A guy in Cork lost €1,700 to a very sneaky car scam on Done Deal

duffman3833

Read this on Joe.ie and it got me thinking, a lot of people calling them stupid for not test driving the car but it could happen anyone, i don't think all the info is there, like who's car was it? when it said the key didn't work, did they mean in the ignition or to enter the car. Anyone else hear of this story?



"A man in Cork named Benny was the victim of a cruel scam after agreeing to buy a car on Done Deal.
Benny travelled to Meath to look at a '04 Toyota Corolla he had agreed in principle to buy it for €1,700 after seeing it on the site.
The person selling it arranged to meet Benny and his daughter, who the car was for, at 10pm near his house in Ashbourne.
The two arrived at the agreed time and place and met a man wearing a hi-vis vest who showed them the car and everyone was happy with the deal.
The seller gave the girl a key but said before letting her drive it away, he needed to show his mother the money because "they were almost scammed last week by someone using forged notes".


The girl walked up to the nearby house and gave your man the money so he could show to his mother. He walked in around the side of the house and was never seen again.
She ran back to the car to tell her dad what happened and when they tried the key in the Corolla, it didn't fit. No!
They went up to the house and rang the doorbell, an elderly woman appeared saying she didn't know anything about a car for sale.
They called the Gardaí and they informed them that similar scams were happening all over the place, they're currently investigating it."

Valetta

It's because there are idiots like this that scammers' scams work.

hotcontents

Ye I remember reading about this when the story initially broke.
Don't have too much sympathy for them to be honest, they shouldn't have handed over any money until they were 100% happy everything was in place and they could have easily insisted that the money was checked at the car.

colm_mcm

Harsh but partly true.

Buying a car isn't something most people do too often. It's easy to forget things.

When I was buying the civic, I had the change of ownership filled out, cup of tea drank, big chat had - everything done.

I only remembered as I was walking out the door that I hadn't paid for the car.

You may well have read all the guides about what to do and not do, but when it comes down to it you don't want to appear rude, you may be rushed, or you may just get excited about getting a new car.

Toyotafanboi

Who buys a car literally without opening the door?

I feel bad for the but jaysis thats silly. Did they just look at the outside and hand over the cash?

duffman3833

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Who buys a car literally without opening the door?

I feel bad for the but jaysis thats silly. Did they just look at the outside and hand over the cash?

It doesn't mention that they got in the car or not, it just says they tried the key. So they didn't get into the car at all?

The Backwards Man

I remember when dealing was the national pastime, everyone could do it. Looks like Buying and Selling will have to be taught in the schools the way things are going.

dbit

Cops should be able to yield all infos from Done deal , IP addresses , mobile numbers , 3g or 4g carriers , if the guy is using burner phones then no joy , but if hes a dope then he may have left a wee trail behind him.

I remember back a while selling a BMW 325i and the Hoard of ****bags asking if they could come to my house ( Key cloners paradise = done deal beware)

colm_mcm

You can be sure they got a prepay phone and used the Internet on that with a disposable sim,
Anyone with the balls to show a car to someone where the key didn't fit isn't your casual amateur.

duffman3833

dbit wrote: »

Cops should be able to yield all infos from Done deal , IP addresses , mobile numbers , 3g or 4g carriers , if the guy is using burner phones then no joy , but if hes a dope then he may have left a wee trail behind him.

I remember back a while selling a BMW 325i and the Hoard of ****bags asking if they could come to my house ( Key cloners paradise = done deal beware)

i don't think the guards will do anything about it tbh

allthedoyles

They may have started the car and brought it for a spin , and everything going fine .
Then when its time to agree the deal and hand over the money , the seller may have given a key that does not work .

So the guy disappears with the money . - I'm wondering did he drive off in the car he was selling ?

Toyotafanboi

It has to be a random car in a car park. If the seller just locked the car and ran away with the cash, they would eventually return for their car so surely all you would have to do is wait?

frozenfrozen

why did he have a hivis vest on?

dbit

frozenfrozen wrote: »

why did he have a hivis vest on?

The illusion of seeming official in some regard ? Prolly a Dennis O Brien vest.

dbit

duffman3833 wrote: »

i don't think the guards will do anything about it tbh

Yes i agree in similar issue now with them road rager stopped his car and spat in my face , what are the cops doing , fook all . I dont think he was Irish so no interest in his bodily fluids ( Water).

bmstuff

frozenfrozen wrote: »

why did he have a hivis vest on?

Blur his upper body with potential cctv systems at night time almost
Only guessing here...

Atlantic Dawn

dbit wrote: »

Cops should be able to yield all infos from Done deal , IP addresses , mobile numbers , 3g or 4g carriers , if the guy is using burner phones then no joy , but if hes a dope then he may have left a wee trail behind him.

I remember back a while selling a BMW 325i and the Hoard of ****bags asking if they could come to my house ( Key cloners paradise = done deal beware)

Will be their word against his, they gave him the money after all. It's like a case of someone saying they are a wallet inspector and you handing over your wallet for them to check.

Special Circumstances

dbit wrote: »

The illusion of seeming official in some regard ? Prolly a Dennis O Brien vest.

I agree with the first bit. A bit lost by the second bit tbh.

millington

Doesn't seem like a scam to be wary of, more so just reminds you not to be an imbecile and actually start and drive the car before buying it

dbit

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I agree with the first bit. A bit lost by the second bit tbh.

Aright called me on it so ill answer , Conmen ? ( not IW employess directly but more by association ?)

dbit

bmstuff wrote: »

Blur his upper body with potential cctv systems at night time almost
Only guessing here...

Seems more likely than my DOB beating suggestion.

dbit

Still the latest Fob hacking devices impose massive risks when meeting people to sell cars . Never sell from your drive way as they will return and be gone in 60 secs ( Literally)

cml387

Benny is a rather unfortunate name, bearing in mind he was the slow witted one in Crossroads.

OK it was a long time ago.

Del2005

dbit wrote: »

Cops should be able to yield all infos from Done deal , IP addresses , mobile numbers , 3g or 4g carriers , if the guy is using burner phones then no joy , but if hes a dope then he may have left a wee trail behind him.

Cops won't do anything, they handed him the money. Opposite happened someone I know, gave keys for test drive and car disappeared, cops or insurance didn't care as the keys where handed over without coercion. Aren't are laws great, if you've got enough scumbag in you you can steal without breaking the any laws.

dbit

I suspect everyone of everything all the time its the only way lolz.

bmstuff

Personally for this kind of transaction i always advise to meet across the Garda station.
Never ever at your house. As for the payment. Bank draft. As for time, well, during daytime of course.
Just common sense really.
And saying that again but transfer of ownership of a car should be done at garda station or revenue office really. Car could be stolen or else. Would avoid a lot of crimes being committed and would save Garda a lot of hassle and facebook posts.

Special Circumstances

bmstuff wrote: »

And saying that again but transfer of ownership of a car should be done at garda station or revenue office really. Car could be stolen or else. Would avoid a lot of crimes being committed and would save Garda a lot of hassle and facebook posts.

They could shift a lot of the hassle of taxing and displaying discs to electronic transactions and ANPR, and give the tax office staff new responsibilities* of witness/processing change of ownerships etc.


*uh oh $$$$$$

dbit

OR even barcoding so that we can verify with Apps on smart phones ?

duffman3833

the worst thing is the log book. takes ages to process these

bmstuff

In France you have to produce a certificate printed by the hotel of police
It is automatically produced by a machine after you enter reg and date of first registration.
If a car is stolen or ownership change has been locked by a court order/bank etc, then the cert will show it. Names escapes me but you got the idea.
Has to be included in car transaction over there.

bmstuff

duffman3833 wrote: »

the worst thing is the log book. takes ages to process these

Na did 2 cars ownership change recently, took 4 business days to get new ones. Both done with 2 months interval. Was quiet impressed.