Off topic, but seems like a good place to ask - Sold my 911 to an Ebay scammer??

I think you'd need a known escrow company involved, if they are reluctant to prepay by direct wire of the funds....hard question.

 

The wires are routed by branch bank ID number then they put it into your account.....

I have purchased many cars this way, but never out of the States....

 

I haven't heard of any out of Italy but that doesn't mean they do not exist. I think your plan for having the money wired is a good one. Just don't turn the car over to a "shipper" until the money is in your account.

 

Some escrow company's are scams too ! I almost bought a bigscreen one time and the guy said to use this escrow company- I checked, the escrow company had been in existance for all of 1 week on the web !-
I would ONLY accept a wire transfer to my bank and then when I sign the title over, the funds would be released to my account and the title overnighted to the buyer. I would fax a copy of the title and bill of sale to him as well with the bill of sale contingent upon the receipt of funds.

 

Hopefully this turns out to be legit. I'm sure we are going to see a lot of attention from buyers in Europe as a result of the weak dollar versus the Euro. Good luck!

 

DON'T SHIP THE CAR!!!!

When I placed my 4Runner in Craigslist, I got a LOT of those phoney emails you received. Then I started asking friends who also sell cars on line. I was told the way the scam works is that they buy your car at an attractive price. Then they send you a deposit. Then they send you the balance of the money with a check or cashier's check or wire. You ship the car. After a few days or weeks, the charges are reversed from your bank account and you are not only out of a car, but you are also out of the shipping and you get dinged $25 by the bank for a bad check/transfer. I believe that the same happens if you buy a car from a private party who files for bankrupcy. The judge can get the car back from you, even if you paid cash and have it in your name, for up to one year of the transfer.

What a buddy of mine does, is he gets the check and deposits it. Then he waits at least 2 weeks. If the funds are still there, then he sends the car. When the buyer starts putting presure for him to send the car asap, he gives them excuses So far, he sold 5 cars out of state and 3 were bad checks. Scary statistics.

I assume that from off shore, the funds may be reversed much longer than after 2 weeks.

 

I think your ebay description is very funny. I wonder if the Italian translation was as witty.

Don't ship the car until payment is made via wire transfer in full. Once your bank gets it have them hold it for one or two days before placing it into your account.

Congrats on your sale and good luck.

Andy

 

Just a couple of words...
For the italian market your car is really cheap. We are talking less than 10.000 euros. Even when you add transportation and import taxes you are still well below 15.000.
The cheapest 1983 911 cabrio in average to poor condition that you can find in Italy is 22.000 € (http://www.autoscout24.it/List.aspx?vis=1&make=57&model=1950&version=sc&fregfrom=01%2f01%2f1980+00%3a00%3a00&fregto=12%2f31%2f1985+00%3a00%3a00&pricefrom=1000&cy=I&page=1&maxresults=500&results=20&ustate=N&ustate=U&um=True&sort=price&zipc=I).
If the peerson is coming from nearby Verona (the Hellas could give a hint) it adds on.
If you want to PM me the tel # he gave you, I could make a quick check.
Anyway, true scammers usually do not send you a deposit...
Hope everything will prove to be fine.
ciao
Eugenio

 

Even legit cashiers checks can be cancelled. Use Wire transfer only.

 

Once a cashier's check CLEARS....there is no way the charges can be reversed or what have you. As long as the cashier's check is not counterfeit, you should be OK. That being said, it would be better to get a wire. Once the wire comes in, it's in your account, there is no way an outside party can reverse that, you would have to agree to send the funds back. Most scams involve the buyer sending you a fake check for an amount over and above what the item cost. Then they want you to send them the item, and the balance. I don't know why anyone falls for that BS anymore.

 

+1

The funds can appear in your account and then be reversed if the check is stopped. Ask me how I know...

Wire is the way to go.

 

The problem is that an overseas check, even a cashiers check, can take up to 30 days to clear. With a US bank, it normally clears within 3 days, or no more than a week. But foreign checks can take weeks. Unless the buyer is willing to wait that long before shipment (scammers won't, they want it shipped immediately upon receipt of the check), you should be very sceptical. Agree with the others that said wire transfer. Also, ask your bank if they will act as an escrow agent to hold the title upon receipt of payment, pending shipping. Some banks will do that and can verify to the buyer's bank that they have the title papers in hand before wire transfer is made.

Also, beware of the scam where they say they will send extra money and you should pay the shipping company with the extra they send you. Sure sign of a scam.

 

Just a thought -- you can create an account at the bank that is valid only for inbound wire transfers, and not outbound ones. That keeps someone from using that wire transfer info in a malicious manner.

Better yet, a separate bank.

 

Apparently it can be 45-60 days with Nigerian banks which is why that scam worked so well. People get the check and deposit it, after 2-3 weeks the bank would show it as clear, but it wasn’t really. The car goes out and a week or 2 later the bank reverses the funds because the check was fake. Car Gone.

Wire Transfer is the way to go.

 

The "fake" or "invalid" Cashiers Check is the central part of the other car scam where the purchaser sends a cashier check for over the amount of the purchase, and the seller sends the difference. By the time the seller sends his "real" check, the bank posts the "fake check" to the sellers account and it shows as a deposit. All looks good....but the banks will tell you that the actual transaction can take several weeks to truly clear, or identify the check as fake, and then revoke the deposit.

Same would work in this case, and hopefully the car would not have already shipped.

Best to deal with a third party intermediary who can 1) hold the car and confirm to the purchaser 2) ensure that the monies are fully cleared and in the hands of the seller before shipment

 

Be careful, I have always had good dealings with people in western Europe, but you can always take a vacation to Italy, deliver the car, and collect cash.

Larry

 

So.....any updates on this matter?