Do You think this is a scam? Would you pay the money? You know anything about cars?

Question

My mother is 60 years of age. Last week she received a phone call from a young man stating that before Christmas she reversed into the side of his car causing £1900 worth of damage. There were 4 witnesses (his friends who took the reg) eating lunch in a near by vehicle. He states he did not call be police because he did not want to get anyone into trouble. He fixed and sold the car the next week and has no photographs of the damage. Only a quote stating the damage caused cost 1900 to repair. He somehow got her name and address. He called to the house, thankfully she was out. Then managed to get her phone number. What do you think. The funny thing is he described a place where she could have been when this allegedly happened and he got the time correct as well. Oh and he doesnt know the date either. Thinks it was about 4 weeks before christmas. My mother is 100 percent sure she did not reverse into someone. With that amount of damage could you do it and not know you have?

Answer 1

Sounds like a scam to me. Have you notified the police of this?

Answer 2

I'd say a scam. More than likely the person making the claim and his friends have gone through a parking area and wrote down license numbers of the various cars parked there. The time frame would account for why she is now being named for the alleged damage. If damage was done to a vehicle it would have been reported to the authorities and an officer of the law would be the one to come to her and say she was named in a possible hit and run, it's the amount for damages that makes me truly believe she is being scammed. Don't let her pay a penny for damages, to stop a crook you have to play them at their own game, go to the police station or call, give them the information the man has given to her and ask if this was ever reported. Most schemers will back off if they think the police will become involved for generally she is not the only victim of this scam

Answer 3

It's a scam. He has no right to demand any money if he didn't report the damage, and doesn't have any proof of the damage on his car.

What probably happened is that he saw your mom at the parking lot, and was able to trace her identity by her license plate, or from somebody that knew her, or recent shopping she had done near that lot. That's what took him so long to call her - also, he hoped that by waiting, she would have forgotten that day, and not be able to say for sure if she had hit his car or not.

If he calls again, tell him your are not buying his story, and believe it's a scam. Tell him if he is really telling the truth, to go ahead and report the incident to the police and the insurance companies, and it will be your (mother's) word against his in court. He'll back off when he realizes the police will investigate his little scheme.

Answer 4

I would have to agree with the suggestion to call the police. I think you should call the police & report what you know. If it is a scam, then they need to know about it. If it really happened, then the legal route should be taken to protect everyones interests.

You might also contact your insurance agency to see what they think. This may be an on-going scam issue that they already know about.

And a 'quote' is not enough. You will need actual receipts of the repair and the name and contact information of the company that did the repairs. A 'quote' is nothing. I can do one on the computer in less than 5-minutes.

Be smart & contact the police.

Answer 5

hes looking for a paycheck! tell him to call the police himself and hire a lawyer. likely he won't do this if hes lying....tell him to stop calling your mom or you'll call the police for him harasing you...
why would he be wanting $ for a car he already sold,,,,,, don't get scammed.....this is really fishy.....

Answer 6

just bluntly say ok lets call the police and see what they have to say.

Answer 7

scam