Post by kas on Mar 26, 2013 4:20:26 GMT -5
I have never had an experience with this kind so I did learn a lot about how this works. I can see how people might fall for this.
Google Checkout Vehicle Sale Scam
www.hoax-slayer.com/marcia-story.shtml
Google Checkout Vehicle Sale Scam
www.hoax-slayer.com/marcia-story.shtml
I was very nearly taken in by a scam but was lucky enough to find out what was going on before I parted with my money. Although my experience relates to the sale of a used VW campervan, the same scenario could be used by scammers for any item sold on the Internet. The lesson is that if the price for something is too good to be true, then you should proceed with extreme caution.
In March 2012 I was looking for a VW campervan. I found a bargain (or so I thought) on the Autotrader website. 1978 VW Devon Moonraker campervan 12,000 miles, £4,000. I had seen a similar model on sale for £25,000 so I thought I was onto a winner. Catherine, the person who was selling this used a hotmail email address. The seller said that she was in the armed forces and that she needed to sell this fast as she was due to be deployed to Afghanistan, hence the low price. I expressed an interest in viewing the vehicle but was told that the vehicle was in a military camp in Scotland (I was in another part of the UK).
I told her I was not going to proceed without seeing it and she said that she had a solution. She said I could pay through Google Safe pay solutions whereby I pay the money to Google and they hold it. In the meantime she would arrange delivery of the vehicle to me at no charge for me to inspect it. If I am happy with the vehicle I can then instruct Google to make the payment to her.
I was a little suspicious so I read all about Google Safe Pay/Google Checkout and the scenario was just as she had described, that they hold the money and don’t release it to her until I say so. The way it works is that she opens a transaction and names me as the buyer and I am supposed to receive an email from Google requesting the money. The email from Google did not arrive so I contacted the seller. She said she would forward a copy to me, and that is how the scam works.
What she actually sent to me was an email sent from an address designed to look like it came from Google. The email had her bank account details on it (see transcript below). I was supposed to make the payment which would have gone directly into her bank account and would not have been held by Google at all.
Fortunately for me I was searching the web looking for information about this particular model of campervan when I came across a website selling the very same vehicle – same registration number but this one was for £25,000. I contacted the company to ask them why they were selling a campervan that I was just about to buy from somebody in Scotland. The lady on the phone told me that the campervan in question was in their yard and that she had recently received a phone call from a distraught lady that had fallen for the same scam that I was just about to. She related the story about the military base in Scotland, Google Checkout, being deployed to Afghanistan etc and it was exactly the same story that I was living! I couldn’t believe it.
I contacted Autotrader and my local Trading Standards Office. Autotrader removed the bogus ad from their website and Trading Standards tried to investigate the matter but came against a brick wall when trying to gain information about the identity of the bank account number I was supposed to pay the money into. This unscrupulous crook even had the audacity to get shirty with me for not making a prompt payment. I quickly told her/him (as Catherine is probably just a made up identity) what I thought of them. I felt such a fool, I even thanked this person for being in the armed forces and for protecting the likes of me, when all along they were robbing the likes of me!
This can happen for any merchandise that is advertised on the Internet. The crooks simply copy the genuine advert and post a bogus one on a selling website. This time it was Autotrader but it could be any selling advertising website. They just change the contact details.
Since this experience I have spotted a few other ads for campervans that I was suspicious of and forwarded the details to Trading Standards to investigate but unfortunately to no avail. I want to do my best to make sure nobody else falls for this. It is such easy money for them, they only post an ad and send a few emails and they get thousands of pounds a time. I hope they can be stopped and I count myself very lucky to have realised before I gave them my money.
In March 2012 I was looking for a VW campervan. I found a bargain (or so I thought) on the Autotrader website. 1978 VW Devon Moonraker campervan 12,000 miles, £4,000. I had seen a similar model on sale for £25,000 so I thought I was onto a winner. Catherine, the person who was selling this used a hotmail email address. The seller said that she was in the armed forces and that she needed to sell this fast as she was due to be deployed to Afghanistan, hence the low price. I expressed an interest in viewing the vehicle but was told that the vehicle was in a military camp in Scotland (I was in another part of the UK).
I told her I was not going to proceed without seeing it and she said that she had a solution. She said I could pay through Google Safe pay solutions whereby I pay the money to Google and they hold it. In the meantime she would arrange delivery of the vehicle to me at no charge for me to inspect it. If I am happy with the vehicle I can then instruct Google to make the payment to her.
I was a little suspicious so I read all about Google Safe Pay/Google Checkout and the scenario was just as she had described, that they hold the money and don’t release it to her until I say so. The way it works is that she opens a transaction and names me as the buyer and I am supposed to receive an email from Google requesting the money. The email from Google did not arrive so I contacted the seller. She said she would forward a copy to me, and that is how the scam works.
What she actually sent to me was an email sent from an address designed to look like it came from Google. The email had her bank account details on it (see transcript below). I was supposed to make the payment which would have gone directly into her bank account and would not have been held by Google at all.
Fortunately for me I was searching the web looking for information about this particular model of campervan when I came across a website selling the very same vehicle – same registration number but this one was for £25,000. I contacted the company to ask them why they were selling a campervan that I was just about to buy from somebody in Scotland. The lady on the phone told me that the campervan in question was in their yard and that she had recently received a phone call from a distraught lady that had fallen for the same scam that I was just about to. She related the story about the military base in Scotland, Google Checkout, being deployed to Afghanistan etc and it was exactly the same story that I was living! I couldn’t believe it.
I contacted Autotrader and my local Trading Standards Office. Autotrader removed the bogus ad from their website and Trading Standards tried to investigate the matter but came against a brick wall when trying to gain information about the identity of the bank account number I was supposed to pay the money into. This unscrupulous crook even had the audacity to get shirty with me for not making a prompt payment. I quickly told her/him (as Catherine is probably just a made up identity) what I thought of them. I felt such a fool, I even thanked this person for being in the armed forces and for protecting the likes of me, when all along they were robbing the likes of me!
This can happen for any merchandise that is advertised on the Internet. The crooks simply copy the genuine advert and post a bogus one on a selling website. This time it was Autotrader but it could be any selling advertising website. They just change the contact details.
Since this experience I have spotted a few other ads for campervans that I was suspicious of and forwarded the details to Trading Standards to investigate but unfortunately to no avail. I want to do my best to make sure nobody else falls for this. It is such easy money for them, they only post an ad and send a few emails and they get thousands of pounds a time. I hope they can be stopped and I count myself very lucky to have realised before I gave them my money.