Rayjsj Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 After reading January's MMM readers letter 'Buyer Beware' I would like to add my experience of a similar type, I have a non-motorcaravanning friend (who up til 'the credit crunch' used to fly abroad for his holidays) who has started looking to 'give motorcaravanning a try' at my prompting, So, he has been scanning the second hand market for a good used van, he telephoned me to say he had seen a 'Bargain' and was thinking of going for it, but what did I think ?? The 'van was an Autosleeper Executive Year 2000, lots of lovely tempting photographs and the price £5000 ! about £8000 or £9000 under what it should have been, (but he didn't realise this). BUT it was in Poland !! The seller was contacted by E-mail and supplied very convicing details including a Vin no. and it's Registration (a private plate but checked out on the Dvla website and correct). However the only way payment could be made was through their 'Courier Company' who was going to deliver the van to the UK (sound familiar ?) I suggested to him to say that he would Fly out to Poland and do the deal there after inspecting the van, they replied saying that the vehicle was in the Couriers warehouse and the deal could ONLY be done through them (the STING !) I told him 'If a deal seems too good to be true,it probably is'. and to look elswhere. BUT it did look very convincing and MOST of the details checked out. BEWARE. And before anyone cries 'Urban myth' IT AIN'T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hi Here are more details just in case, The Registration on most Pictures was W492PPR but later ones were TIL7767 Which did check out on the dvla website (strangely??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 These are the pictures from the Suspect ad. which was on the Exchange and Mart. Website (now withdrawn) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hi, there are lots of these ads on ebay, for motorbikes, motorhomes and cars etc. report it to ebay and they will remove this ad. and like all things this price don,t part with any money until you see the goods face to face. michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyman Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 i dont get why anyone would buy something so expensive, and then pay for it in an 'odd' way like this. Pure greed on the buyers part Still doesnt make it right.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 The Advert was on the Exchange and Mart. website not E-Bay. My friend had no idea that £5000 was a suspiciously low price for an Autosleeper of 2000 vintage (until I told him). So, it wasn't greed, just inexperience. But unwise to buy without doing a bit of research. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyman Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 it would take under 1 minute on the internet to find out the price was way too low...............that coupled with an unusual payment method and delivery should just about ring a few alarm bells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Rayjsj - 2008-12-16 12:47 PM After reading January's MMM readers letter 'Buyer Beware' I would like to add my experience of a similar type, I have a non-motorcaravanning friend (who up til 'the credit crunch' used to fly abroad for his holidays) who has started looking to 'give motorcaravanning a try' at my prompting, So, he has been scanning the second hand market for a good used van, he telephoned me to say he had seen a 'Bargain' and was thinking of going for it, but what did I think ?? The 'van was an Autosleeper Executive Year 2000, lots of lovely tempting photographs and the price £5000 ! about £8000 or £9000 under what it should have been, (but he didn't realise this). BUT it was in Poland !! The seller was contacted by E-mail and supplied very convicing details including a Vin no. and it's Registration (a private plate but checked out on the Dvla website and correct). However the only way payment could be made was through their 'Courier Company' who was going to deliver the van to the UK (sound familiar ?) I suggested to him to say that he would Fly out to Poland and do the deal there after inspecting the van, they replied saying that the vehicle was in the Couriers warehouse and the deal could ONLY be done through them (the STING !) I told him 'If a deal seems too good to be true,it probably is'. and to look elswhere. BUT it did look very convincing and MOST of the details checked out. BEWARE. And before anyone cries 'Urban myth' IT AIN'T.Hope you reported it to the local Fraud Squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usinmyknaus Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Rayjsj. How fortunate that your friend had you to advise him - a lucky escape. There really is no substitiute for "buyer beware" but that is not much help to the inexperienced. Fraud is a major growth industry in the UK mainly because the chances of being investigated are negligible, the chances of any investigation turning into charges are negligible, the chances of the CPS then proceesding are negligible, the chances of any proceeedings turning into a conviction are also, negligible. Multiply all those "negligibles" and it becomes obvious why fraud is a highly lucrative, low-risk, lifestyle choice. (Overseas-based, UK-targetted fraud even more so.) The police generally will not look at anything below £50,000 in a single loss and even if they do, by and large the officers concerned will be inexperienced and poorly equipped to convince the CPS to pursue prosecution. The police have no targets for fraud crimes so it is a waste of resources for them. Fraud investigations are highly resource-intensive, take a long time and many officers who actually start an investigation will be re-deployed elsewhere before much progress will have been made. The new person will start from scratch and more delay will ensue. The subsequent efluxion of time will greatly assist the fraudster. Even if a victim does their own investigation and secures excellent evidence, it would be extremely unusual for such actions to lead to effective police involvement. The counter-fraud specialist for one of the big four accountancy firms recently said that the staggering rise in successful frauds in the UK was a result of a situation that on balance, when weighing the potential returns versus the possible consequences one would have to come to the concusion "Why wouldn't you commit fraud?" It was pretty much a no-brainer for any but the most moral of people. Before investing cash in a major purchase we all must remember that an independent financial adviser has to have years of training, pass loads of exams and comply with huge regulatory burdens before taking so much as a fiver off us as an investment - so it behoves us to exercise due diligence when we make our own "investments" in buying a vehicle or any other major purchase. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pericles Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Here is my tale. About a year ago I wanted to sell our '93 Hymer. ( about 12.5K) I got let down a few times, bit fed up, so I put it on e-bay, and went to stay with a friend in the Highlands. When I checked on his PC There were 2 people asking how come this same M/H was in the Auto Trader and if you sent 4K he would deliver it. I,obviously, said it looked like a scam. One of them subsequently e-mailed me and said the phone no. in the ad was discontinued, and the reply from the e-mail was to send the 4K via Western Union to get the van delivered. Perhaps some people could be tempted for such a 'bargain' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Pericles - 2008-12-18 10:21 AM Here is my tale. About a year ago I wanted to sell our '93 Hymer. ( about 12.5K) I got let down a few times, bit fed up, so I put it on e-bay, and went to stay with a friend in the Highlands. When I checked on his PC There were 2 people asking how come this same M/H was in the Auto Trader and if you sent 4K he would deliver it. I,obviously, said it looked like a scam. One of them subsequently e-mailed me and said the phone no. in the ad was discontinued, and the reply from the e-mail was to send the 4K via Western Union to get the van delivered. Perhaps some people could be tempted for such a 'bargain' Unfortunately, pericles, it probably also puts prospective buyers off from calling you as they are not sure which is the real scam. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 One way to try to stop your vehicles being used in a scam is to put a 'water mark' on your photos, ie your ebay name or email emblazened across it, that way they should leave your photos alone. If everyone did this it would make life much more difficult for them. Such as this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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