice feeling. All you can do is hope they die of cancer, screaming.

My bunch were called Motor-Network.

Anan1

Is there nothing the CC company can do? This mightn't be an option for the OP, but i'd consider going so far as to deny that the transaction ever took place.

Pub07

Lol, I saved the receipt when I placed the ad and I've just checked and it does mention to be wary of unsolicited calls. I'm not with it at all today...

commited

I've never heard of anyone believing these guys.. Ouch.

Can your CC company not do anything?

Stephen

Ask your credit card company to do a charge-back on them. This incurs a hefty fee on their side to boot

cantdecide

I asked the same thing and they said there was nothing they could do....

Anan1

cantdecide wrote:

I asked the same thing and they said there was nothing they could do....

Tell them you'll ring Joe Duffy.

cantdecide

Don't you mean Neil Prendeville:p

Tipsy Mac

Surely the credit card company could cancel the payment on the grounds that the company is not providing the service it advertises? I don't know how these parasites are given merchant accounts for credit card companies.

dak

E-bay are also giving a warning about these sort of companies.......scam must have caught quite a few!

fishes1

hi i advertised my car on carzone a few months ago and was contacted by 2 or 3 of these companies. i signed up with one and although i received no calls i dont class them as a scam. Firstly when i asked if it was a quaranteed sale i was told very honestly nothing is guaranteed and i received information by e-mail before signing up. now at the end of the day yes im a tad angry that i spent money and got no results but i choose to give my details and go ahead and i also spent money to advertise in autotrader fro 2 weeks and got no results there either. they are legit companies i think but they just dont work as well as they make out which is the case in all sales i guess. i read your comments and i just think that wat cantdecide said is SICK how can you possibly wish that on anyone? god help you if it happened to you.

eringobragh

fishes1 wrote: »

hi i advertised my car on carzone a few months ago and was contacted by 2 or 3 of these companies. i signed up with one and although i received no calls i dont class them as a scam. Firstly when i asked if it was a quaranteed sale i was told very honestly nothing is guaranteed and i received information by e-mail before signing up. now at the end of the day yes im a tad angry that i spent money and got no results but i choose to give my details and go ahead and i also spent money to advertise in autotrader fro 2 weeks and got no results there either. they are legit companies i think but they just dont work as well as they make out which is the case in all sales i guess. i read your comments and i just think that wat cantdecide said is SICK how can you possibly wish that on anyone? god help you if it happened to you.

I think a more appropriate name for you would be Phishes1 :rolleyes:

Henry Ford III

There's one born every minute

Tails142

Hey fishes I want some of your money too!!!


It's possible I'll do anything you want maybe... give me the money first and you'll find out later...

T-b0n3

Yea I work in the autotrader and our customers are always getting called by people like this and they are complete scams. So stay well clear. Many customers have been gotten by it.

Adam

fishes1

yeah im minted got loads of money to throw about!!!! i just a little bit open minded than you lot and have the sense to research a company before i just give card details! the service didnt work for me but im sure i'll get over it. you'll do anything i want for money will you?well thats a very tempting offer but i think i give you a miss thanks .

just one thing? do you all think that its ok to wish somebody dies of cancer screaming or is it just that sick sad sad individual?

fishes1

Tails142 wrote: »

Hey fishes I want some of your money too!!!


It's possible I'll do anything you want maybe... give me the money first and you'll find out later...

what do you do for a living?is it a legit job tails142?

pred racer

A mate of mine got caught with this too, his CC company put him on to the official body for this area (comreg, asa?? sorry cant cant remember) they told him to write to them and explain that he didnt want their service and that he had been sold it under false pretenses, and they would refund him.....and they did. I was well surprised.

The other thing you can do is keep them busy. Every time you repost or change anything in your Ad it will show up to them as a New ad and they will call again! you can either waste their time with false info, or abuse the fcuk outta them every time they call.;)

Anan1

fishes1 wrote: »

yeah im minted got loads of money to throw about!!!! i just a little bit open minded than you lot and have the sense to research a company before i just give card details! the service didnt work for me but im sure i'll get over it.

Open minded? Sense to research a company? Fact is, you've been scammed - you just can't bring yourself to admit it.

eringobragh

Anan1 wrote: »

Open minded? Sense to research a company? Fact is, you've been scammed - you just can't bring yourself to admit it.

He joined yesterday & his/her only posts are defending this 'service'

He's a scam merchant as i said ...............Phishes1 would be more appropriate

fishes1

eringobragh wrote: »

He joined yesterday & his/her only posts are defending this 'service'

He's a scam merchant as i said ...............Phishes1 would be more appropriate

im not defending the servive i just dont see why you lot are all crying over it. yeah i paid money and yeah it didnt help me sell my car but were all stupid enough to go ahead and give our payment and details so why go on and on about it?

fishes1

Anan1 wrote: »

Open minded? Sense to research a company? Fact is, you've been scammed - you just can't bring yourself to admit it.

iam happy to admit that the service didnt work for me and it was money down the drain so instead of crying and complaining about it why dont you just get over it!!!

largevodka

thanks folks...got a call from Motor-Find (Cyprus number) and asked for €118...will them to sód off next time they call....didn't hand over a penny thanks this forum;-))

unkel

largevodka wrote: »

didn't hand over a penny thanks this forum;-))

Excellent! Welcome to boards.ie, largevodka

largevodka wrote: »

will them to sód off next time they call....

Or maybe play with them like bluehair did

craichoe

Simple thing here ....

But if anyone calls YOU and you didn't call them .. don't give them your credit card details ..

This goes for everything and might sound a bit like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=372Ah0Z_L1w

Dan_B

These guys are usually confidence scammers.
They'll tell you your car looks like it's in great condition, The price is very competitive, why are you selling it, are you available for viewings tonight...

I had a call from them a while back and told them they where wasting
my time and their own.
My mate unfortunatley swallowed it and is €190 down.
He still reckons someone is calling to look at his car!
Any idea Phishes when he'll be round

boatbuilder

I got two phonecalls from these feckers today. The phone number they called from was ++35725817639. They sent me an email as well with their "Fair Trading Charter". Sounds like a load of rubbish to me and theres NO WAY they are getting my money.
Total confidence scammers....said they had buyers ready to view the van tonight! I asked them if there was a specific person interested in my specific vehicle and he got a bit stuck for an answer! I then told him there was no way I was giving my credit card details to someone I don't know over the phone, and he them put me on to his "supervisor" (obviously an attempt to win my trust), who said she woud sent me an email and that I would get my money back if I sold the van privately in the meantime, or if they sold it for me, I would still get the money back since they get their margin from the buyer and not the seller. I asked her "Well, why bother giving you the money in the first place if I'm gonna get it back anyway?" And again, she got a bit stuck!!

:D:D

FAIR TRADING CHARTER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

FAIR TRADING CHARTER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. With our secondary service we charge a once only fee of E118 until the vehicle is sold.
2. With our primary service we charge a once only fee of E147 until the vehicle is sold, this includes a photo and advertising on any additional Motor-Find affiliate web sites.
3. We guarantee to market the vehicle until sold, with no extra cost to you.
4. If we arrange any part of the finance on the sale of your vehicle, we will reimburse your registration fee retaining a small admin charge.
5. If your advertisement is cancelled within the first 28 days we will advertise a second vehicle without additional cost.
6. A buyer has to be registered on the Motor-Find database in order to be eligible for any promotional offers.
7. We will edit your advertisement e.g. mileage etc. as often as you request without any additional cost.
8. On request, your advert can be postponed until you are ready to advertise (e.g. your vehicle may be damaged, or if you go on holiday).
9. We are not responsible for your vehicle not selling.
10. We try and aid you with a sale by advertising your vehicle, but there are no guarantees of a sale.
11. We cannot be held accountable for the condition of any vehicles being advertised, a buyer's or seller's lack of good faith, words or actions.
12. The registered buyers that are enquiring for types of vehicles are given solely as a guide to assess current market demand. Enquiries reflect vehicles of all types and price ranges currently requested by buyers registered on our database.
13. Advertisements will run for 28 days, on request, we will re-advertise your vehicle without any additional cost for a further 28 day period.
14. We posses a database of buyer enquiries for all types of vehicles and not enquiries for specific vehicles belonging to particular individuals. Details will be made available to potential buyers searching for your type of vehicle.
15. We will search for types of vehicles requested by a potential buyer.
16. The Distance Selling Regulations give you the customer a cooling off period. If you have agreed with us for the service to start as soon as possible then your right to cancel will end once (1) you receive the terms and conditions by e-mail, fax or post and (2) our service has commenced. Should you receive these terms and conditions and wish to exercise your right to cancellation you must cancel in writing (either by post, fax or e-mail)..
17. We are not responsible for advertisements not getting any response, any price valuations, any foreseeable loss or services suspended or interrupted as a result of situations beyond our reasonable control.
18. If the vehicle is still available after seven days you can claim our complementary weekend break vouchers. This entitles four people to a three night stay at a choice of over 100 UK hotels. There is a charge for meals REGARDLESS OF WHETHER TAKEN. 19. Buyers of most cars advertised with us are entitled to a one month engine and gearbox warranty provided by Warranty Direct. Tell your buyer to call 0044870 444 1050 on the day of purchase quoting your reference number to claim his/her warranty. (This offer excludes exotic and high performance cars, cars more than ten years old and cars with 100,000 miles - for full details of warranty terms and eligibility contact Warranty Direct on 0044870 444 1050 or go to www.warrantydirect.co.uk)
20. Nothing stated in the above terms and conditions affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

Silent Partner

I feel sorry for the guy who was ripped off but didn't realise until after.

However:

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D at the guy who was ripped off and amazingly, is still defending the people that did it!!!

These companies claim to have a lot of clients and will place your car for a small fee. Ridiculous. Like any scam, if somethings sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

WATCH OUT FOR THIS ONE:
I've also had ones where people offer to buy a certain car you are advertising. They're very nice and friendly, usually communicate through email. They say they are living abroad but they're buying the car for a friend/relative in Ireland. They ask a few questions about the car. What they do then is agree to buy the car (no haggling usually, they ask for a "final price" on the car. I've given them what I was asking for and they accept it without question). They then send you a cheque for a value greater than the amount of the car and will ask you to send back the refund of the difference to them. I recieved a supposedly American cashiers cheque for $25,000 for a car that was €12,000. The cheque looked like it was printed out on a standard deskjet printer. I passed everything along to the authorities.

peter23

yea i got a call from +35725817641 saying the had buyers for my car , asking for details, i said for them to send me there website address and they did www.motor-find.co.uk there giving me a call back at 4 o clock today so im gona have a good buz off there heads. fithly so and so,s.

Damomayo

Just saw bluehair posting on how to deal with these scam's ....................priceless!!!!!

Beta Ray Bill

Pub07 wrote: »

I put my car up for sale on carzone this morning and I got a call about half an hour ago from someone saying they were from a company called motorfind that puts sellers in touch with buyers and could help sell the car quicker. The fee was €140 and they some personal details such as home address. I was fairly sceptical so the guy transferred me to a supervisor who put me at ease somewhat and said I wouldn't have to give me home address.

But I'm a bit sceptical about the whole, I don't want my fecking car robbed when it is uninsured at present. I'm wondering is this cold calling procedure common and is the company well known (or could it have been someone impersonating motorfind)?

The number I was called from began with 357 which turns out to be the calling code for Cyprus?!?

DONT DO IT!!!!!!!!!

I was had buy this (was a UK code)

Its a SCAM. they will ask you for a fee and you will never hear from them again. EVER

give them nothing at all.


Fishes1, I have 2 words to describe you... RETARD FACE. you're defending someone who has stolen from you. you are exactly whats wrong with Ireland today

Midnight Sky

Guys have a car advertised on carzone.ie. Got a call from the same number and same story as boatbuilder posted. Number was +35725817641.

I asked them to call me back. Found out that it is a number in Cyprus - which when probed they call it there "European office". One of there many offices worldwide (apparently - then why don't you call me from somewhere a little closer to Ireland......eh).

Secondly I did a bit of digging and couldn't find out who their domain name (www.motor-find.co.uk) was registered too. The only thing I got was an address in the UK which i managed to find listed currently as a rental property on a UK property site (isn't Google marvelous).

I am seriously suspicious and would never deal with an organisation that you can't track down - never mind trusting a nice well spoken English lady that is calling form Cyprus with a buyer for my car.

Seriously - calling form Cyprus to offer help in selling your car for a fee. Bogus.

Please no one be silly and get roped into this scam. Even if it wasn't a scam there is no way in hell that it makes sense that an organisation in Cyprus is going to be the best bet in selling your car.

P.S. - the lady on the phone wasn't too happy when I told I thought the company was totally bogus and got defensive.

I think we should start a separate thread containing email and web address of suspected scammers such as these. Then maybe put them on a one million spam email a day list. That should slow them down.

If you do get these people on the phone and have free time on your hands - pretend to be really interested and keep them on the phone for ages. It will cost them a fortune ringing from Cyprus.

And yes I am a little vengeful.

stratos

something I don't get here. The credit card company didn't refund the money. Show me the signed receipt. Where's the contract. Show me where I signed for the release of this money. I have used this with internet hotel sites. They have tried to charge me twice or fully for cancelled rooms. Where is my signature ? I have always got a refund.

Eoin

stratos wrote: »

something I don't get here. The credit card company didn't refund the money. Show me the signed receipt. Where's the contract. Show me where I signed for the release of this money. I have used this with internet hotel sites. They have tried to charge me twice or fully for cancelled rooms. Where is my signature ? I have always got a refund.

So if you use your credit card online, the payment shouldn't go through?

Tayax

M8
It is too late for me
I give to them card number and 3 digits number form the back of my card
I just checked online and 147 Euro is gone from my account
Is it possible that they will go again because they have my card number my 3 digit card number from the back
What to do?

Lord Nikon

Ring your credit card number and cancel the payment, tell them you made a mistake.

Tayax

Payment was already gone :mad:
They tucked 147 Euro :mad:
I cancel card made STOP :eek:
Tomorrow they will sent to me new card

x in the city

cant believe muppets still fall for these scams?

if anyone like that rung me i would put them on hold 10 mins, put on a porno flick and then leave it at that until they hang up.

easy really.

peasant

x in the city

No need to insult the victim of this scam on top of it all.
No need to share (in that detail) what you do in your spare time either.

Consider yourself warned for the first offence

philidub

Anyone ever seen / heard of this?

Hello,
Thanks for your swift response, I'm so glad to hear from you and would say that am really interested in buying your CAR and i will be happy if you can sell it to me, It's what i have been searching for for the last 6 months and thanks for everything.
Please help me take good proper care of it because i know by now its mine.And right now the month is drawing down to an END and i can see that i finally got one.

Please kindly send more pictures if available and if not its okay, I would have love to come and see it myself but due to the nature of my job and where i live' i won't be able to come down I'm from Hawaii in United State,But i live by the sea side and work as a SAILOR. I always come every 4 Months and travel back to my place of work in Belfast UK.

Pls kindly get back with your final asking price and i will be glad to issue out the payment to you which will be in bank draft/check for the payment. If you are okay with my arrangement, pls kindly get back to me with the following detail's

FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
ZIPCODE:
MOBILE NUMBER:

I await your response soon, Thank's and GOD bless you and your family.

Regards,

Williams

--- On Tue, 6/3/08, > wrote:
From:
Subject: Ford Focus
To:
Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 8:09 PM

Hey,


13999 is the final price, I've already dropped it quite a lot.

Cars in great condition and very low mileage.


Regards

x in the city

sorry

but people should know better in all fairness. theres oodles of threads about this carry on.