Selling my car... Is this a scam? Help!?

Question

Hello, I'm selling my car and have posted various online ads. Today I received this inquiry. It seems fishy. Is it a scam? Thanks!

"Dear Sir/Ma,I place a look on your item and i am
interested in it,but before i move forward on this transaction i
will like to ask you some question as follow.1.Do
you accept a (Certified Cashier Check ) as
a mode of payment.2.What is the final asking prize
you want to sell it for
3.Will you allow our shipping company to come to you house for the pick up of the item cos we don't want you to
worry yourself about the shipping of the item.
4.You have to send your NAME,ADDRESS,TEL # to mail out the payment today.REGARDS."

Answer 1

Eh...I'd contact your local police department. They could probaby tell you better than we can.

Answer 2

I would agree with you there that it sounds "fishy." The certified cashier check can be a fake, but you won't know until it's been deposited in your bank, and the bank tries to collect the money. By this time, since they want to pick it up in person to ship it, the car is long gone. By giving your name, address & phone number, it leaves you a target as they will know where your car is located and can "pick" it off at night when no one is around. Judging by the "english" used, I'd say this is a foreigner and many a scam has been done via email.

Selling a car can be a tricky thing as people are not always upfront and you attract alot of scammers (especially on the internet). The best way is to have the car in a different location from your address, have them come directly to you to see the car, and if interested, cash upfront. While this would be a difficult sale, you stand to lose alot less. Anyone truly interested in buying can make the attempt to come up with cash. When I was in the market for a new car, instead of selling it myself, I discounted it and traded it in to the car dealership just because of this type of situation.

Answer 3

Yes this is a scam. notice how they don't mention the car or anything specific about your vehicle. This is a form email. What happens next is that you agree to sell them the car and get a check from a foreign bank. it will be in an amount too high for the car because that's the only denomination the bank will write the check for. You write a check back for the difference. You give the car to the shipping company who mysteriously arrives before you bank has enough days to determine that the international check was fake. You're out the car AND the check you wrote to the buyer. Not only that, but if they are really good, they have enough info from your bank and registration to fully steal your identity.

Answer 4

Sounds fishy as hell to me. If the cashiers check is drawn on a bank you can physically go to and present the check and if the buyer will delay the transaction until said cashier's check has cleared the bank, only then would I sell to this guy.

From his note, it sounds as though he's out of the country. He gives you a bogus cashier's check, takes the car, cashier's check gets returned and you are out a vehicle and you have to make good with the bank. Authorities can't touch (or even find) the guy because he's in Nigeria or some other haven for scam artists.

Answer 5

I was selling a truck and got exactly the same sounding email. A few months later i sold my boat and again got a similar email.
Yes its a scam. to be honest who would buy a car or a boat without looking at it first
Also ... they send a cashiers check the same time as they pick it up... sooo... they take the car and by the time you find the check is fraud they are long gone....
The important satement is "OUR SHIPPING COMPANY"
Do not give any information to this person..
The two that contact me.... one was supposed to be a church the second was a strange name ....
Also... why is the english soo bad..... strange isnt it..
The police will not tell you if its a scam... I know i owrked for a local police department and we were told to say that we cannot tell if its a scam.

Answer 6

YES,

It is a SCAM. I can show you about 2 dozen of the same emails from cars I have listed on craigslist and a couple other sites.

The check will be bad. A forgery. If your bank cashes the check (not likly). They will say they are willing to pay you all of your asking price and send you a check for over the amount of the purchase price, for you to refund them the difference. So, they will be up a car and the balance of the money.


BEWARE.

I have spent alot of time playing with them just to pass some time.

Answer 7

Oh that seems a little fishy to me. If I were you I would go with my gut. If it sounds fishy it may be a scam. You can see where the post came from and do a check on them. If you can't write back to them I would think about waiting for the right person who has the cash to come along.

Answer 8

A certified cashiers cheque, Hmm, Where have i heard those words before, Oh Yeah, the scam watch website, they send you a certified cashiers cheque in the post ( which never arrives) and pick up the good's quickly.
they have your goods which will never be seen again and you never recive the cheque, and to top it all, the buyer turns out to be false and does not exist.
Don't do it, wait till a better offer comes along.

Answer 9

Sounds fishy to me. I think they are just interested in getting some personal information about you. It sounds like very poor english - like many of the email scams do; and I would not reply to it.

Answer 10

It does sound fishy. Since they didn't offer an actual price and seem to be mass-mailing it out generically (they didn't say car, they said item) it's likely not worth your time.

Answer 11

Yup looks like a classic CRAIGSLIST scam.

Do you know how easy it is to get your email info from that site? Pretty simple really.

Dont bother even replying to them, or you will get more emails from all over the place.