Beware the scammers!

Today I saved myself £6000.

I have a dream of buying a camper van and travelling around Europe.  Me, Butch and the dog visiting little French cafes, drinking coffee (or beer, depending on the time of day) and reading the paper.  I can picture it now.

Last night I did a little search on the net and there it was!  My dream van and at a price I could afford.  It was only 7 years old, fantastic spec, beautiful interior…..perfect.

I did a bit more investigating and found that similar vans were priced over twice the price, so that got my suspicions going but I guessed it was just my lucky day.  I emailed the owner of the van via the website it was advertised on and told him I was interested, querying how long the MOT and Tax were valid for.  Late last night I had an email from the ‘owner’ of the van.  It read……..

Hi there, thank you for taking the time and visiting my vehicle.  The VW Transporter is still for sale in excellent condition with no damages or faults.  All necessary documentation available.  No finance.  My current location is inside of the Dreghorn Barracks, Scotland due to my work commitments.  If this is going to be a quick sale I will let it go for £6000 delivered at my costs.  Please let me know if you are still interested in buying in.  Cheers Sebastian.

Fantastic news!  He was even going to deliver the camper for free. Something however didn’t feel quite right but I was so taken with van and I had googled other vans and some were around that price so maybe my gut reaction was just anxiety at spending that amount of money on a vehicle.

I emailed him again and said I was still interested and got another email back which read…….

Hi there, the van comes with 6 months MOT and 6 months tax.  As I’ve said in my previous email I am currently located in Edinburgh, Scotland, inside of the Dreghorn Barracks.  I’m doing a special training program each day and I am not allowed to get out of the unit or give calls whenever I want.  The delivery will take 2 to 3 days depending on your location and its not a problem because I can do it at no cost to you.  Because it is a large transaction, we will complete the deal only using an authorised third party like Google Wallet because I already prearranged the whole process with them, using the Google Safe Pay Solutions (bank to -bank wire transfer) for vehicles.

The money will be sent to Google Wallet, before you will receive the vehicle.  So, you will deposit the payment directly into the Google Wallet agent’s bank account in United Kingdom, either online or at most banks and they will hold and secure your money during the entire transaction.  I repeat, the will hold and insure your money until receipt of the vehicle in good condition and will release the funds to us only after you decide to keep the vehicle and you register it into your name. You will have an inspection period of 7 days, in this time you can check, test and inspect the vehicle  If by any reason the vehicle has any hidden damages or is not like I describe it) you can reject the deal.  In this case Google Wallet will refund you totally and they will deliver the vehicle back.  He added the link to the Google Wallet website here.  Let me know your delivery details (your full name, full address and home phone number) so I can open a transaction case with Google Wallet and declare you as the buyer.  They will contact you with further information regarding payment and delivery but with no obligation to pay.  Regards Sebastian.

Wow! That was a very comprehensive and informative email plus a very presumptuous one too!  Still my gut was telling me something wasn’t right but my head was saying…”he’s in the forces on a special mission, he’s organised Google Wallet, has to be kosher, doesn’t it?

In the meantime I thought I’d just have another gander on the internet before I fully committed to this deal.  Lo and behold there was another camper of similar spec for £5200.  I emailed the owner immediately to ask if it was still available and query how long the tax and MOT were.

I got an email back from a Grace Dasting……

Hello, I was away to my mother-in-law and I just got to a PC and saw your email.  This camper  van has a full service history and all documentation is present and in my name.  It has been stored in undercover storage from new so the exterior is perfect very low miles.  The final price is not negotiable £5200.  My husband died 2 months ago and I was left with it but I don’t even have a drivers license.  I had a buyer just 1 week ago but that person scared me a lot.  He came with 2 friends and wanted to pay me with fake notes.  I was lucky that my father in law was close and he noticed that.  Since I’m getting a lot of messages regarding the sale and I decided to list eBay with a buy now option and whoever wins it will be the next owner.  I assume you already have an account with Ebay if not please register and let me know when you are ready so i can just email you the link.  If you’d like to secure the deal before anybody else does then please buy it on Ebay.  feel free to ask me any questions, I’ll check my email regularly.  I hope to hear back from you soon.  Have a good day.

Poor lady, husband just died, some unscrupulous person trying to con her. What is the world coming to?  I replied saying I was sorry for her loss and being messed about by buyers but could I have the ebay link as I couldn’t find the vehicle when I had searched Ebay.  I had another email which reads…

Hello, after my last experience I’m not welcome visits any more.  The best way to complete this transaction because of the distance problem (I’m in Peterhead, Scotland) the camper van is also here with me, is to use eBay Money Back Guarantee.  They will handle everything for us, including transportation and transfer of the camper van to your name.  You don’t have to pay for anything extra, delivery and registration into your name is included. Here’s what will happen.  I will make a private eBay listing for you.  You click ‘buy it now’ and follow the instruction.  eBay will send you an invoice with all the transaction details and the payment instructions, you secure the funds to eBay, after the funds are secured the delivery will begin and the camper van will arrive in 48 hours.  When the camper van is in your custody you have 3 days to inspect it.  If everything is okay the transaction ends and eBay will release the money to me.  If there is anything wrong you will be fully refunded and I’ll get my camper van back too.  Everything is covered by eBay I get paid only when you confirm you received it.  I need your eBay username so I can send you the link.  I’m waiting for your reply.  Thank you Grace.

Gosh!  Another well thought out procedure and very similar to the last one.  And the poor lady was just been widowed.  Hang on though……how did she know I was some distance from her?  I could be in Scotland for all she knows.  Something wasn’t right here.

I did a quick search on the internet at scams and I had been scammed, well nearly scammed not once but twice!!

How it works.

The vans that I had seen had been legitimately sold on eBay or other sites previously.  The listing has been cloned and the prices reduced dramatically to encourage gullible buyers.  When the potential purchaser contacts the seller they are given a link which although it looks legitimate isn’t at all.  It is a link to their bank account disguised as Google Wallet or eBay.  They need your name and address to make the transaction and bingo they have your well earned cash and there’s no holidays to Europe for you.

I double bluffed Grace Dastings telling her that coincidentally I too was in Peterhead and could I have the location of the van so I could drive by and see it.  Unsurprisingly there was no reply to my email.

So buyers beware!  If something seems to good to be true, unfortunately it probably is.  Don’t let these unscrupulous, dastardly, vile, scumbag scammers get their hands on your hard earned money.  Its much like the warning you get when buying a puppy, make sure you see it with their mum and dad before you buy, well make sure you see your dream vehicle with its owners before you part with your cash!