Little background first, I have my 2001 MPV listed for sale on AutoTrader.com. I have only gotten a couple of inquiries, both seemed to be scammers but they never got back to me after the initial letter. Now I have this guy, message was forwarded through the AutoTrader site to me asking for more info. I said sure and sent him more info, including the fact that any transaction would be handled through my lawyer. Figured that would deter him, instead he came back with the following (note that this is verbatim, misspellings and all):

"Hello Michael,

Thank you for your prompt reply,i really need the car . i want you to know that i do not stay in the states i am presently in the Uk ,for the money is not my problem the real fact is the importance it is to me.your price is okay with me.I will be happy to conclude everything as soon as possible,.i really need the purchase being the fact that i have being looking out for such a model and i am so happy having this one here ,though i have not seen it but i want to beleive it is in the best state for that price from the pics. and informations you have given so far.i am eager to buy it and i would want to expedite the payment.So In respect of payment i have a client in the states who is owing me some money $ 16,300 and it is in excess of your price.All i need do to make payment easier and faster is to instruct him to write a cashier check and mail it to you So what you will have to do if you are alright by that is to give me the name which ! you want on the cashier check ,your phone number and address so it could be mailed to you but i would want to know if i can trust you to send my balance to my shipping agent via western union money transfer or moneygram after the money must have cleared in your bank to enable me prepay the shipping cost for the pick up in your location.you need not bother about shipping,that is why my international shipping agent is coming over to recieve the car from you.if this is okay with you get back to me with your name, address and phone number so that arrangement for payment can be made asap .mail me asap to enable me arrange for the payment.Please i will require your assistance to see that the car gets to me in the shortest of time .
Thank you very much I would be looking forward to your reply.My client is an Oil Drill Supervisor nd he lives in US but now he have a job in UK, U will be send the refund balance of to my customer's shipping agent for the shipping agent to be able to offset shipping charges and any other related charges,The shipping agent will be coming for LOS ANGELES, CA OR MONTREAL CANADA that is after the check clear in ur bank.I will give u his information after check have clear in ur bank.My client likes the pics at autotrader.com nd he said the pics is great.
This is my contact information:
John Doug
Internet Director
Doug's Lynnwood Autos
115 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY, England, UK
Honda-Hyundai-Mitsubish-Truck-Bike
+447040128796
johndough13831@yahoo.co.uk Please feel free to contact me any."

Couple of questions raised in my mind, if he's an Internet Director why no Web address? The others will be self-evident if you read his letter, not the least of which is why would someone be taking a used car from the US to the UK? Another flag was that while there is only one picture of the van on AutoTrader and I offered to send him more, he states the "pictures" are fine. I did a quick search for the dealer, only one that came up had the same name but is located in Seattle area. Also of note is his mail address domain name, this is the second one I have gotten from yahoo.co.uk. New scammer central? You may all want to beware if you get any mail from a similar address.

This is the classic scam you hear about, send you some money for more than asking price and then you are supposed to send along the difference. My only question for you guys is should I play along and see how far he goes, or just blast him? I don't think AutoTrader has any mechanism for reporting this sort of thing or I would. This type of scam must still be working or they would have given it up, which is pretty sad.

 

^ I had to deal with this when selling my ATV - and the newest thing seems to be sending out *fake* emails from paypal.com

 

yeah, totally fake. just delete them or print them off and save them in a folder like I do.

 

i forward the emails to spoof@paypal.com also