Carzone and Scammers

LolaDub

I think we've all either seen a scam ourselves, been contacted by a scammer or heard from someone who has. I listed a car on carzone over a week ago and was contacted by e mail 28 times, 18 were all you send car i send bank draft scammers. Now while i think they're all fairly stupid scams shouldn't carzone have some duty to protect its customers? In the case of random people contacting you i know carzone has nothing to do with them but several times i've replied to a car ad to get the ole 'i'm living in nigeria germany and its too hard to drive a rhd car its already in a shipping co put your money into 'escrow' and i'll send the car' answer. I saw an article in the metro or evening herald saying gardai were warning people about these scams as they had worked. When you place an add on carzone you have to give a credit or debit card for the 30 euro payment. I'm sure these are probably stolen details but shouldn't the information be given to the gardai when they know its a scam?

Last week i saw a private sale ad for a car i had viewed and knew to be in a garage in Dublin, the photos were the same as their own ad of the car with reg showing in their garage. I reported the ad to carzone and it was changed to sold, then the next day it was for sale again-the exact same ad. Then i sent an e mail to the garage letting them know and the ad got taken down. The garage paid to have their ad up there, of course carzone can't predict what photos will be stolen but when its been reported and its the exact same ad should they not consider an obligation to the garage, their customer? Possibly i'm on a bit of a rant but i've come across so many of these and i feel carzone should be doing more to weed out the scammers and look after their customers and people using their service.

Anyhow a little entertainment! Here is an exhange of emails between one of the scammers and myself-


Hi
Car is for sale,beautiful condition perfect no accidents,no fault not a scratch, always garaged. Price is 12000. 85% thread on tires, fsh. I want a fast sale.
thanks andy


Hi Andy,
When would be a convenient time to view the car?
Kind Regards,
Lola

Hi
i moved to germany where my mother is after very messy divorce,i had no intention to sell it but its difficult to driver here and a garage wont give much for car.
thanks andy

Hi Andy
Thats great! My work has three offices in Germany which i regularly visit so i'm sure we can arrange a suitable time to view the car. What part of Germany are you located?
Kind Regards,
Lola

thats great indeed,how soon can you get here?i live in sindelfingen.i have to warn you i recieve a lot of offers and if you dont move soon with you offer another will take car.
andy

Hi Andy
Your town is close to Stuttgart i see which is perfect i will be there next Thurs and Fri. I would appreciate if you sell the car befor ei get there that you would let me know as i don't want to waste my time. As you are receiving so many offers can you tell me what price you want as it sounds like you're waiting for a bit more than your asking which i can't afford?
Kind Regards
Lola

you are right,is close of stuttgart. i am looking for asking price no more.i have proposal for you because i am sure car will be sold before you get here that i ship car to you. i already had man take car but he couldn't pay so car is in frighter at shipping company.we use escrow service like illox where you put money i put car and if you like in 10 days i take money. at the moment i travel in work and in austria, car is still in germany.
andy

Hi Andy,

I'm afraid i find your message hard to understand, are you telling me you won't be in Germany next week?I want to find out how much it would cost to change the colour of the seats as they really are awful. My max is 12000 so i will have to deduct the price of the seats from the 12000. I don't like using escrow as i had a bad experience, can i pay you with a bank draft? As you would be waiting 10 days anyway for my payment it will be easier for us both for me to view the car and for us to exchange car and payment on the day. Can you send me the reg and chassis number of the car for my mechanic to do the usual security checks? For the bank draft i will need your name, address, bank account number, sort code, and address of bank. I look forward to meeting you and see the car.
Kind Regards,
Lola

i change seat colour, what color you want and you pay me 12000. i no want bank draft i want escrow payment. to secure view of car you put payment in escrow when you come see car you dont like you take payment back ok.andy

Hi Andy,
Sorry am i speaking to the same person, you're becoming much harder to understand! Can you send me a number and i'll call you. What fsh does it have?
Kind Regards,
Lola

no have working numbero now not in germany.car does no have fish.what for you want fish.price doesnt include fish,i send you fish.andy

Hi Andy,
I was asking for the full service history that you mentioned earlier in your emails, not a fish. I have no need for a fish for my car. Do Germans always drive with fish? What service history does it come with?
Kind Regards,
Lola

yes germans we have fish in car,very fashion and popular.sorry for missunderstanding.ford service history all full and complete.andy

Hi Andy,
The car is a mazda why does it have a ford service history? I think this sounds really strange and i probably won't come to Germany now as i think this will be a waste of my time. I don't like the idea of a fish living in my car, the smell would be awful! However if you want to continue with a transaction i will swap you my old car.
Kind Regards,
Lola

yes i take car,what is it,you give me payment to ok?car has mazda service history,sorry me mistake.you dont have to come to germany is ok i send car to you.fish is good in car.andy

Hi Andy,
My car is a 91 fiesta with 170000 miles.It was in an acident but nothing a bit of panel beating won't sort out and a few engines parts replaced. I won't pay any cash on top of this as it is a very desirable car. How did you make a mistake with mazda and ford?
Kind Regards,
Lola

yes i take car you send to uk and i pick it up there so you dont pay extra shipping.i make mistake with other car is ford not this one. i sell ford too you want this car?andy

Hi Andy,
I'll insure it and send it to Germany as its is such a fantastic car and would hate for it to get lost and end up in Nigeria or somewhere! The mazda will be fine for me thank you. Can you send it to Aras An Uactarain, Phoenix Park,Dublin7. You have a lot of cars to sell!
kind Regards,
Lola

ok car sent to address.will arrive in 3 days,can you send car to address in uk i take panels beating too. is nothign wrong for car in nigeria,is good life there better than ireland is more good place than stupid ireland. andy

Hi Andy,
Aren't you Irish? Why would you say something like that its very mean. I don't want to let you have my beautiful fiesta now, it means too much to me. When the car arrives here i'll send it back to your German address, maybe you should google my address?
Kind Regards,
Lola

you f*ckin b*tch,i know u a c*ck s*cking (etc) u waste my time and my car,lovely car much better than stupid iriah person or car.....


you get the idea!

jaxy999

LOL, the best laugh I've had all day!

audismelly

classic, fair play to ya:D

cjt156

Enjoyed that, nicely done.

LolaDub

Cheers, i usually wouldn't entertain these people but since i've been selling my car (whihc is sale agreed btw not pluggin for a sale) i've had so many of them that i was going beserk and thought i'd wreck their heads a bit. I really feel carzone should be taking more responsibility for people using their site.

bottletops

class

Eoin

car does no have fish.what for you want fish.price doesnt include fish,i send you fish.andy

My favourite part.

KTRIC

Theres no way that guy is German, Irish or any other European nationality. The way he structures his sentences is a dead give away.

Dubh Geannain

Nice one. LMAO

ChickCool

Thread of the year!think it deserves two though,one to discuss carzone having some responsibility and another to put up this hilarity! defo carzone should be taking steps to prevent this and that example of not deleting the ad is disgraceful if i was the garage id have a full freaker @them

daRobot

Classic stuff

bazz26

Made my afternoon.

I think this thread should be put up as a sticky.

Nice one OP.

PS. Looks like this scammer has some sort of fetish for fish.

topper75

not stupid irish thread.

Made my day. Thanks.

Yakult

Great thread

LolaDub

You're all welcome! I got the impression i was speaking to someone with decent english/fluency at first, probably they get someone to write it for them and then it totally changed.

What do you all feel about carzone when you see this kind of crap on the site or coming from their site? Do you feel they're doing enough/nothing at all or should be doing more to prevent this or regulate the people on the site?

Stevie Dakota

Brilliant, Lola for President!

victor1

LolaDub wrote: »

You're all welcome! I got the impression i was speaking to someone with decent english/fluency at first, probably they get someone to write it for them and then it totally changed.

What do you all feel about carzone when you see this kind of crap on the site or coming from their site? Do you feel they're doing enough/nothing at all or should be doing more to prevent this or regulate the people on the site?

This was class, and yes they dont seem to be doing anything about it, theres surely something that they can do

bazz26

Considering the large volume of these type adverts on carzone these days at €30 a month, you could probably understand why carzone are not too bothered about them.

nice1franko

I reported one (an 06 audi a4 for 5k, email seller only, 'u pay me escrow' etc) and never heard anything back from them and the ad was still up about 3 days later. don't think they give a rats so long as they get their 30 bobs.

copacetic

KTRIC wrote: »

Theres no way that guy is German, Irish or any other European nationality. The way he structures his sentences is a dead give away.

No shit, Sherlock.

L-M

Jesus that's gas, they really do take us for complete fools lol.

LolaDub

victor1 wrote: »

This was class, and yes they dont seem to be doing anything about it, theres surely something that they can do

nice1franko wrote: »

I reported one (an 06 audi a4 for 5k, email seller only, 'u pay me escrow' etc) and never heard anything back from them and the ad was still up about 3 days later. don't think they give a rats so long as they get their 30 bobs.

They're likely not to be getting the 30 euro in a legitamate way ie from a scammers actual credit card, more likely stolen cards. I think its awful that they don't seem to take the reports seriously. Considering possible identity theft, number plate theft (not sure if its valid number plate theft as its just in the pictures) and intent to fraud surely the gardai and carzone should be a bit more alert with this?

bazz26 wrote: »

Considering the large volume of these type adverts on carzone these days at €30 a month, you could probably understand why carzone are not too bothered about them.

I get your point but if i list my car there i pay my 30 to them as well, same as everyone else. Why isn't my custom and right to a decent service recognised? I got my car listed on cbg and cars ireland for a week for free. I didn't get one scam email or a uk advertiser looking for money from those sites only carzone. Admittedly carzone has a lot more traffic but i really think they should have much more of a duty of care for their customers and people using their service. They do fa about the scamming now and its becoming an absolute joke with carzone. They need to get their finger out and start giving a crap.

LolaDub

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Brilliant, Lola for President!

LOL

My first act would be to spam the scammers, post up every scammer email you receive and get everyone to email them crap

BadCRC

That is the funniest post ever! It's good to see someone having fun at these guys expense.

I've recently sold a car an suffered the same spam of scammers and advertising agents trying to tell me people in the UK will buy my car.

In my opinion Carzone are going to loose their dominant position in the market unless they start to sort this out. They have become a haven for scammers and seem to lack any desire to tackle the problem.

lassykk

that was brilliant... gave me such a laugh

Cormic

very good. I am off to 419eater to have another laugh.

bazz26

LolaDub wrote: »

I get your point but if i list my car there i pay my 30 to them as well, same as everyone else. Why isn't my custom and right to a decent service recognised? I got my car listed on cbg and cars ireland for a week for free. I didn't get one scam email or a uk advertiser looking for money from those sites only carzone. Admittedly carzone has a lot more traffic but i really think they should have much more of a duty of care for their customers and people using their service. They do fa about the scamming now and its becoming an absolute joke with carzone. They need to get their finger out and start giving a crap.

I understand what you are saying, they probably could do a bit more but then where does the policing stop. What about clocked cars or cars with dodgy pasts. We cannot blame them for that either. At the end of the day the internet is vast just like the real world, full of dishonest people waiting to take advantage of you so the old reliable advice of "buyer beware" still applies. If something sounds too good to be true then most likely it is.

BTW I have no association with them.

Mylow

bazz26 wrote: »

Considering the large volume of these type adverts on carzone these days at €30 a month, you could probably understand why carzone are not too bothered about them.

Until they start get chargeback's on credit cards. You can guarantee these scammers are using someone elses card details.

LolaDub

Carzone do or seem to do absolutely nothing when it comes to the policing of ads. They're making a profit (probably from stolen cards) from the users of the site and their customers being spammed and potentially ripped off. They should really have more responsibility.

smash

have you seen the amount of cars on that site? there's no way in hell you could monitor every ad! and I've seen loads of people here put up links to scam ads and when I click in, they've been marked as sold so there is some monitoring going on.

Cormic

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Brilliant, Lola for President!

If we elect her as President then the scammer will have her address

Bearcat

i had a landcruiser for sale testing the market on c.z The amount of bullsh@ters and scammers who rang was amazing. I pulled the ad after 30days of not one genuine call. Keeping the LC now as it maybe boring but never misses a beat.

06 Amazon

LolaDub

I was lucky enough with my car, sold in a week but i had priced it fairly low to get that. I'd say 90% of calls and emails were between scammers and UK advertisers. I know there are a lot of cars on the site but i think they should go through some sort of screening or maybe have to give the reg and the address its registered at when you sign up to an ad. There has to be something more than the nothing they're doing now. As i put in my original post i reported an advert that was copied from a current garage one which went to sold but then was for sale again.

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Mazda/RX-8/car/1155777/

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Mazda/RX-8/car/1207500/

I emailed the garage with it so they could report it to carzone and then it was put to sold and stayed that way.

Riche670

I've found another scammer on Carzone while searching for a VW Beetle for my girlfriend. This one is hilarious as the automated message sent to him from carzone was underneath his reply directly to me. His email address says his name is "Robert Host" and the automated message reffered to him as "Robert Foxhall" :pac:

The only odd thing about this one is that he, who lives in Italy wants to meet up in Manchester (where the car is ) and do a cash exchange?

See below:

"The price is 4200 euros
Manual transmission,
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has service book, the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings. It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland. The car is at the moment in Manchester, UK.
I live in the Italy, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Manchester for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.

Many thanks"


I replied to this saying:

Hi Robert,

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Despite these circumstances I am still very interested, as I have relatives in Manchester to aid me.

Can you just confirm that the car has Irish registration plates? (New registration system in ROI since July ’09 would mean an extra charge if it is not on Irish plates)

Oddly enough I’m just back from a week in Milan myself, beautiful city.



I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?

smash

tell him you're going to send a relation to go and look at the car and ask him where it is....

Riche670

steve06 wrote: »

tell him you're going to send a relation to go and look at the car and ask him where it is....

Will do when he replies. Maybe then he will introduce the "shipping company" line.

It just struck me as odd, the whole meeting up and cash only exchange in the original email... Has anyone heard of this before?

smash

he'll probably drag that out and then say that something's come up and he'll have to get the car shipped instead.

Or maybe their more sophisticated now and could do something like leave a key at a hotel reception and say to you "I had to leave the country but the car is at the carpark in x hotel, once you transfer the funds I'll instruct the receptionist to hand over the keys" and then you transfer the money and get the key and it doesn't work in any car in the carpark!

fm

that guy is also selling a gti for 4200 06 model,got the same story from him.i told him my brother works in bolton and am trying to get him to go to meet him in bolton to give him the cash. but he is insisting on w union.hes actually getting crankier every in each email when i tell him i wont use w union.i reported it to carzone and sent them the email but its still up now with an irish mobile

http://www.carzone.ie/1228163

QUOTE=Riche670;57636576]I've found another scammer on Carzone while searching for a VW Beetle for my girlfriend. This one is hilarious as the automated message sent to him from carzone was underneath his reply directly to me. His email address says his name is "Robert Host" and the automated message reffered to him as "Robert Foxhall" :pac:

The only odd thing about this one is that he, who lives in Italy wants to meet up in Manchester (where the car is ) and do a cash exchange?

See below:

"The price is 4200 euros
Manual transmission,
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has service book, the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings. It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland. The car is at the moment in Manchester, UK.
I live in the Italy, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Manchester for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.

Many thanks"


I replied to this saying:

Hi Robert,

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Despite these circumstances I am still very interested, as I have relatives in Manchester to aid me.

Can you just confirm that the car has Irish registration plates? (New registration system in ROI since July ’09 would mean an extra charge if it is not on Irish plates)

Oddly enough I’m just back from a week in Milan myself, beautiful city.



I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?[/QUOTE]

daveharnett

fm wrote: »

I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?

If I had to guess, punters who turned up at the meeting point would be mugged, then possibly abducted and forced to empty their bank accounts, depending on how ambitious the scammers are.

Biro

I'll be worried when they get to the stage of meeting people for a cash sale and when you arrive a gang of them attack you and steal the cash that they know you'll have with you.
Everyone should register their e-mail addresses with dodgy websites that spam the mail addresses!

Biro

daveharnett wrote: »

If I had to guess, punters who turned up at the meeting point would be mugged, then possibly abducted and forced to empty their bank accounts, depending on how ambitious the scammers are.

Beaten to it!

poreilly101

Look at this for effort

"Hello,
Thanks for the mail.I really like the car and i am interested in buying it, i like to pay you in cash at hands but right now I'm not within your reach that i could easily come for the payment and pick-up the car myself, so we need to talk better on another means of payment which is by (Bank Draft or Cheque),which is more secured and better than any other means of payment.

It's what i have been searching for in the last 6 months.Thanks for everything. Please help me take good proper care of it because i know by now its mine.But right now the month is drawing down to an END and i can see that i finally got one.

Really i want you to please send more pictures if available and if not its okay.
I'm from London in England,UK. But i live by the sea side in The Republic of Denmark cos am a SAILOR. I always come home (London) every 4 Months and travel back to my place of work in Porto

kindly get back to me,so i know which of the two is your most preferred means of payment for the said item.Thanks for the mail...The payment will be in advance by Cheque and i will need the following info:

1)Get back with the name to be written on the Cheque.

2)Your address where it is to be deliver.

3)Your phone contacts (home/office/mobile) for an effective communication.


Also,I have forward your mail to my Associate to send you the payment and also instruct him to include the shipping fee to your payment,because he has arrange for the shipping.
I am really glad that you want me to get the item and i will be happy also when i actually get it.Please email me back today.

PLEASE NOTE: That the cheque /Banker's Draft will be cleared first before releasing the car ok .

Hope to read from you soonest, Please kindly get back to me fast. you can also call me on XXXXXXXXXXX

Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

What good are just the details requested? Can they hack with just that infromation?

Bearcat

f-ing brill. we should all paste and copy the above and email it to that scammer selling the golf.

Riche670

Riche670 wrote: »

I've found another scammer on Carzone while searching for a VW Beetle for my girlfriend. This one is hilarious as the automated message sent to him from carzone was underneath his reply directly to me. His email address says his name is "Robert Host" and the automated message reffered to him as "Robert Foxhall" :pac:

The only odd thing about this one is that he, who lives in Italy wants to meet up in Manchester (where the car is ) and do a cash exchange?

See below:

"The price is 4200 euros
Manual transmission,
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has service book, the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings. It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland. The car is at the moment in Manchester, UK.
I live in the Italy, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Manchester for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.

Many thanks"


I replied to this saying:

Hi Robert,

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Despite these circumstances I am still very interested, as I have relatives in Manchester to aid me.

Can you just confirm that the car has Irish registration plates? (New registration system in ROI since July ’09 would mean an extra charge if it is not on Irish plates)

Oddly enough I’m just back from a week in Milan myself, beautiful city.



I'm yet to get a reply to this. I'm just curious if anyone knows how he would operate this scam based on a cash exchange?

Got a reply to the above:

"Thanks for your e-mail!
As I allready explained , I live in Italy and I will go to Manchester, only for this sale.
I could meet you there this week or next week, if that is ok for you too, but I have to be sure that you are serious, because I have a long way ...from Italy to UK .
So here are my conditions:
I won't ask for any money in advance, but you must reserve the car and I will come only if you are decided to buy it. And as a warranty that you really want to buy the car and that you have the money (in cash) for the car, I require that you arrange a payed deposit on your name , for the price of the car ( 4200 euros). Regarding the deposit, there is a service very fast and easy to use, named Western Union, also you can find it to any post office (AN POST). It is used for sending cash money . All that you have to do is to ask a friend or family to go to Western Union with the cash and to send it to Manchester, to your name as receiver.
Your friend will be the sender and you will be the receiver in Manchester.
(I ask you to do this because I want to be 100 % sure that you will be there and you will be ready to buy it because last week I went to Manchester for nothing. A person from Dublin told me that he wants to meet me and buy it , so I went to Manchester, but he never came and never answered to my emails .)
After you make the transfer, I want you to send me an email with the scan of the receipt, then i will come to Manchester to close the deal.
You will verify the documents and test the car and we will make the sale documents. Then we will go to a Western Union office, you will take the money and pay me.
PS: I told you that someone else must be the sender, not you, because some Western Union offices do not give you the money if the receiver is also sender.
Regarding the transfer fees, you will deduct them from the total amount, So that you won't pay nothing more, just the price that we agreed ( for example 4000 euros+ fees 200 euros= 4200).
This transfer is also good for you because you avoid the risk of a traveling with the money in pocket.

Let me know if this is OK with you as soon as possible , let me know if I should reserve the car for you.
My phone number is: 0044XXXXXXXX .

Thank you"


Same old story it seems...

razorblunt

Got an email looking for the reference number for my car advert. Which is strange seeing as its in his first email and i replied with the same details.

Biro

What's the story with Western Union anyway? Are they the only bank that give out money from some account to anyone coming in asking them? Why do all the scammers use it?

Davidth88

Ok.

Can people explain to me how this scam works.

I can see these deals are obviously bogus ( too complex/stupid to be real ). but how are you eventually ripped off ?

Are you mugged for the money , is the car stolen or something ?

Maybe I am stupid , but I just don't get it !

Eoin

They send you a dodgy draft for more than the actual amount you asked for, and ask if you can refund the difference. So you lodge it to your account. Your bank temporarily increases your balance until it is found to be dodgy, and it's in this window that they hope you send them money.

ResDub

Davidth88 wrote: »

Ok.

Can people explain to me how this scam works.

I can see these deals are obviously bogus ( too complex/stupid to be real ). but how are you eventually ripped off ?

Are you mugged for the money , is the car stolen or something ?

Maybe I am stupid , but I just don't get it !

This is how they do it i believe

1) Copy details of genuine at ad i.e picture and spec change price contact details

2) when someone emails they give their patter about the car and ask for deposit by escrow method (western union).

3) Deposit lodged and they ask punter to scan and email a copy of receipt of money lodged.

4) They print this off go in and get their money and are never heard of again.

see more

http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/fraudtypes/escrowfraud.aspx


Surely Carzone can do something about blocking bogus posters by blocking ip address of ones that have been reported or email addresses they keep using.

I know their running a business and they wont say no to money but the amount of crap you have to go through on the site, bogey ads and replies, now makes it far worse site than it was 12 - 18 months ago. Surely quality control ads is in their interest to protect their business.