Bargain car on Autotrader - go for it?

[ChimpMaster]

Reply sent to Mahmood... errrr I mean David :-

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David

Thank you for the reply. That is great news. I am keen to view the car and have some friends in Germany who would be happy to exchange the cash after test driving the car.

Can you please advise if you are happy to show the car to my friend so that he can check it out. If we are happy with it then we will take it ourselves and pay the cash to you immediately. Please advise if you would like to paid in GBP or EUR.

Kind Regards

[Qdos Contractor]

I had exactly the same email when I enquired about a car on Autotrader (£15k Golf for £5k). My Mahmood was called 'Selina'. They go on to say they will use the 'eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection' scheme, which doesn't exist.

I found an eBay forum where people were discussing it and a few of them had actually parted with thousands and were adamant that it was genuine.

[daviejones]

I had kind of the same thing when looking at a car on www.pistonheads.com. The car was a bit cheaper than I would have expected so I asked the seller for more details. He told me that he wanted a quick sale due to family emergency but because he was out of the country viewing was impossible...

I reported this to the site admin who told me they had already banned him for an earlier scam. I tried to lead him on a bit but he cottoned on and stopped replying...

[Bagpuss]

When I lived darn sarf, I had someone try to buy my car with a dodgy bankers draft. The alarm bells rang when she wanted to buy it straight into the test drive, plus she was far too young to afford the car. She wanted to take it there and then (6pm on a friday). When I said I wanted to have the money by BACS or check out the draft, she made her excuses and left. Bloody dodgy cockneys

[Sandy123]

Similar email for Z4!

I have received a very similar email (in fact the wording is exactly the same!) for a Z4 from Switzerland!

Curious to know what you did? Pls let me knw. cheers

Sandy123

[Naj]

Car Scam

Hi everyone
I too have been involved with the same scam today. I was extremely interested in a Mini Cooper S (54) advertised via Autotrader for £5500. I attempted to contact the seller on the number provided, this was un obtainable, I emailed but initially had no reply until today..guess what..exactly the same correspondence as others in this thread apart for my Mahmood was called 'Vicky Hughes', who had recently moved to Austria!!!! I was so annoyed when I came across (accidentaly) the posts on this site, and realized that this was a mega scam, (not that I would have continued with the sale anyway...too risky)..how dare people do this sort of thing!!! Anyway I have since contacted Autotrader and the Police to notify them of this dispicable act.
Just to say thanks to those who posted their experiences as this was how I came to come across mine!!!

[jmo21]

plese send me teh cars!

[chef]

what is this? autotrader all of a sudden..

[stingman123]

Old scam, you send the monies, he makes all the right noises, you see no car

[TimberWolf]

So who acts as intermediary?