I'm currently selling my Yeti on Auto Trader and Pistonheads and have been targeted by scammers. They e-mail you and offer to buy the car a full price or near and say that they will transfer the money to your PayPal account. Then someone will pick it up. Here's an example:

"Hi Richard,

Thanks for the response,i am so much interested in purchasing your car

and am very okay with your price,but i will not be able to come and

view it cos am not in town presently,i would love to know it's present

condition and the reason you are selling it and i will arrange for the

pick up agent to come for the pick up from your side as soon as the

payment clears,so kindly get back to me with your PayPal email

address.So that i can proceed with the payment as soon as possible.

Thanks and hope to read from you soon."

They tend to have lots of reasons why they can't transfer directly to your bank. I spoke to Auto traders and they said it's definitely a scam. Luckily I use PayPal a lot so know that accounts can be "borrowed" and the money can be taken back out if it is fraudulent. Good job I was suspicious; if it's too good to be true it probably is... :wonder:

I'll move this to general car chat for the wider audience

Anyone who can't come to view the car in persons before making payment - treat as a scam.

Basic common sense that will help keep you safe

I got the same last week selling mine. Its the new scam at the moment. I just sent them an email telling them to f*ck off!

Eastern European or Nigerian I should imagine.........fortunately the bell ends make it so obvious!

I really don't understand how people can fall for these sorts of scams?

Surely a bit of common sense is all that's needed?

I got the same last week selling mine. Its the new scam at the moment. I just sent them an email telling them to f*ck off!

Not really the best idea either, as your email address is then likely to be marked as 'active' and then passed on for use in spam marketing databases. So be prepared for an increase in junk email from now on

Just ignore the messages

Not really the best idea either, as your email address is then likely to be marked as 'active' and then passed on for use in spam marketing databases. So be prepared for an increase in junk email from now on

Just ignore the messages

Indeed, ignorance is bliss.......just send them to the waste basket.

Anyone who can't come to view the car in persons before making payment - treat as a scam.

Basic common sense that will help keep you safe

Not necessarily, when we sold the wifes Fiesta the lass that bought it hadn't even seen it!

Recieved an email asking about the car, why the miles were so low etc, in decent English though not like the one above

Emails went back and forth and she said she would have the car but she lived in Guildford so would have to get the train up to pick it up.

I was naturally very suspicious and Googled all her details with nothing coming back (apart from the fact she is a hopeful for the 2012 Olympics)

She sent a cheque which cleared ok, met her at the train station at Newcastle and sorted the V5 out then waved her on her way!

OK, there's always exceptions

But even with that setup, in which you received money up front and in advance of collection (a pretty big no-no from a buyer's perspective really) - it differs quite a bit from the scenarios painted from the scammers.

OK, there's always exceptions

But even with that setup, in which you received money up front and in advance of collection (a pretty big no-no from a buyer's perspective really) - it differs quite a bit from the scenarios painted from the scammers.

Yep, I thought she was mental to send someone she didn't know a cheque for nearly five grand for a car she hadn't even seen!

If she had offered to Paypal the money I would have refused.

I sold once where the chap came to see the car, was happy to pay the asking price and left me a cheque for the full amount. Said he'd wait for it to clear and collect a week later

I thought he was mad as there was no 'insurance' to his side of the deal at all. Luckily for him I didn't cash it and run off

I got 4 or 5 emails similar to this while trying to sell SWIMBO's car on autotrader. P'ssed me off that much that I think this practice is almost making Autotrader unusable.

My guess is that they would have sent a fake Paypal notification saying you have the money. That's why you should always log in to PayPal to check the cash is actually there. Happens all the time on eBay.

I got the same last week selling mine. Its the new scam at the moment. I just sent them an email telling them to f*ck off!

Short and to the point, this what I like. At least you let them hem know where they stand