Warning! Scammers among us!

I've sadly been down this road about 2yrs back, the same wording and also from the UK.

I even called the guy thinking that would see if it was legit.
In my case he was using the name of a real company.
Apparently they were trying to find the same guy due to the number of angry people calling them up asking for their parts.

Lucky i guess, as it was a small amount - but it still hurts even today.

UK police and the Internet Crimes unit are so overwhelmed that they can not cope.

 

This is a good idea. Here is a rule from another car forum where I am a mod. Note that the 30 posts must be "productive", simple one word or +1 responses don't count.


1) Creation of threads in our Classified forums is restricted to our active forum members only. This means members must contribute to the discussion forum for a minimum of 30 days AND 30 productive posts before they can post any items for sale, for trade or want-to-buy. They can respond to existing threads to ask questions and purchase items from qualified members. This rule is due to a significant increase of zero-history members posting high dollar items for sale without vouches.

 

+1

 

Even with my 6000 posts, members could still argue the "30 productive posts" part
We could go with productive or really funny, then I might be able to qualify

 

I'm curious how wire scams can exist in the EU and the US. In both cases.....setting up a bank account requires you to prove identity. In the US, we use the Patriot Act to require someone who wants to establish a bank account to prove their identity in front of a Bank manager. Additionally, the laws that govern wire transfers domestically and internationally are not without consequence.

It doesn't take a whole lot to trigger the Terrorist label since the real bad guys "could" be sending some of the money to ISIS.

Your sending bank should be able to tell you who the receiving bank was and where the account is located. Then it comes down to country/laws the account is in. The bank you wired to.....if it is in the EU or US knows who this guy is or at least has a picture of him/her at an ATM or Bank. For example, if it is in Romania.....no happy ending.

Please report it to the authorities. If the account is in the US, the FBI has set up a group that just works on this. I'm sure the EU has something similar.

From the FBI:

Report an online scam or e-mail hoax by filing a complaint online with our Internet Crime Complaint Center or by using our online Tips and Public Leads form; To provide information on select major cases, call our Major Case Contact Center at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).

While painful....some good has already come from this....thanks for giving us the heads up.

 

This reminds me of that dip**** La Scuderia Rossa trying to take me for 10K on a wheel set. I MADE him set up a paypal account and used a CC. He begged me for 2 weeks to send a wire to his bank in Italy, every story under the sun he told me why he needed this to be a cash transaction. Of course he never shipped the wheel set (that he never had in the first place) and my money was refunded 100% by Chase bank.

Protect yourself unless you have a trusted name that can be verified by others.

 

Anything that can help me recoup from a wire to Mexico>?

I reported it with some "Consumer Protection" website, but I'm sure it's not a priority.

I'm out $4,150.00 to some ******* in MX City (if that's even where he is) that's where his bank with HSBC was at least (they told me they couldn't help me...)

 

Enzojr, don't be so sure about the "really funny" part!

 

Unless you are meeting in person, or have someone on the ground to oversee these things, only ever use a protected credit card or Paypal. Anything else is your problem, the banks hide behind 'you instructed payment, it's your responsibility' regardless.

 

Post what you find out. Some of the guys on Fchat can do remarkable things with data.......


The key to getting resolution is to find our where the actual account is physically established. A wire goes bank to bank and then into an account. Most real scammers put their accounts in "friendly" countries which operate with their own rules. The upside is that rules can change and what was a friendly country can turn you in.

If they set the account up in the US or an EU country......there may be some small hope of justice. For example....in the US the FBI would have jurisdiction. Wire and Bank fraud is not a joke to them especially if the money is being relayed out of the US. The actual process is simple: subpoena/request to receiving bank for all records related to account/identify account owner/investigate/match transactions with filed complaints/issue warrant. The downside is that it can take a long time (years) and other cases can take priority.



Keep in mind if they are in the US.....these guys are breaking a whole lot of Federal laws.

 

I had the same issue on a different website with someone trying to sell wheels out of state. Also named Paul. The request to wire money is ALWAYS A RED FLAG.

Just to mess with him, I told him I was local and wanted to see the wheels in person. No response, of course. Probably a good test to tell the seller you have someone local to him who wants to inspect and possibly buy the item for you in cash. Even if you have to lie.

 

Depending on when it happened....I still would report it to the FBI. They take money moving around pretty seriously. Give them as much detail as possible. Banking in Mexico does require proof of identity but from what I can tell it only applies to Gringos. If the guy is a US guy with a Mexican Bank account.....your odds of recourse just went up.

 

Can you imagine waking up every morning and looking in the mirror knowing that you **** people for a living ?
What proud parents he must have.
What wonderful children he must/will raise.

 

That doesn't matter to crooks, otherwise they wouldn't be able to face themselves each morning (as you asked/described).

 

That LSR guy is a total piece of **** scammer- he's gotten a lot of people.

mike

 

What a wonderful existence.

 

You met someone like that, years ago when you attended Cavallino. Scammed me on a bogus mechanic's lien sale avoidance loan. The f'r should have gone into acting school. I was stupid too, for lack of due diligence.

 

If anyone here is considering vendors in the U.K., feel free to let me know, I can check them out with my local contacts, not many cities I don't have someone reliable to go door knocking

 

With that info surely FBI would be interested as its interstate, and international, money fraud. That's exactly what they were set up to investigate

 

The problem is they are overwhelmed. I was told by someone who tried to get any law enforcement agency over here involved in a fraud case that it has to be at least $100,000 before they can devote any resources to it. The man I spoke to lost about $5000 and called everyone from the local police to the United States Secret Service and got nowhere.

 

Well here's hoping someone here can track something down to help you out or at least help shut this scammer down. Don't feel too bad, a lot of us have been down this road once or twice.

 

I wasn't able to come up with anything helpful in a couple quick searches. There are a couple ladies with that name that come back to Davis, CA but not at that address. The address shows as an apartment complex. So without an apartment number I'm guessing it's all fake, name address, everything.

Bastard is probably using people's names and finds a generic enough address and runs with it.

Hope someone else can dig up something more.