Autotrader & Ebay car scam

Sunday, 7th September 2008 10:11 - by Resident IFA

This is a Personal Finance Blog and, to that end, topics will inevitably include saving money and sensible generic financial actions that can be taken – or, in some cases, financial actions to be avoided. I pride myself on having a bit of common sense, but am not too proud to admit that I nearly came a cropper this week, needing to heed the above ‘sensible’ phrase. I logged onto Autotrader in search of a new car, probably a grandiose purchase such as a Fiesta (I am quite comfortable with my own masculinity, thanks!). In a Walter Mitty moment, I also looked at my favourite car marque - BMW. And, lo and behold, there was a 56 plate Z4 (2-seater…say no more), not a model I had thought about much before. It was for sale at a knock-down £6,780…when they would usually re-sell at around £21,000 to £25,000. I entered into an e-mail conversation with a lady called Debra Green (watch out for the e-mail address debra_green@ymail.com). She was in Switzerland, having come to England for work reasons, now back in Switzerland and needing to off-load the car – it being right-hand drive and no Swiss car dealer or individual wanting to purchase it for that reason. The e-mails were polite, well-written, and unerringly ‘genuine’. I only came to my senses at the 11th hour (after having suggested travelling to Zermatt to collect the car!). The tell-tale signs: - ‘Debra’ had agreed to a further £180 discount on the price and to share the £500 shipping costs. - ‘Debra’ claimed that I could carry out a HPI check on the car with only the registration…when the V5 document reference and VIN references are needed too. - ‘Debra’ sent me web-links to the Ebay Vehicle Protection Programme (VPP) – a way of securely depositing the money before delivery, only subsequently released by VPP when the car is received and confirmed by the buyer as in the condition described. Funnily enough, clicking on the ‘U.S.’ and ‘Australian’ Ebay links sent, the VPP appeared to apply only to cars purchased via an Ebay listing. Hold on…everything isn’t adding up here. I then searched for VPP on Google and – surprise, surprise – it doesn’t exist. If in doubt, go to an Ebay forum and search for this thread. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of posts, including many experiences of car sellers now claiming to be ‘in Switzerland’ or other European countries, and I even found the exact wording put in one of the e-mails I had received! Better late than never. Naturally, I did not e-mail ‘Debra’ again, informing my Bank and Ebay and deleting cards from my PayPal account which they had already tried to gain the ‘Forgotten password’ to. All it cost me was a bit of time and ‘Debra’ knowing my name, secondary e-mail address, and Post Code… which I don’t think (hope) will affect me terribly. Coincidentally, but somewhat predictably, I received an e-mail from a ‘Pamela Runney’ (xspamro33@yahoo.co.uk) the following day, in response to 'my' e-mail about a Z4…’Pamela’ again being in Switzerland. This gives a good indication of the scale and amount of aliases ‘Debra’ must have, getting mixed-up with who he or she is scamming at present. There are probably tens, if not hundreds, of bargain-hunters like me whom ‘Debra’ has on the go at any time. I often say to Clients in my day-job “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is”. Luckily, I eventually came to my senses and just avoided a case of ‘Do as I say, not as I do’, but it really is a cautionary tale of naivety and near-gullibility. Please avoid wasting your time on pipe-dreams…one poor so-and-so on the Ebay forum mentioned losing £12,000 to scum (I use the term advisedly and legitimately, I am sure all right-minded people would agree) like my e-mail buddy ‘Debra’…or is that ‘Pamela’? Until next time…