Car Scam?

[Hibou]

We are trying to sell our car and it is advertised on Paruvendu. We had an enquiry from a man who asked to see more photos which we sent. Today we had the following email.

Bonjour

j'ai consulté les photos, pas de questions supplémentaires.

Je

confirme l'achat   Concernant le mode de règlement, mon gestionnaire m'a

fait savoir que les chèques  de banque ne sont pas garantis, étant présentement

à l'étranger. Je suis en effet Français, je travaille sur un projet  en côte

d'ivoire ( Afrique de l'ouest). Je souhaiterai donc vous régler par virement

bancaire, c'est garantie pour nous deux. Dans cette optique j'aurai besoin de

vos coordonnées bancaires (RIB) afin d'effectuer la transaction, dès que vous

recevrez l'argent sur votre compte tenez moi informé. J'enverrais la société de

transport MAERSK LINE chercher le véhicule a votre adresse. Vous pouvez me

joindre à ce numéro: 0022565035591. Finalement a combien vous me laissez le

vehicule?

Cordialement

We called the bank who advised us not to give our bank details and that a cheque de banque is certified. Is this perhaps the scam where the money appears in our account.  He changes his mind, wants his money sent back, we send it back and then find his money never cleared in the first place.  I know this has happened with people booking accommodation (thanks to France Forum).  We won't be touching this one.  If you're selling a car, be aware.

[Cat]

Probably a shipping fee scam, see

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1874605/ShowPost.aspx

[Sunday Driver]

Clue:  A man wants to buy your car unseen and have it shipped it all the way down to where he is living in West Africa..............[;-)]

 

[Cat]

And, as if further proof were needed, his phone number links to (surprise surprise) several other scam attempts...

 

[Hibou]

Thank you Cat.  You are clearly very clued up and have confirmed our suspicions. Hibou

[woolybanana]

You never heard of a "catscam"?

[RicandJo]

Defo a scam.

I had similar emails when I sold my MG on UK autotrader. I made the mistake of replying telling the author in no uncertain terms to eff off, together with a few derogatory remarks about his/her mother.

Daft thing to do as my inbox was bombarded with spam shortly after.......I wasn't too concerned though since I used a web email which I set up solely for the car sale, wholly expecting a degree of spam/scammers.