WAS I SCAMMED???

urallfish

I was lookin for a car on done deal and came accross a golf 00 for 1,300 i emailed the person and he replyed within minutes. I asked him to bring the car to me and he said that he was living in london and wanted to sell the car at a quick sale as he needed the money for a deposit for a flat. He then went on to say that the only option he had in mind was a site called www.irishautotrade.com i lodge the money in that account with them he brings the car to me for 7 days if im not happy i receive the money back if i am he gets it. I did put the money in as i checked the website and it looked fine and legit. Now its nearly a week later no reply from his emails nothin! when i log into www.irishautotrade.com it says awaiting scanned copy of reciept, i just got my bank statments tday and scanned and sent them )with my personal info blurred) i am really woried about this can someone please help??

I'd say you were without a doubt.

aidan_walsh

Unfortunately, I would say that chances are good that you have been hit by the old Bogus Escrow scam. Did you transfer the money directly, or place it on your credit card? If using the card, you may be able to use the chargeback facility from your bank to get your money back.

congo_90

You've been scammed. Should've checked out the sticky in the motors section here or at least your homework.
This is like the ebay scam where they say they'll leave the car at ebay for you :rolleyes:

Sorry op you've been done.
Worst is, even though you blurred your details you sent a copy of your bank statement :eek:

urallfish

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Unfortunately, I would say that chances are good that you have been hit by the old Bogus Escrow scam. Did you transfer the money directly, or place it on your credit card? If using the card, you may be able to use the chargeback facility from your bank to get your money back.

No i transfered it through my online banking

urallfish

OMG! i cant believe this i sent it through online banking is there any way i can get my money back? my boyfriend was telling me not to trust any of those sites now i feel like ive been robbed can i even cancell this transaction??

urallfish

????

jhegarty

You got done.

Roro4Brit

Ouch. 1300 blips. God damn it OP this has scam written all over it. What the hell were you thinking?

I feel sorry for you. All I can deffo tell you is that you will have absolutely no recourse from the bank side of things. Any fraud where the consumer has willingly handed over cash the banks have no liability and no interest what so ever. If you ring I'd imagine you'll be getting a dial tone within 15 seconds of starting your story.

EDIT: by the way I just did a google search on that URL and 6th link down is another forum where some guys states that it is 100% scam. I bought a stress relief squidgy ball for €6 from an unknown website last week and I still spent 5 minutes making sure the site was legit. For 1300e, I'd want the car in my driveway already.

urallfish

Roro4Brit wrote: »

Ouch. 1300 blips. God damn it OP this has scam written all over it. What the hell were you thinking?

I feel sorry for you. All I can deffo tell you is that you will have absolutely no recourse from the bank side of things. Any fraud where the consumer has willingly handed over cash the banks have no liability and no interest what so ever. If you ring I'd imagine you'll be getting a dial tone within 15 seconds of starting your story.

EDIT: by the way I just did a google search on that URL and 6th link down is another forum where some guys states that it is 100% scam. I bought a stress relief squidgy ball for €6 from an unknown website last week and I still spent 5 minutes making sure the site was legit. For 1300e, I'd want the car in my driveway already.

Yes i was already lookin at that i know i tried to register to ask some questions more than a f..... squidgy ball i need now 8 half months preg doesnt help the stress here niether i cant understand how they can actually take the money out is it a legit bank account i pressed cancell transaction but im gonna have to realize now that maybe ill never see that money so are u guys tellin me i havnt a leg to stand on its gone??

Roro4Brit

urallfish wrote: »

Yes i was already lookin at that i know i tried to register to ask some questions more than a f..... squidgy ball i need now 8 half months preg doesnt help the stress here niether i cant understand how they can actually take the money out is it a legit bank account i pressed cancell transaction but im gonna have to realize now that maybe ill never see that money so are u guys tellin me i havnt a leg to stand on its gone??

That's the thing. They're not taking money out, you sent it. I very much doubt you'll see it back. My best mates mam booked hotel in London for her and 4 mates from scam website. 900e! Bank told her that as she willingly offered over the funds that it's her fault and hers alone.

If you had used a visa or other credit card I'm sure there would be more options. But it was a direct funds transfer, presumably takes 2-3 days to hit their account so I'd say they have it well spent at this stage.

This is very unfortunate. It's disgusting in fact. I feel ill for you.

urallfish

Roro4Brit wrote: »

That's the thing. They're not taking money out, you sent it. I very much doubt you'll see it back. My best mates mam booked hotel in London for her and 4 mates from scam website. 900e! Bank told her that as she willingly offered over the funds that it's her fault and hers alone.

If you had used a visa or other credit card I'm sure there would be more options. But it was a direct funds transfer, presumably takes 2-3 days to hit their account so I'd say they have it well spent at this stage.

This is very unfortunate. It's disgusting in fact. I feel ill for you.

I dont get it though i have emails of him goin on about this site that it stays there until i am happy with the car can he be traced? he blatenley ripped me off can the garda do anything or will they bother?

ladybirdirl

Definetly a scam.. in fact I think it's still listed on one of the consumer websites as one of the current favourites

You should try the gardai, may not get anything back from them but worth a go

username123

http://www.whois.net/whois/irishautotrade.com

Theres the site registration info, registered to someone in Chicago.
Report the site to the guards, tell them youve been scammed on the internet, might get him shut down. There is address info on the registration, so maybe ask the guards to report him to the police in Chicago.

And in future always check the registration info on sites you buy from, so many dodgy sites out there that look legit (standard format template etc..) but then turn out to be registered a couple of days ago to someone in china and gone a few days later.

I notice on the site itself there is no contact information, just a form for you to fill out and have someone get back to you - very dodge to see that, should always ring alarm bells.

Roro4Brit

urallfish wrote: »

I dont get it though i have emails of him goin on about this site that it stays there until i am happy with the car can he be traced? he blatenley ripped me off can the garda do anything or will they bother?

So he lied. You should definitely print them off and go to the Gardai with it but I don't think they can do much (I'm not sure about this!). But financially, I think you're going to have to absorb the 1300e. Sure give it a shot. If anything it may help you feel like you've done something to get back at the bastard.

Can I ask what you transferred it to? Did you send it to a bank account number? What was the sort code etc, was it a british account?

jhegarty

Roro4Brit wrote: »

Can I ask what you transferred it to? Did you send it to a bank account number? What was the sort code etc, was it a british account?

I am guessing a western union office was involved.

Rented Mule

Registrant ID: CRC7Z53-RU
Registrant Name: calvin buckner
Registrant Organization: calvin buckner
Registrant Street1: 244 E PEARSON ST APT 505
Registrant City: CHICAGO
Registrant Postal Code: 60611
Registrant Country: US

Administrative, Technical Contact
Contact ID: CRC7Z53-RU
Contact Name: calvin buckner
Contact Organization: calvin buckner
Contact Street1: 244 E PEARSON ST APT 505
Contact City: CHICAGO
Contact Postal Code: 60611
Contact Country: US
Contact Phone: +1 2387727712
Contact E-mail: ssnlhmn@gmail.com

I am a native Chicagoan, and I know this area quite well. The address is an actual building off of the lakefront. There is none by the name of Calvin Buckner listed at this address. The phone number is fake. There is no area code 238 in the United States.

There is a Calvin Buckner listed in Chicago, but he is about 15 miles away from this address.

JohnDigital

There is another domain registered to the same person irishautopayments.com and it has been reported as a definite scam, see link below. Looks like your money's long gone, sorry.

Don't get too upset, its only money and you need to look after yourself and your imminent arrival!

http://whois.domaintools.com/irishautopayments.com

http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:jyPythdrU5sJ:www.globalmotorbikes.com/siteapps/7314/htdocs/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D149%26t%3D1360%26view%3Dunread+IRISHAUTOPAYMENTS.COM&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie&client=firefox-a

urallfish

jhegarty wrote: »

I am guessing a western union office was involved.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You are now logged in as lolgriff, your rating is: 0 (not a Premium User)[/FONT]

This transaction has been canceled.
You can contact customer support for more details about it.


--don't post these sort of details on a website--
here is a copy of the details that i have bank acc num etc

urallfish

JohnDigital wrote: »

There is another domain registered to the same person irishautopayments.com and it has been reported as a definite scam, see link below. Looks like your money's long gone, sorry.

Don't get too upset, its only money and you need to look after yourself and your imminent arrival!

http://whois.domaintools.com/irishautopayments.com

http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:jyPythdrU5sJ:www.globalmotorbikes.com/siteapps/7314/htdocs/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D149%26t%3D1360%26view%3Dunread+IRISHAUTOPAYMENTS.COM&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie&client=firefox-a

OMG!!! the second link there his last reply, Sorry for the late reply, I had a very busy day today.!!
He had a neck to reply with the very same comment to me thismornin and said he needs to get some sleep he will be over in the morning with car grrrrrrrrrrrr im so annoyed obviously no sign of the dirty bastard, forgive my french! and said its too late to do anything as i emailed him i was contacting the guards, this must be the same guy im not leaving this go

Dr. Baltar

Listening to this on WLRFM now... crazy stuff!

BlackWizard

I'm listening to the same thing on Joe on RTE radio show.

Girl lost 1500 euro I think.

That site does look good alright!
http://irishautotrade.com/

edit: It's some sort of Russian website. It's mad they can't do anything about it!

Sherifu

*listens to liveline*

*sighs*

syklops

BlackWizard wrote: »

I'm listening to the same thing on Joe on RTE radio show.

Girl lost 1500 euro I think.

That site does look good alright!
http://irishautotrade.com/

edit: It's some sort of Russian website. It's mad they can't do anything about it!

That was the OP on liveline.

Kevin!

It's preety much you're own fault for being stupid, even on the contact us section of the page the postcode is phony and does "125 london road" sound legit to you?

JDxtra

I would also consider closing your current account. These guys have all your details, including a statement. The chances of them using this for further fraud would be quite high. Best speak to your bank.

urallfish

Kevin! wrote: »

It's preety much you're own fault for being stupid, even on the contact us section of the page the postcode is phony and does "125 london road" sound legit to you?

Well look if thats what you want to call me (stupid) well so be but thanks for makin me feel that extra bit better!!!! easy for you to say that. If you read all my emails how i was so milipulated into this scam being 8 half months pregnant and ready to pop does not help either. Ok i was gulable and STUPID to go ahead with it im not much of a computer genius either nor do i know the roads in LONDON! i just dont want this to happen to anyone again in my situation.

jimmyw

I am sure most people would have sympathy for your bad luck. Can I ask why did you look for a car in the uk anyway. I am sure you could have found a car around the same price wherever your from from a dealer or even a private sale especially at this time with the economy the way it is. I once advertised a car on carzone a few years ago and these s**m(not carzone) rang me up to tell me they had a sale for the car and like a d******d I gave my credit card number. They said there was a fee of 99euro, this was a transaction fee :eek::mad: which it clearly was not. Had to change my cc number soon after, so I feel your pain.I knew it sounded dodgy but I still did it. I was raging with myself for ages afterwards. I hope you have learned a lesson here. NEVER transfer money like that. Buy local. Good luck in the future, and I hope you get some good luck and also good luck with the new arrival.


Oh you have brought it to the public with your 2 appearances on radio anyway.

tbh

urallfish wrote: »

Well look if thats what you want to call me (stupid) well so be but thanks for makin me feel that extra bit better!!!! easy for you to say that. If you read all my emails how i was so milipulated into this scam being 8 half months pregnant and ready to pop does not help either. Ok i was gulable and STUPID to go ahead with it im not much of a computer genius either nor do i know the roads in LONDON! i just dont want this to happen to anyone again in my situation.

don't be too hard on yourself. These guys are professionals, you're just a normal trusting member of the public, like millions of others. I'm afraid it's a harsh lesson to learn, but the responses you are getting is quite typical of boards, eg

OP "I think I may have done something stupid"
Others: "how the hell were you so stupid!!"

Human nature I'm afraid