Question: I Think Some Guy in the UK is Trying to Scam My husband on a Car Deal. Can You Please Tell Me What You Think?
August 30, 2007
Hello Tony
I found your website this morning after searching for any kind of information that would lead me into thinking, that my husband is the target of a scam artist. My husband is currently deployed in Iraq, and has been for the last 12 months. We had been talking about getting a car for me, we just wanted a car that looked nice and worked efficiently.
Recently he was searching for Toyota Corollas in the North Carolina area at this website: craigslist.com. It seemed like he had found a great deal. It was 2 days ago, and we were talking over Yahoo Instant Messinger. He sent me the link to take a look at it. It was a Toyota Corolla 2003, the price? A ridiculous $2,900. I told my husband that it seemed "too good to be true!"
The seller didn't have any specific information, just his e-mail address - from the beginning it seemed too fishy. My husband wrote him that he was interested in knowing more information about it, and asked him why so cheap, and what was the catch? The guy wrote him back yesterday, here is the e-mail:
Hello and sorry for my delay,
I'm Sgt. Allan Riddle. This 03 Corolla is in perfect working condition. This vehicle engine runs very, very smooth. No electrical problems on this beauty. This detailed vehicle makes the exterior looks like it just came off the assembly line. The car has 57k miles. VIN Number: jtdbr32e130038947
Standard Equipment:
KEY LESS ENTRY POWER WINDOWS CD POWER DOOR LOCKS
POWER STEERING POWER MIRRORS AIR CONDITIONING AM/FM RADIO
LE 2 WHEEL DRIVE AIR BAG 4 CYLINDER 1.8 LITER Transmission: Automatic
Here are the pics of the car :
http://usera.imagecave.com/03CorollaLE/
As I know that my current situation is pretty special I want the deal closed only through eBay's Buyer Protection Program in order for you to be 100% protected. You will make the payment to eBay and they will hold the money until you receive the car. ONLY AFTER you receive the car and you inspect it(for 10 days) eBay will release the payment to me; in this way we are both protected.
Anyway I am sure that if you will don`t be satisfied about the car I will surely find another buyer in your area and there will be no need for you to ship the car back. I am located in London, United Kingdom and I was sent here to improve the military relationships between USA and UK.
One months ago, my wife moved here with me and brought the car with her, but now we have to sell it back in the United States because we can't register it here; it has US specs and everything, and registering it here in Europe will take for ever. My final price on it is US 2,900 $. If you will take it for this price, I am willing to handle the shipping.
It will be shipped from here by plane with US Air Military Cargo so it will not cost me anything. You will get it to the nearest airport in your area and then it will be trucked forward to your place. You will receive the car in about 3 days. Please get back to me asap if you decide to buy, and include in your e-mail your full name and address where you want it shipped so I can start the deal with eBay. You will receive all the transaction payment and shipping details from them.
Best Regards,
Allan Riddle
My husband called me yesterday saying that the guy had sent him this e-mail. When I read it, I started to hesitate more and more. Also, he told me that whenever he went back to craigslist.com, the car wasn't there anymore, the guy had taken the add off. Very weird! I wondered and asked myself, why is a Sgt. deployed to London to improve military relationships?? I've never heard of such thing. Why didn't the wife sell the car in London?? Why are they selling it so cheap, wouldn't they need most of the full price money to buy another one? Is this guy, too nice, too rich, or too full of it?
Little things like him misspelling words also made me wonder of his true intentions. My husband, tried to convince me that it was a great decision, the car was cheap, nothing seemed wrong, and maybe it was a blessing from God. I hesitated, I hesitated quite A LOT, this guy wasn't convincing me. I didn't want some scam artist to come and steal the money that my husband worked for so hard. Then I told my husband, to ask him a few questions, like is the car payed off completely? What about the titles and registrations, and how was he going to pay him? He did and today, he got another e-mail from him. Here it is:
Hello,
Everything is taken care of, I forwarded your info to eBay and they should shortly contact you with all the transaction details. I will proceed with shipping immediately after eBay confirms me that you made the payment. You`ll have the chance to test-drive it soon. The car will arrive with all the documentation's required for registration and the keys.
I will send you all the papers and documents (clear title, bills of sale, car's manual) to prove the ownership and to be able to register it with no problem. The clear title and the bill of sale will be both signed so you can become owner of the car on the spot. You will receive a current smog certification. You will have no problem registering the car. The title will be signed by me and notarized.
Thank you for your time.
Like he said, eBay sent my husband the transaction details. I saw that he had to pay through Western Union, that made me even MORE suspicious about it. Immediately I started to research about overseas car scams, and the more information I found out, the more I became shocked to know that, indeed, this guy is trying to scam us.
Since I rarely have communication with my husband during the day, him being out on patrols all the time and whatnot, I e-mailed him and told him to NOT PAY THE GUY anything, until he talked to me, that way I can tell him what I've found out so far, and that this looks like a scam. Let me know what you think.
Sincerely,
Yasmin M.
Answer:
Hi Yasmin,
Don't go any further with this guy. This is a scam all the way. First of all eBay doesn't work this way. I can promise you the email your husband received from eBay is bogus. Second of all I get emails all the time about weird scams, and they almost always originate in the UK. Go to my website and read some of them here.
Your first instincts were right on. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is! Break off contact with this guy. Yeah right, I'll bet he's a Sgt.! The guys a crook, that's what he is. Tell your husband that if he continues contact with this guy he does it at his own peril!
All my very best to you, and may God bless you and your family and keep your husband safe. Tell your husband that I am very grateful for his service to our great country. Tell him to stay low, keep his head down and to shoot straight! God bless him and all his fellow soldiers who so bravely serve this great nation.
Tony Iorio
Additional Comments From Yasmin
Hi Again Tony!
Finally, yesterday, after waiting all day and wondering if my husband was going to have a chance to call or write, I heard from him. I was so worried about the whole situation, he only had 30 minutes to speak to me, but it was enough to convince him that this was a scam, I showed him all the stuff I had found, and I even gave him some of the tips you have on your website, along with other testimonials.
Whenever we checked the eBay invoice, the whole thing seemed like it was made up. First it didn't have his eBay id. Second, it had some misspellings, no big company does that. And third, I can't recall ever seeing someone who usually sells things and asks for Western Union transfers ONLY.
Then just out of curiosity, I Googled his e-mail which is (pap433@gmail.com), it didn't show a lot, except for a craigslist add that was taken off and titled FRAUD, and the link to an Australian community forum, from the looks of it, he sells stuff there too.
I finally convinced my husband, and when he said that he wasn't going to send him any money and stop contacting him, I was relieved and all my worries vanished. I had been praying a lot, and I know, now more than ever that God is the one who kept us from getting scammed. Along with my skepticism and hesitation towards the whole thing.
My husband joked and said that, me being paranoid, saved him from losing money. I'm also glad I found all the information online, including your website, so THANK YOU so much. Also, thank you for your good wishes, he is back in October of this year, after a long 15 month deployment. I'm really excited about seeing him! Thank you once more, and God bless you too!
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