Scammers/selling cars

wwaddick · June 14

If you ever think about selling a car online, be ultra careful. My father in law was looking to sell through webuyanycar.com, but ended up on webuyanymotorcar.com. Long story short, a guy came and took the car, promised to pay £12k within a few days, but no funds turned up.

Needless to say the rogue website disappeared pretty quickly but we were able to ascertain who the scammer is and his very chequered past, including a successful prosecution for the same offence nine years ago. I won’t post his name here but you can find it in 10 seconds.

With some very detailed digging and numerous phone calls to police/car financing company and ultimately the scammers we got the money back yesterday and the car financing company has severed ties to the garage.

An absolute web of scum operators praying on a vulnerable 88 year old man.

Keep ‘em peeled!

IdleHans · June 14

I think the molotov cocktail is an underrated resource

fenlandaddick · June 14

Not meaning to preach but I would never give over the keys to anyone without the money in my account first. There is no way I would wait 14 days for the money, no matter how reputable the company.

A few reasons for this, the possibility of a scam but also what would happen if said company went into administration the following day? Way too much hassle.

As a car is usually the second most expensive purchase and thinking of it a different way would you wait 14 days for the money from the sale of a house or flat?

I sold fairly recently through Motorway and the money was transferred whilst I was standing next to the guy sent from dealership who was buying car. Once I saw money in my account gave keys and completed the DVLA paperwork online to transfer ownership. Took screenshots of it all from my phone.

I think WBAC or similar do the same, but for me Motorway got a better price.

I cannot work out this 14 day wait, and I have seen it on forums a few times recently.

Glad you got your money back, and it turned well in the end. Loads of dodgy buyers out there.

gringo · June 14

The wait was probably so that they could hopefully sell it on quick, and use the proceeds from their customers money to buy the car from the original owner, ie no cash paid by themselves.

wwaddick · June 14

fenlandaddick said:

Not meaning to preach but I would never give over the keys to anyone without the money in my account first. There is no way I would wait 14 days for the money, no matter how reputable the company.
A few reasons for this, the possibility of a scam but also what would happen if said company went into administration the following day? Way too much hassle.
As a car is usually the second most expensive purchase and thinking of it a different way would you wait 14 days for the money from the sale of a house or flat?
I sold fairly recently through Motorway and the money was transferred whilst I was standing next to the guy sent from dealership who was buying car. Once I saw money in my account gave keys and completed the DVLA paperwork online to transfer ownership. Took screenshots of it all from my phone.
I think WBAC or similar do the same, but for me Motorway got a better price.
I cannot work out this 14 day wait, and I have seen it on forums a few times recently.

Glad you got your money back, and it turned well in the end. Loads of dodgy buyers out there.

Agree I have used Motorway and follow same rules as you. Point is it was a vulnerable old man who didn’t know any better. He was very embarrassed and only let it slip two weeks after the car had gone. Took us another two weeks to get the money and a lot of effort. The scammer was happy to chat and send ‘proof’ of payment but it was an obviously false document. I’ve heard enough bs to last me a lifetime in the last couple of weeks. Sadly some people won’t have the determination and resources we did to get the cash back and that’s how they get away with it.

wwaddick · June 14

gringo said:

The wait was probably so that they could hopefully sell it on quick, and use the proceeds from their customers money to buy the car from the original owner, ie no cash paid by themselves.

They did sell the car to a garage who sold it on. That was how we managed to trace it. Somehow my brother in law found that finance had been taken out on it and so we contacted the finance company who set the wheels in motion. The garage then called me (undoubtedly they were in on the whole scam) to say they would pay it back, which they did same day. As mentioned the finance company have suspended finance through that garage, effectively damaging their business hopefully.

Valiantphil · June 14

Old story from back in the day.

Had a Range Rover to sell for £17k - fella insisted on paying cash for it in a random car park.

Convinced him to meet me inside the nearby Nat West, he gave the dosh to the cashier for counting, and I signed the paperwork with us both at the counter.

All sorted, no problem, but odd all the same.

red10 · June 14

Once bought an Alfa, collected from an underground car park in London a long while back. Well dodgy, 10k in my pocket plus a Stanley knife which I did not tell my wife about !!!!

DaveMehmet · June 14

red10 said:

Once bought an Alfa, collected from an underground car park in London a long while back. Well dodgy, 10k in my pocket plus a Stanley knife which I did not tell my wife about !!!!

Didn’t you trust her?

usetobunkin · June 14

When I was with the DVSA, I spent 30% of my time looking at cars which had been bought from the internet and I had to issue Prohibitions the cars were so dangerous.

One lad had spent his money on a stolen VW Golf.(Which had been cloned) His nan had given him the money for getting into Uni and passing his test. I have never felt so sorry for someone as I did this lad. The best part of £8k gone in an instant. A couple of basic checks would have saved so much heartache.

Scammers/selling cars

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