ebay Testarossa scam... perhaps? opinions

Hi Guys. Did any of you see the advert for a '91 Testarossa on ebay this morning, and I mean only for a few hours?

"1991 Testarossa, 4 owners, recent clutch, cambelt, brakes service, approx 11,000 miles, will end auction early for right price. Buy It Now price £7000, yes, seven thousand pounds...!! **** me, I thought! My chance to emulate my hero Stevef..!!! and for less than an avevage 400i.

So, sent message to Ask the Seller a Question and replied to e-mail address in advert along the lines of, "yup, put me on approved list, £7000 seems a little light, but if not an error, I have it for that"

Got EXACTLY the same reply back to each of my messages. This may suggest a computer generated system and therefore a scam? It said "glad interested in car, perfect condition, no finance, HPI clear, V5 and keys. Live in Greece and 99% of cars here LHD so difficult to drive. Can't find buyer here so want to sell in UK..... assure you 100% legitimate.... if you realy want it please e-mail asap".

I sent mail asking why withdrawn from ebay (which it was after an hour or so), which country is the car in, how assured title and delivery, again why so cheap?

2nd response (sorry to those nodding off already), "stop auction early, people who email me or want's to bid but not all the time like to buy, they just play games" (ok, covered that one)?

"Car also registered there (UK) so no import taxes". "You pick up from nearest airport, included in the price of £7000" "I am affiliated Square Trade ebay member, I have there purchase protection up to £7000" "Ebay will refund you 100% if not as described" etc...etc..

Ok. Opinions. This is either the cheapest TR ever from the wife of a disgruntled shipping magnet, or a scam. If the latter, I'm glad to bring it to everyones attention. How does one proceed, if atall?

 

If it's too good to be true, then it isn't true....

Scam. Or rather, person playing games.

 

Of course its total bollox, they used to do it with Harleys, brand new Vrod £3000, it was always in Italy or Germany, all they want is some sap to give them a deposit and you'll never hear from them again........theres a sucker born every minute

 

Ric, agree with you on that. But just for morbid curiosity I've asked the seller for registered UK address, where UK serviced etc. The ebay ID location of seller said East Lancs (which is a few miles fom Greece if my o'level geography serves me well). Name Fitzyson or Fitzyon. Anyone come across this person, claims to be called Claire!!!

 

looks like somebody has hacked a good ebay account and started to trade on there good feedback had it done to me but ebay sorted it all out

 

I think this is the give away. I don't think ebay have this "protected customer" system do they? These guys are looking for money up front, then when no car turns up the sap who believed he was covered is in for a shock.

If you can be arsed to continue wasting this guys time, tell him you'll fly to Greece give him cash and drive the car back.

 

Surprise, surprise. No reply to request for details of this car. "Claire" did remind me of the reg.no. though. Can you check these on DVLA or similar?

 

IIRC you can register on the RAC website and do a (very rudimentary) check on a cars reg. Should at least confirm make/model.

 

It's a scam guys, it was done to my SL, which was on ebay, and the pictures turned up on autotrader, but it was defo my pictures, and I emailed the guy , car was in spain etc etc, I made the call autotrader they pulled that and quite a few other adds due to complaints from owners, the email came from a [email protected] below is what he said to me after me asking why was he using my photos, which I made strong comments in a life threatring way if you get me - I have very good friends in Spain who would happily give him a view from the hills!!

"OK mate the photos was cool i already made 40,000 pounds if you have any other photos like those one, let me know and maybe we can make some money togheter "

After asking how he could make money on my car his answer was this...

"hehe.. selling stuff which doesnt exist.. and making people to send me money. I almost got a second buyer for the car but.. you notice the autotrader about my car and he changed his mind when he saw that the car is not available anymore on the website. He already knew that this was a scam.. but, I almost got him hehe.. If you can give me pictures with cars with VINs numbers, chassies number, scanned photo of the title and all the papers.. we can do a lot of money, you know ? hehe.. The people are blindly by the price and I can got them, if you understand me. anyway, let me know.."

So come on the coppers note this scammer and help all us guys!!

I reckon Chaa should give him a visit!!

Paul

 

I am in the trade i get 3 / 4 cars emailed weekly which are bogus scams etc or people wanting to buy cars give full asking price + shipping costs they are usualy owed money and they will get the full amount of the money they are owed sent to you and as they "trust you" could you send them the change usualy about £5k - £10k by western union!!! I now have some fun by asking them to send the cheque made to my cat when it arrives i send them a mail pointing out that the motortrade is as honest as they are and where they can put there scam!
If however you are interested in a vehicle and have concerns request Reg number Vin number and the details of the servicing dealer, you can then Hpi the car and check out some basic details from the servicing dealer who usualy know the car or the owner if the seller is the "owner" his name will be in the dealers system even though they may not give it out to you but usualy can confirm it for you and if this is the same name as the sellers the last service date matches the info given by the seller your usualy safe, If you have and doubts what ever the price its usualy a scam

 

Thanks guys. I wasn't reaching for the cheque book, but an interesting exercise to follow up. I've posted "Claire's" replys to obvious and straight forward questions so you're all aware of the tone and content a scammer uses. The e-mail used is: [email protected]

Hi Richard,

I am glad to hear that you are interested about my car.The car is in perfect conditions without any scratches, damages or other mechanical problems. Car has no finance outstanding and it is HPI clear with certificate. About the shipping taxes you don't have to worry because i will pay for it.You will receive the TITLE, with V5 document, keys and owner's manual.I live in Greece and I bought this car from United kingdom so it has UK emissions and is still registered there.I want to sell my car there because here in Greece 99% of the cars have steering wheel on left side and is very difficult to drive this car here.
I can`t find a buyer in my country so i want to sell it in UK. I took care of it like it was my own baby and now is in the same condition as it was when I bought it - even better!

I hope you understand this situation.I want to take this opportunity to assure you that this deal is 100% legitimate.
This deal will happen through EBAY.

So if you really want it please give me an email as soon as possible.

Thank you!
Claire

 

2nd message:

Richard,

First of all I want to inform you that I stop the auction early,the reason is that the people who email me or who want's to bid but not all the time like to buy, they just play games.

The car will come with V5 log book and all documents that you need for registration.Also the car is still registered there so you don't have to pay any import taxes or any other fees.The car is right now in Greece and i will ship it from here in case you want to buy it.You will pick up it from your nearest airport.
The final price is 7000 GBP with shipping included because i work in army and i have a voucher to ship free with Lufthansa Airplane Cargo .I will ship the car via Lufthansa Airplane Cargo insured and It will take 72 hours until you will have in your nearest airport or in 5 days you will have it at your door.

The most important thing in all my activity here is that I am an affiliated member of eBay Square Trade, I have there a purchase protection account up to £7,000 and I assume you know what this means.

How you are protected by eBay Square Trade:

1) If you will not receive the car as i described to you, although this is not the case, eBay Square Trade will refund you with 100% from the whole amount which you paid me. Even in case you will not receive the car, they will refund you the money.

2) They will verify the payment and if is OK, if the money exist and are available they will notify me to proceed with the shipping. After you receive and see that the car is the one you want, you just notify Square Trade to forward me the payment details in order for me to pick up my money.

Please e-mail me you eBay user ID and your full name and address, so I can get in touch with eBay Square Trade.They will hold the deposit for you until you will receive the car and they will instruct you how to proceed.

Thank you!
Claire

 

3rd and last:

Hi Richard,
Someone make me a good offer and I stop the auction early, but a serious health problem with he's daughter come up, and normally he give up immediately.
If you want I will email you all the pics and details of the car.Please verify the car on hpicheck.com to see that is genuine car.Here is the reg number: III BC.

Thank you!
Claire

PS: Lancashire is my previous address



No further response after this e-mail. Does anyone know who owns the plate 111 BC, and is it on a Testrossa, and finally do they want to sell it to me for £7000

HOWEVER. Todays tragic events make this seem somewhat insignificant. There are atleast 33 people who will never drive anything again, let alone a red car. Perspective required. There by the grace of God....

 

111BC

SRH22957
SILVER ROLLS ROYCE NO MODEL STATED

Yes
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a



TOP

VEHICLE DETAILS FOR: 111BC SILVER ROLLS ROYCE NO MODEL STATED


MAKE ROLLS ROYCE Year of Manufacture 1975
MODEL NO MODEL STATED No. of Former Keepers 16
ENGINE SIZE 6750 cc Start Date Of Current Keeper Change 22/02/2005
COLOUR SILVER Previous Colour BLUE
FUEL Petrol Date Colour Changed 28/03/1997
DOORPLAN 4 Door Saloon Wheelplan 2 Axle Rigid Body
ENGINE No. 22957 Gross Vehicle Weight 0(KG)
TRANSMISSION Exported No
Non EU DVLA Import Marker No
DATE OF REGISTRATION: 01/12/1975 Scrap Marker No


WELL THAT AINT A FERRARI

 

No. But do you think they'll take £7000 for it?

 

its not only cars. recently put my boat up for sail, got an interesting e-mail asking for pictures which I sent. Then next day....amazing, an offer sight unseen for asking price plus....if I would receive an extra £2500 and clear the 'cashiers' cheque I would refund the difference. Boat still for sale!!!!

 

Hi guys,

Just to re-iterate that this is definitely a scam as I saw a 2002 SLK for $6000 and had the exact same emails Richard. Details are exactly the same: I'm in the army, car in Greece, Can't get it registered, am member of Square Trade blah blah blah.....He even sebd me a electronic copy of the letter from Square Trade and ask me to wired the money via Western Union. First of all, I check that guys ebay user name woth sqaure trade, no check. Forward the electronic sqaure trade email to Square Trade and tey confirm its a scam. GO to Square Trade website and they will tell you all you need to know if the mails are genuine. Cheers

Al