Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello and sorry for the late reply,

I am emailing you regarding the 1980 MG MIDGET MG Midget that I have for sale. The phone number on the auto trader ad is no longer in use so trying to call will not get you through. Please take some time to read this email carefully, because I want you to understand how this transaction works.

The car is in perfect condition, with 55,000 miles, non-smoker, never been involved in any crash, no dents and just minor scratches. The full service history is available, full HPI check, MOT April 2010/Road Tax until December 2009. The price that we are asking for this car is £ 1750.

We have recently relocated to Hamburg / Germany where my husband got a new job as a construction engineer (after losing the one he had in UK). We will be staying here for the next year and we need a car very fast. We've already found one to buy but first we have to sell it.The car is located at 15 Worelebury Hill Road, Worelebury, Weston-Super-Mare, BS22 9SG in our home garage. A view will not be possible without Chris's presence as the garage keys are here with us. This is very uncomfortable to us too and that is why we have lowered the asking price as we really want to sell it as soon as possible.

A few days ago a person told us that he is very interested in purchasing and my husband had to fly back to UK to close the deal. Since we trusted his word, my husband came to Worelebury the next day, but when he arrived he called that person and the person didn't answer the phone anymore. The problem is not about the money that my husband spent for the plane tickets, but he lost 2 working days for nothing. Time is very precious for us as we are involved in some major events right now and don't have too much time at our disposal. We are a serious family and this person disappointed us.

We just want to make sure that you are seriously interested in buying this car before we meet and we will fly to UK only if we have an assurance of your intentions. Of course it will be no problem if you decide not to buy the car. But we want to be sure that you will be there to meet us and handle the deal in a civilised manner.

After discussing several methods of closing the transaction with our legal adviser, we have came to the conclusion that the best way you can prove your serious intentions is to have £1000 of the amount transferred into your name via WesternUnion. All you have to do is find a WU office in your town(check the link for the closest one in your area: http://www.westernunion.com/info/agentL ... try=global) and ask your best friend or spouse to go there to make the transfer. He/she will have to send the money to your name, with Worelebury as receiver location. Of course, if Worelebury is too far from you we can chose a meeting point somewhere halfway in another town and you will alternatively use that town as receiver location.
When the transfer is done you will send me a photo/scan of the payment receipt as proof of payment.

This way we will be sure that you will actually come and Chris will fly to meet you within the next couple of days. You will test-drive the car and if you decide to buy it, you will go together at a Western Union office in Worelebury, you will pick up your money, then you will take care of all the paperwork to transfer the ownership into your name.

As you can see I am not asking you to send any money in advance to us. The funds will remain in WU possession until you 2 meet back home. You will be the receiver of the money and only you will be able to pick up the funds from Western Union, only in Worelebury/UK .

We believe our business proposal is reasonable for both of us. We are a honest family and we can identify ourselves, if you decide to go forward with the deal and handle the WU transfer and ONLY upon your specific request, we can send you copies of our documents (full British driving licenses and British passports) confirming our identity.

If you are still interested in going further with the deal let me know as we have a lot of offers for the car at this time.

Cheers,
Becca and Chris

What's the background to this? Was it sent in response to a request you made to view a car that is for sale in Auto Trader?

If it is a scammer, they seem unusually skilled at spelling, grammar, and concocting a plausible story!

Do you think the scam is that they wait until you make the transfer and then go to the Worlebury WU with a copy of the receipt and pretend to be you in order to collect the money?

YES IT WAS ON AUTOTRADER I ASK TO SEE THE CAR


55,000 miles, 1980 MG Midget, excellent condition inside and out. 55000 miles, garaged and dry use only. All invoices and MOT certs since owned (17 years) touneau cover and roll bar. Reconditioned gearbox fitted and engine rebuilt approx Four years ago. All receipts for parts fitted, ownly ever been genuine MG parts used. MOT untill July 10. Leicester £3500ono. £1,750.

1980 MG MIDGET MG Midget
Price:
£1,750

Do you think the scam is that they wait until you make the transfer and then go to the Worlebury WU with a copy of the receipt and pretend to be you in order to collect the money?


YES I DO

This is a scam that has been around for the past few years. See here:

http://netcred.co.uk/security/new---the ... fraud.html


Western Union is not a particularly secure way of sending money. The 'sellers' will be able to withdraw your cash from anywhere in the world by using the information you provide to them.

Sending money by Western Union is basically the same as handing them cash, if they are serious then they will accept a personal cheque sent to their address in Hamburg, tell them that if they bring the cheque with them then they can exchange it for cold hard cash when you get the keys.

Crossed cheques are mostly traceable, money transfers are not even remotely traceable.

IMO if you are worried about it, you should walk away, there are plenty of cars around and you dont need to be rushed into anything.

YES THATS IT THANKS

You have the address where they say the car is why do`nt you go around there if it is not to far away from you and speak to the neighbours, they are likely to know it the car exists or you may get an answer from the house and find out it is a scam

Tony

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7648092.stm

Scam, Scam, Scam. Go nowhere near!

Report it to auto trader, I bet this car belongs to someone else.

EDIT: "Western Union said it was investigating the scam, but could not offer refunds to the people who have been defrauded by it."

I've actually never heard of Western Union, even so, I would strongly suggest never using them. If their insurance is "you fell for it son shine you pay"

I WOULD LOVE TO GO TO THE ADDRESS BUT I LIVE TOO FAR AWAY

Seriously Brian, it is a scam. The likely hood is they copied and pasted the picture of the car from the net somewhere. They make the add sound good just to get your attention.

If you ever see Western Union you can be sure it is a scan. Many of the scams coming out of Nigeria use this tactic. The lengthy story is usually the first give away!

Brian,

Don't go to the address

Don't send a cheque

Don't respond to any more messages from the seller

Report the ad to Auto Trader to stop anyone else getting 'scammed'

(And please press your "Caps Lock" button so it doesn't look as if you're shouting all the time )

This is a definate scam. Don't spend any more time or effort on this car. The address exists but the car won't be there.

I have spent many years investigating fraud so I know what I'm talking about

sorry caps off

we just had a scam tried on us today we are selling our 51 plated 2002 BMW mini cooper on auto trader and we got a call from BMW finance telling me they have 3 buyers for my car can I have it ready for the 3 customers tonight the scam is they want me to pay them £99 for arranging this and if they dont sell within 7 days they will return the £99 to my debit card Do they think we all come in on a bannana boat wonder how much they would have taken out on my card and do you think I would have heard from them again. Think not Astles BMW dealer said if you had a Merc or a fiat they would of been Merc or Fiat finance company's but they did say it was the first time they had heard of this scam and would pass it on to others. beware

the one sent to me autrotrader said that some one over wrote the
photo with a scam e mail address the poor person trying to sell the
car did not know
the car is now back autotrader with the right price of £3500

the scam price was £ 1750 ish
if it looks to good is a con

For a start, a late Midget (Last were built 1979), in that condition, should fetch more than £1750.

I haven't read the lengthy diatribe but the length of it makes it look dodgey. The last time I sold a car, I was aware that there were fraudsters out there. Some of them must be a bit retarded, as they are so obvious. Often they ask questions, the answers to which are in the ad (Presumably because its a standard enquiry they send in responce to all adverts) and then send you a cheque, which includes an amount for shipping. As many of these cheques are foreign, the fraudsters rely on the fact that most people are unaware of just how long a foreign cheque can take to clear. When the victim assumes the cheque is cleared, they remit the money to the non existent shipping company, only to subsequently find that the original cheque was forged.

When I last sold a car, I was sent a forged cheque, which I could tell was forged. It was not a foreign cheque and was drawn on HSBC. Neither they nor the Police were that interested.

On that occasion, it was the first time I had used Internet adverts and the first time I had experienced anything more than time wasters. In order to weed out the con artists and to put the joke back on them, I did two adverts. The second advert was for a Reliant Robin, with two wheels missing and the price was something absurd like £100000. The ad went on to say that only con artists or complete idiots would respond to the advert, which had been placed to trip up such people. Sure enough, it wasn't long before I had an enquiry about both cars from the same person. When I suggested that they take the time to read both adverts, they even had the nerve to reply in an indigant manner .