If your cars for sale then beware of the oil rig scam, got an email last night which just didn't sound right then I googled it and seems to be a known scam - have a read:

Message:

Hi,i saw your car on Autotrader, Is it still available? what's your lowest price? I await your immediate response.

I Replied:

Hi,

Yes Car is still available, well I'd say make an offer of what you think it's worth, are you local because if you come and actually have a look at it you can offer on what you see, there is a few marks but engine wise it's sound! as you can see from the work that's been done, it's been sitting since may so really want this gone to a new home.  The car owes me big time, so I'll look for around £2800. Let me know as I have had some interest within the past week. I'm away from Thursday till Sunday so I can do viewings tomorrow or next week depending on times. Drop me a text and let me know what you think.

He Replied:

Hello,

Thanks for the reply.I am pleased with your price of 2800 and i want you to get back to me with more pictures of the (interior,engine and the exterior) of this vehicle (if available) because i won't be able to come for the inspection due to the nature of my work.Am buying it for my holiday cos I'll be coming soon from our rig as am a petroleum engineer and am on a rig offshore.As for the payment..i can only pay via the fastest and secure way to pay online (PayPal) here,pls get back to me with your PayPal details and in case you don't have,you can also get back to me with your bank details so i can proceed with payment and contact the courier agent that will come to pick it up and deliver it in my place,and With the issue of my details,transferring the name of ownership and signing of all paperwork will be done by the courier services company agent so you don't have to worry about that.  I await to hear from you soon.

I Replied:

Right ok, so are you shipping the car overseas ? I can get you more pictures that is not an issue.

Do you have a UK address for the log book of the vehicle. 

In regards to the bank transfer you would need to wait for this money to clear before I can release the car to the courier, this make take a few working days. 

He Said:

Ok thanks,i will be expecting the pics. As for my details for the log book,Name is Mark Wagna and my address is 248 Oldham Road Failsworth Manchester M35 0HB. so kindly also get back to me with the payment details, so that i can proceed with the payment asap.  Waiting to hear from you soon. 

So it all seemed dodgy but thought I'd play along and the log book details are different to the email he used lol email - danielwalker7740@yahoo.com

So be aware if you don't already know!!!!

I have always wondered how these scams work, if the money has been dropped straight into your bank account what can they do? Just give them a fake address for the courier lol.

Id never take them up on it, just wondered how it works.

So how is this a scam then?

If he is going to pay you first then let him send the money and wait untill you definately have it, then get the car picked up

happens all over gumtree aswell,

they send you a fake paypal invoice and ask you to ship the item to somewhere in Africa normally

yeah I'm confused how these scams work if they pay you first :S :/

and the whole email address thing could be that he is usuing a friends

it will say the moneys in your paypal .. but the money will bounce and they have a car on the way to africa for freee

it will say the moneys in your paypal .. but the money will bounce and they have a car on the way to africa for freee

but surely if you wait until the money is cleared before sending then theres no problem

What i was reading online was that they send u the money via paypal and then ask the seller to send them money via western union for shipping, they send u money for the car + shipping and they ask you to send money via western union to the so called 'courier' but before you know they claim back via paypal and it bounces etc, there not interested in your car, they use that as a decoy to somehow have a reason to get your details.

it is all quite confusing but only a mug should fall for this BS. google it and see what some people say who have been scammed.

yeah I'm confused how these scams work if they pay you first :S :/

and the whole email address thing could be that he is usuing a friends

who uses a friends email address ? every has atleast one email addresss

whos going to agree to buy a car they have never seen or even been in, he wants it for his holiday ? definately a scam

The way the email is worded makes it obvious he's on the blag. Practically tries to sell you paypal as 'the fastes and most secure way' to reassure you there's no scam involved.

I once had one of the classic 'i have a million pounds in Ugandan bank, but need to transfer to your account and we can split it' emails before. I dragged the thick nice person on a few emails, asking for pictures, planning visits when we're friends (they seemed really keen on becoming friends), me visiting their dying dad (who the money was from) etc. but never giving any details for payment. Then told them point blank to fuck off and I wasn't stupid enough to fall for their shit. I like to think I at least wasted a bit of their time

The way the email is worded makes it obvious he's on the blag. Practically tries to sell you paypal as 'the fastes and most secure way' to reassure you there's no scam involved.

I once had one of the classic 'i have a million pounds in Ugandan bank, but need to transfer to your account and we can split it' emails before. I dragged the thick nice person on a few emails, asking for pictures, planning visits when we're friends (they seemed really keen on becoming friends), me visiting their dying dad (who the money was from) etc. but never giving any details for payment. Then told them point blank to fuck off and I wasn't stupid enough to fall for their shit. I like to think I at least wasted a bit of their time

I think you will like http://www.419eater.com/, it's basically dedicated to leading these idiots on.

I believe paypal will charge you back if the money into it bounces from the buyer. or something. (may be unrelated but its also true)

That 419eater is mega-

That 419eater is mega-

agreed.

http://www.wheel-whores.com/forum/viewtopi...=32&t=19382

they tryed robing my wheels

Edited 30 August, 201214 yr by kai

I got another email this morning through autotrader this time from a woman and it's almost worded the same!

lol, I've had the oil rig thing before, had loads come to think of it, for various things on eBay.

I just wasted their time.

You can ALWAYS tell, because they can never spell and/or sentences aren't put together properly.

It must work though, or they would never do it! Some retards on the internet tbf, that get taken in by it haha!

Mark Wagna is a well used scam name on the net!

lol, I've had the oil rig thing before, had loads come to think of it, for various things on eBay.

I just wasted their time.

You can ALWAYS tell, because they can never spell and/or sentences aren't put together properly.

It must work though, or they would never do it! Some retards on the internet tbf, that get taken in by it haha!

My missus' brother got done over by one Only over a 2nd hand mobile phone but still

They are from Ireland though and those guys aren't exposed to as much of the shit that we are When I heard that he'd sent the phone and bank details I said straight away it was a scam and it was the first they'd heard of anything of the kind!

I sold one of my motorcross bikes on ebay for £3400 a couple of years ago and the winner sent me a cheque for £8000 they included a letter saying somthing like, Hi could you please take the money i owe you for the bike and please give the rest to the courier drive so he can give to my son along with the bike (sending it overseas lol) basically took one look at the cheque and relised the words lloyds TSB was spelt wrong so off i went and handed it into the fraud department at my local lloyds TSB and i never heard a peep from him.

Similar to the oil rig scam, think the term for it is called money laundering where they send a innocent person dirty money so they can put it into there bank and send out clean money overseas.

I dont know how they think they can get away with it to be honest

I sold one of my motorcross bikes on ebay for £3400 a couple of years ago and the winner sent me a cheque for £8000 they included a letter saying somthing like, Hi could you please take the money i owe you for the bike and please give the rest to the courier drive so he can give to my son along with the bike (sending it overseas lol) basically took one look at the cheque and relised the words lloyds TSB was spelt wrong so off i went and handed it into the fraud department at my local lloyds TSB and i never heard a peep from him.

Similar to the oil rig scam, think the term for it is called money laundering where they send a innocent person dirty money so they can put it into there bank and send out clean money overseas.

I dont know how they think they can get away with it to be honest

if they sent you a genuine cheque then it would be money laundering but as it was a fake its just a scam as no "dirty" money will change hands.

Edited 11 September, 201214 yr by polo45

If this guy made the payment, and made sure the car was on it's way, all he has to do to get his money back is tell paypal that the transfer was made by someone who gained access to his paypal account (by hacking or whatever) who didnt have consent and they would normally reverse the transfer. Someone tried something similar to this when we were selling my girlfriend's 6n2!

Some of them are so obvious though... haha