I'm selling my 03 TT here and on autotrader.

I received an out of the country phone call yesterday from somebody wanting to buy my car. No haggling over price. Asked if the car was in excellent condition. Wanted to give me the money now so that nobody else bought the car, but apparently didn't want to arrange for actually getting the car until early August. I received the following e-mail in follow-up.

GREETINGS
IN REGARDS TO YOUR 2003 PORSCHE 911 ON SALE, I CALLED YOU YESTERDAY. KINDLY FURNISH ME WITH YOUR ;

1. FULL NAME
2. MAILLING CONTACT ADDRESS
3. TELE/FAX NOS

TO ENABLE MY BANK MARK OUT MODALITY TO PAY YOU OFF IMMEDIATELY AS I CANT WAIT TO SEE THE NEW BABE PARKED IN MY GARAGE.

THANKS
F******
+44704010****



F****** A**

I'm not very eager to even try to go through with this given all the scams we've all seen. What is your opinion?

Kevin

 

Scam would be my thought.........

 

When in doubt....

 

Could be a scam, but I have a friend that just sold his Infinity to a Russian. He received the same type message. They buy the car here, and send it over to sell. Apparently they stand to make a huge profit for doing the work, so they don't haggle as long as it's close to market value. This particular guy lived in Miami and did this for a living. The transaction went smoothly, but I'm not saying this is the same thing.

 

yup

with the euro so high... it is cheaper to buy a US car, send it over there, and sell it for a profit!

 

It's a scam. There are varaiations on the scam which include receiving a bogus bank draft which your bank will only discover is a fake after you've handed over the car.
I can't believe that with as much publcity as these scams have received that they would still bother trying.

 

I've had a couple of people call me from Miami about sending my Sport over to Russia. I just told them I'll sell it only with a wire transfer. Can't really get jipped that way.

 

Sounds like a scam, but you can have your bank verify funds before you release ownership.

 

Isn't it true that the funds can show up in my account, only to be subsequently removed if the draft is bogus?

Is having my bank verify the funds foolproof?

Kevin

 

just have 3 week hold on funds

 

That's what my buddy did. The guy even flew in personally to seal the deal. The bank verified the funds were clean, and he flew back to Miami. He had a guy pick the car up a few days later. Really strange deal, but my friend made like 5k or so over what he expected.

 

Be very careful. I've seen this scam before. If you're considering going through with it, make sure you wait long enough that funds are verified and cannot be reversed. There's substantial amount of time that has to lapse before funds can be reversed. Check with your banker on this.

 

As stated a couple times above, if you allow enough time for the bank to actually verify the funds and the source, you should be protected.

 

I would think if this guy's legit, a wire transfer into your account is the safest way to go. Now if he showed up with a suitcase full of cash, that's another story... I wouldn't accept a cashiers check.

 

Hey, I'm a fraud investigator for a bank.

Yes, you can deposit a check, have those funds credited to your account only to be debited once the realization (by the bank) is made that the check was bad/fake/etc. You should be able to have your bank verify the funds, though my suggestion would be a wire transfer as stated above.

There is a big difference between being credited and having access to those funds (as in the hold applied to a large deposit falls off) and for the funds to be verified. A hold is placed by the bank for a time believed necessary to verify the funds (and this is generally a subjective thing that is often shortened or removed based on your relationship with the bank), though it is not a guarnatee of those funds.

Were I in your position, I would require a wire transfer.