What do you guys think....help?

[ben330]

A few days ago there was a 2002 Topaz blue M3 on ebay that had a purchase price of £5500! I was curious so emailed the seller. The listing was withdrawn, but the seller emailed me back saying that is a genuine car and a genuine price/deal but the only catch is the car is in italy where i have moved. The seller said that if i made a down payment of 2k via western union transfer the car would be shipped and providing im happy with the goods the balance is to be payed then. I know it sounds very VERY dodgy, and normally i would laugh and walk away, but he sounds genuine with a genuine reason for sale and all the arangements sound legit.....Ebay buyers protection have even emailed me to say he is a legit seller and that the deal is a good one!! :confused: What the hell do i do? :confused: Take the risk? At that price i Even thought about gettin a cheap flight through easyjet.com and going out a driving it back. Help!

[BigFas]

dude, it's a scam. I don't care what anyone says, you're a muppet if you hand over a penny. What a lot of people don't know is that the UK and there's one other country, that require NO ID to be presented when cash is withdrawn, hence the scam is a popular one.

There's no way ANY 2002 M3 will be £5500, even if it was a write off, stolen recovered, in pieces.

[richbe]

scam :mad:

avoid, as Big Fas said :D

[ben330]

Dude, thats what i thought.....i doubt i will and think what you say is probably true, but if you had read his emails the replys are quick and make full sense and Ebay have also contacted me saying that hes a good seller and that the deal is legit which will be done via safe trading harbour of ebay.

[peppernick]

Would you sell an E46 M3 for £6000?.....If not why should one be available at that price?......SCAM!

[lee330sport]

An S54 engine and gearbox is worth that much alone.

If if only took it because he had to move away quickly, he would have traded it in and got at least 20k plus for it.

Handover your cash and you will never see it again.

Ask him to sen the car first, then when your happy you'll send the cash;)

[BigFas]

Dude, thats what i thought.....i doubt i will and think what you say is probably true, but if you had read his emails the replys are quick and make full sense and Ebay have also contacted me saying that hes a good seller and that the deal is legit which will be done via safe trading harbour of ebay.


Of course his e-mails are quick. Yours would be too if you think you'd be getting £6k out of writing a few mails.

[ben330]

I thought that all the way until EBAY buyer protection emailed me to say its a safe trade?? :confused:

[Mikedav]

This scam has been around years, seen it on everything from Audi RS6s to E46 M3s. If it sounds too good to be true, then it damn well is! And why would Ebay email you to tell him hes a good seller???? Dodgy!

[BigFas]

I thought that all the way until EBAY buyer protection emailed me to say its a safe trade?? :confused:


Are you 100% sure the mail you got was legit? Scammers are very clever and they mimic legit e-mails but the URL's or the e-mail identifiers normally hidden, are changed

[ben330]

Are you 100% sure the mail you got was legit? Scammers are very clever and they mimic legit e-mails but the URL's or the e-mail identifiers normally hidden, are changed

I thought that too, but the email was deffo made by EBAY no doubt.

[444bhp Ray]

Just remember the old saying you dont get some thing for nothing,not in this game. :p

[BigFas]

Good Game. Good Game
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/_images/db/6/72/Bruce1.67242.full.jpg

[Afif]

[crackmeup. Let me guess.

Hi there,

I received your email regarding my car and I would like to thank you for being interested in my car.The car is in very good conditions has never been wrecked or damaged.First you have to know bidding is restricted since I am carefull with my auction,so none will press the button until I have the assurance that he will buy it.There is no need to bid for this car because if you really are interested to close this deal with me then i will sell it to you without any bidding take place.Because this is our first contact and because we are in a business relationship please let me introduce my self.My name is Richard Herman,ADDRESS:Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 18,CITY:Roma,COUNTRY:Italy,ZIP:00186.
I bought this car from UK and it was drived only within UK . It was registered in UK and I had all the services done there.The thing is that almost 5 months ago, I made that step - I got married !!!My wife is from Italy and we decided to move here. Yes, I brought the car here in Italy.I wanted to register the car here, but when I found out how much paper work I must do to register it here simply I gave up and decided to sell it and buy a family wagon here .I had made this decision to sell the car faster only for 10500GBP,shipping included, even decided to support all the shipping charges in order to make a smooth deal for this car.I will use Lufthansa Airplane Cargo for shipping, so you will be able to receive it in 3-4 working days (depending on your exact location). The car will be crated, will have an insurance and will be delivered at your door without you being charged one penny more. As soon as I have your firm decision that you want to buy, I will take the car to Lufthansa Airplane and pay all the taxes for the shipping including the insurance and the custom fees. Along with the car, I will send you all the documents that I have for the car - the title ,keys,owner manual and all the receipts from services. In order to complete our deal, I'll need your address to prepare the car for shipping.
I will apreciate a faster answer from your side.

Best regards,Richard Herman

sproz170672@yahoo.es


........ I replied not giving him my address first but instead asking for all the details including more specific question like what dealership he bought it from, the number plate ect.. and never got a reply [crackmeup.

[Afif]

oooo just found my reply that i never got a reply to.

I need to know first of all the registered UK license plate of the car so I can do a standard HPI check. Any pictures confirming this would be greatly appreciated thanks.

Could you also send any pictures/copies of any documentation related to the car. Such as uk MOT/registration, shipping details of when it was taken out of the uk.

Where was the car bought from and serviced?. Am I correct to assume there is no damage or faults with it? Also when does the warranty expire? Also any details such as current mileage would also be very helpful!.

Lastly and most importantly I wanted to ask how you would want to do the transfer of funds?

[Stock323iSaloon]

A brit living in Italy using a Spanish Yahoo mail account....

[Faisal]

I thought that too, but the email was deffo made by EBAY no doubt.

Mate, the ebay account will most likely be hijacked / hacked, and so the actual seller who holds the account is no doubt legit, just like ebay say, with good ratings etc. But the guy you're chatting to is not.

Put it this way - if you were living in Italy, and had to shift a £30k+ car, would you not come up with a better way than flogging it for £6k with all the hassle of shipping it to the UK etc....

[ben330]

This was the email sent to me by Ebay buyer protection team..........


Dear valued member,


We verified all the details of this transaction and we concluded that they are accurate. Our verifications confirm seller's contact info and his ability to deliver the item advertised on our site. There is a limited group of sellers on eBay which we can recommend and Arlene Atkin is one of them.

Please follow our instructions to complete the transaction safely:

Seller: doublea100 (mchglck@aol.com)
Seller information: Arlene Atkin, Via Bartolini 199, COSENZA, 87100, ITALY
Current location: ITALY
Item title: 2002 BMW M3 Coupe

Total price : £5,500.00
Down payment : £2,000.00

Shipping: TNT Cargo Insured
Status: Ready to ship
Payment: must be sent by Western Union Money Transfer

************************************************** ********

COMPLETE YOUR EBAY TRANSACTION 5 EASY STEPS:

1. Buyer and seller agree on the transaction terms and a selling price. Seller contacts eBay with the transaction details;
2. eBay accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer (if the transaction is declined, no further action is required from either the buyer or the seller);
3. The buyer sends payment and the seller receives it. After the payment was received, the seller must notify eBay. Buyer will send the payment details directly to the seller email address. The seller has three business days to send the buyer and eBay the tracking number of the shipment. If no tracking number is provided, a full refund is immediately sent to the buyer;
4. Buyer receives the item and has 3 days to inspect it;
5. After the inspection period is over, the buyer must contact eBay with the result of the inspection. If it is complete and as described, the buyer should accept the item. If he refuses the item, the buyer must ship the item back to the seller within 3 business days, on seller expenses and the refund will be sent to the buyer within 3 business days.

************************************************** ********

NEXT STEP TO BE TAKEN: The buyer must send the payment to the seller

It is recommended to send the payment as soon as possible, because your purchase protection is valid for 90 days only. Sending the payment by any other method of payment will void this transaction and your right to refund.

PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS:

To submit the payment with Western Union Money Transfer, you have to pay for the transfer with cash at a local Western Union agent. Go to one of them and send the payment to the verified name of the seller, available in Italy.

Western Union Money Transfer is the only service that has ultimate authentication of the identity of the receiver of funds. Several IDs and utility bills are required before the funds are paid. Therefore, no one else but your seller can pick up the money. Your payments cannot be lost in the mail, like money orders or checks.

However, Western Union Money Transfer is designed mainly for sending cash to friends and family in need, so telling them you are sending the money to an eBay seller will prevent your money transfer to go through and you will be unable to complete this transaction.


Once the payment was sent, email the seller the following information:

- 10 digit MTCN (Money transfer control number)
- Exact sender's name on file with Western Union
- Your street address on file with Western Union
- Amount sent

Then wait for the confirmation the payment was received. Within 3 business days, you will receive the tracking number for your item.

************************************************** ********

PURCHASE PROTECTION AND REFUND:

Currently, this seller has a £20,000.00 deposit in an eBay managed purchase protection account. Transactions with this eBay seller are covered by purchase protection against fraud and description errors. For your safety, this account was locked today, for 90 days time period. The seller is unable to withdraw any money from it, within this period.

Should you need a refund for this transaction; the insured amount will be taken from the seller's purchase protection account and sent to you. The refund is sent to your bank account, or by check or money order. The way you are refunded is at your choice. You have 90 days from the above verification date to request a refund. Refund requests are processed within 3 days.

The account is managed and supervised by eBay's SafeHarbor team.

************************************************** ********

CONDITIONS TO BE MET BEFORE YOU MAY ASK FOR A REFUND

Here are the situations suitable for a refund request:
1. If the item doesn't arrive and/or the seller stops communications after the payment was received;
2. If the item you receive has different specifications than the ones you agreed on;
3. If your item arrives in a much longer period than the one you agreed on (more than 20 days from the payment clearance day)

************************************************** ********

MARKETPLACE SAFETY TIPS


1. The contact information should only be used for resolving matters related to eBay. Any other use is strictly prohibited.
2. This transaction is protected by eBay services such as insurance, feedback and dispute resolution.
3. You may buy and sell with confidence in all transactions with this eBay member.
4. Any complaints must be filed within 90 days from the verification date.
________________


IMPORTANT
**If you have other questions about this seller or not receiving the item as promised, please reply to this email and we will send you additional information about what to do next.


Note: The seller has sent a separate email to confirm this sale. This eBay notice was sent to you from Ebay SafeHarbor team.


Best Wishes,

eBay Trust and Safety
eBay Customer Support UK


---------------------------------
eNews!
The eBay Announcement Boards contain the latest information regarding
eBay features, system status, and special promotions:

[BigFas]

LMAO, definite fake :D

Ebay would never in 1 million years release address details like that. The only way you get the address is once the transaction has been made via ebay, not on request.

We've been victims of an ebay scam and it's going through the police as we speak. Getting an address is like getting blood out of a stone.

Listen, all the people on this thread have said its a scam, you're obviously thinking "bargain", let us know how it turns out ;)

[ben330]

I wised up to the fact that it was a scam gaes ago.....emailed him to say the only way that il buy the car is if i receive it first.

JUst thought id post up the ebay email to show you guys what i received.

[Shuriken]

There is a limited group of sellers on eBay which we can recommend and Arlene Atkin is one of them.
Thats the give away for me, Ebay would never recommend a seller, its too much of a gamble if they turn out to be dodgy.


To submit the payment with Western Union Money Transfer
Haha, pick up your bag n' run. Bloody Western Union..

Shuriken.

[M5 SC]

You simply dont get f**k all in this life for free (or at a VERY good price).

If it looks to ggod to be true.............
Then it probably is.