Rod_vw Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Just been pointed to MY camper for sale on 'www.preloved.co.uk' !!! Yes it advertised in Volkswagen Driver Magazine but not at the ridiculously low price shown in the ad. Beware if you advertise a vehicle someone else may be trying to make a fast buck using your details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Our son almost got caught on one of these. It was all very believable, and almost got a clear report on the hpi check, but we were advised not to proceed until the seller could give us the serial number of the log book, it's apparently the only thing that they can't blag. I think we should always keep in mind the old adage about if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Archiesgrandad - 2014-11-16 10:27 PM we were advised not to proceed until the seller could give us the serial number of the log book, it's apparently the only thing that they can't blag. AGD Why not? If they invented a number how would a prospective buyer know whether it was correct or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 I've since notified the website where the ad is placed, I will keep you posted as to their response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Rod_vw - 2014-11-16 9:49 PM Just been pointed to MY camper for sale on 'www.preloved.co.uk' !!! Yes it advertised in Volkswagen Driver Magazine but not at the ridiculously low price shown in the ad. Beware if you advertise a vehicle someone else may be trying to make a fast buck using your details. I'm curious how such a scam could be effected, I know a pay who got scammed assuming he'd bought a laptop cheap by mail order, and someone else who paid for a villa rental only to find when they arrived someone actually living there, and obviously having no knowledge of their home being advertised as a holiday rental. But I'm very curious how anyone could "sell" your camper without actually physically having it, and all the documentation, so what would motivate them to advertise it I wonder ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Joe90 - 2014-11-17 11:40 AM But I'm very curious how anyone could "sell" your camper without actually physically having it, and all the documentation, so what would motivate them to advertise it I wonder ? They may be able to persuade some unsuspecting buyer to send a deposit ? :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 It is quite feasible to see a suitable car for this scam, perhaps on a garage forecourt or in a car park, you can obviously get a lot of information about the car by observation, reg no, colour, model,trim level etc, possibly mileage, and so on. You can now get the vin number just by looking through the windscreen of a parked car.You can download pictures from someone elses legitimate advert and you're all set up. In our case the guy put together a very plausible story about being a foreign national who had been working for a UK company, and shortly after buying a new RHD car he was made redundant and he had to return to his native land. He took the trouble to find the name and contact details of an employee of that company ,it was all very thorough. The only detail he could not find was the serial number of the V5C or whatever it is called these days, and the HPI people would not give us the all clear until we gave them that detail. We were very cautious from the start, but it was the car our son dreamed of, and he thought he could afford this one. We eventually found quite a lot of references to the guy operating this scam on the interenet, and apart from the cost of the HPI check, nothing was lost, but it was very plausible. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docted Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Joe 90 The person invlved in this type of scam will actually steal a vehicle that matches the description. He then puts on false plates and there are enough gullible people around for it to work, maybe not always but often enough to make a tidy living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 docted - 2014-11-17 1:31 PM Joe 90 The person invlved in this type of scam will actually steal a vehicle that matches the description. He then puts on false plates and there are enough gullible people around for it to work, maybe not always but often enough to make a tidy living. I'm assuming you mean "ringing" which is a whole different ball game, and something I'm well aware of, having rubbed shoulders ( unknowingly at the time ) with a few dodgy folk, but the OP seems to be alluding to the fact that someone is trying to sell his specific vehicle, from a fraudulent advert, that's what I don't understand, how could they possibly do that, we are all in trouble if it's that easy. and no I'm not thinking of ways to supplement my pension. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Joe90 - 2014-11-17 2:37 PM ...but the OP seems to be alluding to the fact that someone is trying to sell his specific vehicle, from a fraudulent advert, that's what I don't understand, how could they possibly do that, we are all in trouble if it's that easy. I think the OP(Rod?), is saying that someone has taken the details of his legitimate ad' and used them to create a "fictitious" one. Presumably, as someone(Malc) said earlier, in the hope that someone will forward them a deposit?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Joe90 - 2014-11-17 2:37 PM and no I'm not thinking of ways to supplement my pension. :-S ..you haven't "sold" Pelmet-Dave's van from underneath him,have ya'? (lol) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-ford-transit-travelhome-for-sale-/231377970793 Dave...check your garage..... (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Archiesgrandad - 2014-11-17 12:13 PM The only detail he could not find was the serial number of the V5C or whatever it is called these days, and the HPI people would not give us the all clear until we gave them that detail. AGD Oh I see, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 So it's simple really. The faker phones up the genuine seller claiming to be interested in buying the motor and asks for the V5 serial number as requested by HPI. He then has the serial number to pass on to anyone enquiring about his fake advert. Simple really! Ooops shouldn't really have told the fakers how to get away it :$ Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Someone would have to be a complete idiot to pay a deposit without having sight of the vehicle at the sellers address and seeing the V5C and cross referencing the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Cup Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Out of interest I followed up a couple of these ads sometime ago. In each case there was some reason that you couldn't see the van, in one case the supposed seller was in hospital in Newcastle, couldn't show the van but would sell at the bargain price just to get rid of it. Just send the money, as he was immobile, etc. In another case the van was in Germany, he'd bring it over to view but needed some cash as proof of sincerity, as he'd already travelled over and been let down and so had wasted money. In a third case, just send the deposit Western Union, can't remember the exact reasoning. They all only had mobile phone numbers, no address or landline. There was one gang who would choose an expensive housing area, find an empty house, arranged to meet there on the drive, but bring the cash, and when the prospective purchaser arrived, they attacked viciously him with iron bars, and take the cash. They were convicted and jailed, but not before having done it many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 pepe63 - 2014-11-17 5:01 PM Joe90 - 2014-11-17 2:37 PM and no I'm not thinking of ways to supplement my pension. :-S ..you haven't "sold" Pelmet-Dave's van from underneath him,have ya'? (lol) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-ford-transit-travelhome-for-sale-/231377970793 Dave...check your garage..... (lol) Not mine Pepe ;-) .................Horace is in better nick B-) ............although that's not bad ;-) ........£1500 spent on a bit of bodywork and you'll have a smart comfortable camper to take you to Spain for the winter B-)...... PS saw it a few days ago in Skeg :D ..............think I'll treat myself to some new number plates.........it'll save me a fortune in QE2 tolls and parking tickets.........not to mention LEZ >:-) ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod_vw Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 The ad has now been pulled from http://www.preloved.co.uk after my contacting them. I'll flesh out the story a little... Some months ago I advertised this vehicle on http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/ and had a similar scam advert placed on an Isle of Wight website. I found that there is a police department in London who allegedly deal with such things so I proceeded to notify them. The response was that they may be able to look into it but there would be a couple of weeks delay before that could happen! Last week a fellow member of the forums on the above site informed me of the ad running on Preloved and that out of interest he would follow it up and keep me in the picture of the outcome. I have just received an email string from him of a conversation with the supposed seller. It would seem that the scam was at least to request payment to have the vehicle brought to a perspective buyers premises. This could of course have gone further in having the vehicle stolen and presented to a buyer although I don't think that this could have been the case as the registration mark was published and would of course have been reported stolen. Changing the plates would raise serious suspicion even if a fake V5C was produced to back them up after publishing pictures displaying the original plate. All of this has taught me that when posting such pictures in an online ad they should be watermarked or over printed with an identity such as the sellers email address or website. By the way the vehicle in question is the one in my Avitar. I've built myself another this year so the older one is for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Not quite the same as OP's story but figure this one! A mate of mine has a friend in Birmingham who one day got a knock on his door from the Police asking if he could produce the documents to his car. When he asked why, they told him that they had reason to believe it was a stolen vehicle. He told them that's impossible as he'd owned it for five years. He'd bought it from an Auction, had the receipt, V5 etc but it turned out the identical registered car was in Stoke-on-Trent....and that was genuine.....his had been stolen and plated up with the same registration as the one in Stoke! But for five years not only had it never 'pinged' up on any ANPR, he'd had the V5 sent back to him from DVLA when first purchased, plus taxed it each year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Nothing to do with Motorhomes but a scam to beware of all the same, is on our local freecycle / freebies network,someone is offering a free Tandem Cycle, lots of photos of it and it looks great, if you ask for it as I did as I always fancied one, you get a reply saying that due to family problems,Cancer ,blah blah the owner has moved away ,but if you pay for a courier up front they will happily send the bike to you ,admin has warned about this scam as several people have sent money and of course got no bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 vindiboy - 2014-11-19 8:15 PM Nothing to do with Motorhomes but a scam to beware of all the same, is on our local freecycle / freebies network,someone is offering a free Tandem Cycle, lots of photos of it and it looks great, if you ask for it as I did as I always fancied one, you get a reply saying that due to family problems,Cancer ,blah blah the owner has moved away ,but if you pay for a courier up front they will happily send the bike to you ,admin has warned about this scam as several people have sent money and of course got no bike. Fools and their money are easily parted. What they should do is say, "ok no problem i'll come and collect it......what's your address". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Hi folks, before I bought my current van, I saw one advertised allegedly genuine, and as it mentioned Caravan Club, I was tempted to beleive it, except that the price advertised was about 20k too low. I contacted C aravan Club, and asked them to confirm that it was a genuine Club members advert.. they said that the advert was placed through an agency that they use for members ads, but that I should query direct with the agency the possible error in the advertised price. They gave me a name and phone number of the agency contact, and when I spoke to him, he checked the details, and confirmed that there was not a price error, it was as submitted by the advertiser..however he agreed the it was suspicious, and agreed to follow up to see it was a genuine sale. A couple of days later, he reported back that it was indeed a scam and the ad was withdrawn. He also referred the matter on to the authorities. Outcome, unknown, but nobody lost money. certainly if it looks too good to be true, then it should be referred to advertiser agency..remember BUYER BEWARE. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry000 Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Best classified site with more option without registration check it: your-sale.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevR Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Rod_vw - 2014-11-17 8:48 PM All of this has taught me that when posting such pictures in an online ad they should be watermarked or over printed with an identity such as the sellers email address or website. . So a watermark might look like - Genuine Advert? If the web address starts with http://outandaboutlive.co.uk then it probably is ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will H Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I see a situation arising over a suspect advert where two or three posters on here could act as potential buyers for the scam vehicle and give the scammer the run around by getting them scammed also ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.