Warning SC430 internet scam
03-23-10, 07:23 PM
#1
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Warning SC430 internet scam
Mandarin Man Scammed in Online Car Purchase
Ken Amaro Taren Reed Created: 3/18/2010 5:13:46 PM Updated: 3/18/2010 6:12:30 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Randall Domingue has a stack of papers that show how easy it is to get duped on the Internet.
The Mandarin man found a car online for a reasonable price, but the bank told him he'd been scammed after sending more than $20,000 to Washington.
"I did my research," said Domingue.
Domingue was shopping for a car when he found a 2005 Lexus SC430 online for $22,000.
"(The seller) said he didn't need the car in North Dakota and told me to set up an account with MSN Money Central," Domingue said of the seller.
After sending $22,000 to a Wells Fargo bank in Seattle, communications with the seller dried up.
Domingue said, desperate to find out what was going on with his money and the car, he contacted Microsoft's Customer Support and what he heard left him stunned.
"He said, 'Yes, we have MSN central, yes we have a car buying service, but we are not a third-party or go-between service," said Domingue. "You have been scammed; you need to contact your bank and recall your money.'"
He contacted his bank and the timing was good. Domingue said Wells Fargo had frozen the account.
Since then, other consumers have complained to the Wells Fargo bank about a similar scheme.
"I am fortunate they still have my money and I'm in the process of getting it back," said Domingue.
He said anyone shopping online for a vehicle should not make the purchase until they can physically inspect the vehicle.
"This is the first time I've purchased anything on the Internet and it will probably be the last," said Domingue.
He has filed complaints with the FBI and The Internet Crime
Ken Amaro Taren Reed Created: 3/18/2010 5:13:46 PM Updated: 3/18/2010 6:12:30 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Randall Domingue has a stack of papers that show how easy it is to get duped on the Internet.
The Mandarin man found a car online for a reasonable price, but the bank told him he'd been scammed after sending more than $20,000 to Washington.
"I did my research," said Domingue.
Domingue was shopping for a car when he found a 2005 Lexus SC430 online for $22,000.
"(The seller) said he didn't need the car in North Dakota and told me to set up an account with MSN Money Central," Domingue said of the seller.
After sending $22,000 to a Wells Fargo bank in Seattle, communications with the seller dried up.
Domingue said, desperate to find out what was going on with his money and the car, he contacted Microsoft's Customer Support and what he heard left him stunned.
"He said, 'Yes, we have MSN central, yes we have a car buying service, but we are not a third-party or go-between service," said Domingue. "You have been scammed; you need to contact your bank and recall your money.'"
He contacted his bank and the timing was good. Domingue said Wells Fargo had frozen the account.
Since then, other consumers have complained to the Wells Fargo bank about a similar scheme.
"I am fortunate they still have my money and I'm in the process of getting it back," said Domingue.
He said anyone shopping online for a vehicle should not make the purchase until they can physically inspect the vehicle.
"This is the first time I've purchased anything on the Internet and it will probably be the last," said Domingue.
He has filed complaints with the FBI and The Internet Crime
Last edited by KaiserSea1; 03-23-10 at 07:30 PM.
03-23-10, 08:39 PM
#2
Lexus Test Driver
Wow, I live in Jacksonville and haven't heard of this news yet. Maybe it will air tmrw or so. Interesting story. Thanks for sharing. I hope Domingue recovered from this scam
03-24-10, 05:19 AM
#4
I am surprised there has not been more of this. I saw ads many months ago on cars.com that obviously the price was too low. It turned out that some one took ligit ads with photos, and then changed the prices on them, substituting an email address.The phone number also was no good, but they had enough real information, that I was able to find the owner by doing some research, and I called and asked about the car.
The people were shocked! They never had an SC. I gave all the email correspondence to the real people, and they got the police involved-- I assume they tracked the person down thru the email address I had written to.
Interestingly enough.. the asking price was also $22,000. It was for an 06 SC.
Katy
The people were shocked! They never had an SC. I gave all the email correspondence to the real people, and they got the police involved-- I assume they tracked the person down thru the email address I had written to.
Interestingly enough.. the asking price was also $22,000. It was for an 06 SC.
Katy
03-24-10, 08:29 AM
#6
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I have been shopping for an Acura TL Type-S and came across some of these ads recently on Autotrader.com. Here's a direct cut and paste from the response I got when I found one that was a really good price, but out of my state:
**************************************************************
RE: Owner 65120237: AutoTrader.com: Vehicle Lead 2008 Acura TL
From: Rebecca Alman (rebeccaalman@msn.com)
Medium riskYou may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk
Sent: Fri 3/19/10 6:21 PM
To: electronictoys@hotmail.com
Hi ,
I'm glad to see you're interested in my car. What state are you in? This car 2008 Acura TL(with a clear title and the remainder of the factory warranty) is still for sale at the price of $20,000.
The car is accident-free, it doesn't have any dents, chips or scratches and the interior is great, never smoked in. All the maintenance done on a regular basis and I have all service records for it.
I'm usually gone with my job, but I can ship you the vehicle at my expense and give you 5 days for inspection.
The financial part of this transaction will be provided by MSN Autos.
If interested please reply with your full name, shipping address and phone number and I will give you more info about this transaction.
Thank you.
Rebecca
***************************************************************
I contacted the Autotrader.com fraud department, but there are a ton of these ads all over their site now. I found them for the TL, RL, Q45, etc.
The only way to buy a car from a non-reputable dealer or private sale that's out of your area is to get it third-party pre-inspected. SGS or Carchex.
I entertained myself with replies to the scammers indicating I wanted the car to be third party inspected and they NEVER replied back.
**************************************************************
RE: Owner 65120237: AutoTrader.com: Vehicle Lead 2008 Acura TL
From: Rebecca Alman (rebeccaalman@msn.com)
Medium riskYou may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk
Sent: Fri 3/19/10 6:21 PM
To: electronictoys@hotmail.com
Hi ,
I'm glad to see you're interested in my car. What state are you in? This car 2008 Acura TL(with a clear title and the remainder of the factory warranty) is still for sale at the price of $20,000.
The car is accident-free, it doesn't have any dents, chips or scratches and the interior is great, never smoked in. All the maintenance done on a regular basis and I have all service records for it.
I'm usually gone with my job, but I can ship you the vehicle at my expense and give you 5 days for inspection.
The financial part of this transaction will be provided by MSN Autos.
If interested please reply with your full name, shipping address and phone number and I will give you more info about this transaction.
Thank you.
Rebecca
***************************************************************
I contacted the Autotrader.com fraud department, but there are a ton of these ads all over their site now. I found them for the TL, RL, Q45, etc.
The only way to buy a car from a non-reputable dealer or private sale that's out of your area is to get it third-party pre-inspected. SGS or Carchex.
I entertained myself with replies to the scammers indicating I wanted the car to be third party inspected and they NEVER replied back.
03-24-10, 08:55 AM
#7
Yeah, not sure why people don't pay for car with cash/check in person. Is it a security issue to meet a stranger while carrying that amount of money? Not sure why people are so willing to send vast amounts of money electronically (over the internet) at a drop of a dime.
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03-24-10, 09:10 AM
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I agree, I would never send money, without first seeing the car. Especially since so much can be hidden in pictures. I can understand, a down payment, or something similar, but never 22k.
03-24-10, 10:03 AM
#9
Lexus Test Driver
That my friends, is the reason why I prefer to spend a little more time and effort to drive to the dealerships in order to test drive the car that I like to purchase.
I like to see, touch, smeel and feel the product before putting any type of money down.
martini3
I like to see, touch, smeel and feel the product before putting any type of money down.
martini3
03-24-10, 02:39 PM
#10
Hi ALL,
I was searching around for some Sc430 in my area, I found a private seller selling a 2005 White with tan interior extremly low milage 8900 for $21000. This seller was about 57 miles from where I live. I called and someone answered. He said that he was on vacation until April 5th 10. I told him that I would wait until then. He said " I'll call you once I get back". At the same time, I ran the vin# with local Lexus and showed that the car was legit. In my head I thought " what a great deal it's gonna be". I spoke with my buddy/my service advisor at Lexus about it. He told me he would buy it if I back out. I informed him that I have to wait until the owner returns from his vacation to see the car. He said "what?' the car was in service two days ago according to the system.
I then called the scammer to see what was up. He told me that he would take less than the asking price if I would wire him the fund to secure the deal for $19k. I said " Ok, just hold on" and I hung up. At the same time, my buddy at Lexus called the owner (the real owner) about his car. It was confirmed not for sale nor ever listed for sale. We later learned that the real owner had his car detailed and someone took the picture and information....keep that in mind when you send your car out for service at unfamiliar places....take care
I was searching around for some Sc430 in my area, I found a private seller selling a 2005 White with tan interior extremly low milage 8900 for $21000. This seller was about 57 miles from where I live. I called and someone answered. He said that he was on vacation until April 5th 10. I told him that I would wait until then. He said " I'll call you once I get back". At the same time, I ran the vin# with local Lexus and showed that the car was legit. In my head I thought " what a great deal it's gonna be". I spoke with my buddy/my service advisor at Lexus about it. He told me he would buy it if I back out. I informed him that I have to wait until the owner returns from his vacation to see the car. He said "what?' the car was in service two days ago according to the system.
I then called the scammer to see what was up. He told me that he would take less than the asking price if I would wire him the fund to secure the deal for $19k. I said " Ok, just hold on" and I hung up. At the same time, my buddy at Lexus called the owner (the real owner) about his car. It was confirmed not for sale nor ever listed for sale. We later learned that the real owner had his car detailed and someone took the picture and information....keep that in mind when you send your car out for service at unfamiliar places....take care
03-24-10, 04:42 PM
#11
I almost bought this 05 Pebble Beach before I found mine from a guy in NY who was giving the car away...it had like 13k miles and he only wanted $27,500 at the time it was really inexpensive. It also had the extended warranty on it I was going to transfer.
He "required" me to use his Yahoo Finance and send the money and said something about a five day inspection period as well with some third party delivery service.
In summary-everyone should use some basic business deal common sense when looking at any transaction:
1) If it sounds too good to be true-then it is! Sorry
2) Seller requires strange or different, seemingly unsecure payment methods, ABORT
3) Always have real eyes on the product you are buying-call a friend...call me...I know someone in about every city! Internet photos can be misleading.
4) Have some sort of buyer's protection-if you can use paypal, grace period, simultaneous ship/payment or meet in person is always the best with a live money wire from your bank. I'd like to brag about Bank of America (i'm sure many banks do this), they were extremely helpful in selling my car because they knew I would buy another!
5) Must have up to date, clear and un-altered title-make sure no lien holder is on it!!!
I tested one of those earlier scams (to see if it was really true) in 2004 when I was selling my 2004 S2000. A guy sent me a check for more than the car was selling for. I cashed the check, but I told them I MUST have a seven day grace period, not a three day. The check cleared (from a "real bank" in TN) but five days later it was automatically withdrawn and the bank was after the check writer for fraud. No go!
He "required" me to use his Yahoo Finance and send the money and said something about a five day inspection period as well with some third party delivery service.
In summary-everyone should use some basic business deal common sense when looking at any transaction:
1) If it sounds too good to be true-then it is! Sorry
2) Seller requires strange or different, seemingly unsecure payment methods, ABORT
3) Always have real eyes on the product you are buying-call a friend...call me...I know someone in about every city! Internet photos can be misleading.
4) Have some sort of buyer's protection-if you can use paypal, grace period, simultaneous ship/payment or meet in person is always the best with a live money wire from your bank. I'd like to brag about Bank of America (i'm sure many banks do this), they were extremely helpful in selling my car because they knew I would buy another!
5) Must have up to date, clear and un-altered title-make sure no lien holder is on it!!!
I tested one of those earlier scams (to see if it was really true) in 2004 when I was selling my 2004 S2000. A guy sent me a check for more than the car was selling for. I cashed the check, but I told them I MUST have a seven day grace period, not a three day. The check cleared (from a "real bank" in TN) but five days later it was automatically withdrawn and the bank was after the check writer for fraud. No go!
03-24-10, 05:45 PM
#12
The old saying "never buy a car till you (or an acquaintance) has kicked it's tires" is absolutely true!
Cheers.
03-26-10, 07:22 AM
#13
I was in the process of bing scammed.. I made an offer for 23k and it was accepted. No phone number just email contact. He's on a business trip in hawaii. He lives in daytona but the car is in TExas at das shipping. Gave me an email to contact msn autos which i had to make payment through them. I pay first the it gets shipped to me and then i have a 5 day inspection period for the car... I askes for a number for the shipping company and he tells me he gave the conpany my number and they will call me.. What the fudge right?
Heres the link to autotrader
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false
Heres the link to autotrader
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false
03-26-10, 04:06 PM
#14
03-26-10, 04:18 PM
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this kind of stuff makes me sick.. my mom got brake work done on her 07 tahoe before she was selling it and the guy charged her $850 bucks......then he charged her card again...then a few times a month there would be random charges for $1,500, $2,000, $4,000...from april until november. the last charge was $9,600, then she looked at her bank statements and noticed the charges..it totalled over $36,000. Two lessons learned here-i won't go to any "locally owned" repair shop again, and i will check my bank statements more often than every 6 months.