Caveat Emptor - Not

[Ian Grace]

Here's a sobering story from US VMR Ray McCrary who has been trying to sell sell his Sunbeam Tiger:

"I had the car advertised on the internet and had a fellow call about it. He said he wanted to have a friend take a look, and I agreed. His "friend" showed up, looked at the car, and then handed me a check drawn on a Bank of England account for the full amount. I deposited the check, and waited for it to clear. While I waited, the new "owner" phoned and asked to have me advance the shipping cost. he would then send a new check to cover this cost. Fortunately, I smelled a rat and put him off. He continued to call a LOT to ask to pick up. Finally, just prior to Christmas, it turned out the check was bogus, ultimately drawn on a closed account - not in the UK but in friggin' Latvia! No wonder the guy was in such a lather to get the car shipped! He called just after I found the info, and hung up when I told him what I had found. He was calling from one of the paid mobile phones you buy in Wal-Mart. Bottom line is not to take a deal that looks too good to be true."

Ouch!

[Toby]

My brother enquired about a car on ebay to be told it was his as the guy needed the money. It was cheap. Send money by Moneygram and car will be delivered, there is even a 3 day money back deal at moneygram. It turned out this was a scam as the car resurfaced with similar story, different location. Also I am told that if they won't do telephones it's a giveaway and they buy and sell between eachother to get a good profile before a scam! Luckily my brother backed out.