Scammer tried to 'buy' my Gypsy.

Vic · Guru

RE: Scammer tried to 'buy' my Gypsy.

Vic · Guru

KFT wrote:
G'day everyone,

Wombat and Vic, thankls for clearing that up for me. I won't trust them anymore either.

CASH in the hand, can't beat it.

frank

Frank, you still could accept a bank cheque as long as they understand that they aren't getting the goods until you have checked it has been deposited in your bank account, you could give them a receipt for the bank cheque and write on it they have paid full price and possesion and transfer is subject to you depositing it into your bank account and you checking it has been cleared into your account afterwards.

In other words don't hand over the transfer and rego papers, goods and keys until it has been cleared into you bank account, if they are not happy with this too bad. You can make that clear that this is a condition of the sale, if they don't like it too bad, better than being stung. That is what I am going to do this time.

I would probably be safe to do this with an ordinary cheque this way also, but having a bank cheque would prove they have the funds available to buy the van etc.

-- Edited by Vic on Thursday 22nd of March 2012 04:49:02 PM

KFT · Guru

G'day everyone

As I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong here) a "bank cheque" is as good as cash.

You can present it to a bank and they should not have to clear it. If it is really a "bank cheque" the bank would not issue it unless they had the cash.

frank

Beth54 · Guru

Gee, I thought bank cheques were safe.

I paid for the Nipper with a bank cheque. I was actually prepared to pay with cash but the owner said it wasn't safe for me to carry around that much cash and to get a bank cheque. He was an older gentleman, and seemed legit to me.

Having no credit card, the only way I can see for me to pay for the ads, is to use my daughters credit card and transfer the money to her account. I've had to do this a couple of times with flights.

Bl**dy rediculous!

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

KFT wrote:
G'day everyone

As I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong here) a "bank cheque" is as good as cash.

You can present it to a bank and they should not have to clear it. If it is really a "bank cheque" the bank would not issue it unless they had the cash.

frank

NO Frank, go into a bank and ask about it, I did before I sold an item on Gumtree, they said a bank cheque can be cancelled and no they will not give you cash for it, it must go through a bank account, to cash it and it take 4-5 days to get into your account.

It's wrong really because the person pays with cash or from their account and the seller has to wait for the cash to come through the system, if the bank process 1000 bank cheque's in a day and then keeps you waiting for 4-5 days they use that money in the overnight share market, making them money while the seller waits for his cash.

The buyer has paid his/her bank cash, the seller should be able to get cash, it don't not work like that with bank's they must have it all their way.

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

Beth54 wrote:
Gee, I thought bank cheques were safe.
I paid for the Nipper with a bank cheque. I was actually prepared to pay with cash but the owner said it wasn't safe for me to carry around that much cash and to get a bank cheque. He was an older gentleman, and seemed legit to me.
Having no credit card, the only way I can see for me to pay for the ads, is to use my daughters credit card and transfer the money to her account. I've had to do this a couple of times with flights.
Bl**dy rediculous!

Beth, the bank teller said to me for that amount of money ($2.500) she would not trust a bank cheque, that is why I always state 'cash sale only' on anything I sell

Beth54 · Guru

So now I'm off to edit my ads...again! Cash only! wink

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

Beth54 wrote:
So now I'm off to edit my ads...again! Cash only!

sorry Beth, but its the only way to sell, nobody can be trusted these days, especially Vic biggrin

Vic · Guru

KFT wrote:
G'day everyone

As I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong here) a "bank cheque" is as good as cash.

You can present it to a bank and they should not have to clear it. If it is really a "bank cheque" the bank would not issue it unless they had the cash.

frank

What Wombat said Frank, and even if you go to the bank with them and it is transferred from their account into yours the same thing applies, it can still be cancelled as it does not take immediate effect as I found out from my daughter, a long time bank employee.....

Vic · Guru

_wombat_ wrote:
sorry Beth, but its the only way to sell, nobody can be trusted these days, especially Vic

And don't trust anyone who hands you a GN card with wombat on it, they are definitley a scammer and not to be trusted......

KFT · Guru

G'day everyone,

Wombat and Vic, thankls for clearing that up for me. I won't trust them anymore either.

CASH in the hand, can't beat it.

frank

deb-gary · Senior Member

bank cheques can be stopped and it takes 3 working days to clear(im an ex bank worker)

Beth54 · Guru

Okay, thanks for all that info folks.

And the warning about the GN Wombat card Vic! biggrin wink

Vic · Guru

No worries Beth, by the way, if you get an sms check out the country codes because if you sms it back or verbally ring it high charge apply to other countries.

See this list......I got one today that I think was either the US or Canada (both use +1)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_phone_number_series_by_country

Vic · Guru

Have a look at this email I received about my van;

Alison, the marine engineer is keen to buy my van, ha ha! What a joke !

Thanks for the response, I'm seriously interested in this posted AD and i will really love to purchase it right away.Kindly put off the ad right away and consider me as your favorite buyer and I will have my shipper come over for the handling of the shipping down to my place after payment has been received. I will be making the payment through PayPal as paypal is safe and secured for transactions online, advice soon as I'm at sea at the moment as a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I'm buying this for my personal use, If this is acceptable kindly get back to me with your paypal email address and the details below so ican proceed with the payment. I can only pay through paypal at the moment as i do not have access to my bank account online,but i have it attached to my paypal account, and this is why i insisted on using paypal to pay all i will need is your paypal email address to make the payments,and if you do not have a paypal account yet,its pretty easy to set one up at www.paypal.com,i will be expecting your email.I will need this following details so i can proceed with the payment right away
Are you the first owner:
Your PayPal e-Mail Address:
full name:
What is your reason for selling it?
Address:
Last price
I'm sorry, just want to be sure about the sale before i proceed
Thank you
Alison

Beth54 · Guru

I thought I'd tell you all the details of the text messages, mainly to make sure everyone knows what to look out for, and also in case someone (Wombat?) is able to check further.

The first text was at 5.50am on March 19 from +16464813925 'What is the final price for the Motorbike/trike/small car camper trailer?' (The description is exactly how my ad is worded.) I answered him with the price.

Then at 6.15pm the same day, 'thanks for the mail...am ready to pay 3,500 and include the sum of 600 with the payment so get back to me with your paypal email address so i can proceed with the payment and if a paypal is not ok for get back tome with the bank details and once the payment is made the pick up agent will come for it.'

The second text was was at 8.55pm on March 19 from +13057055634 'do you have the car pls replyme to jeanjoy2003@gmail.com'.

Well there you go Vic, that answers our question, they're both American numbers.

-- Edited by Beth54 on Friday 23rd of March 2012 11:21:03 AM

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

looks like a scam Vic, why are you selling your van? what are you going to travel in now?

Vic · Guru

It is a scam Wombat, I have had these before when selling other things, marine engineer on a ship or an oil rig etc, also the getting you to join paypal which is part of their plan even though you are the seller.

I have just decided to sell my van, not sure about any future travels at this point in time, perhaps later.....

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

the reason they want you to join paypal is if you click the link to the paypal from their email it will take you to a site that has nothing to do with paypay BUT looks exactly like the paypal site and people who join from that site have now given all of their bank details etc, its a scam

Vic · Guru

_wombat_ wrote:
as Vic was saying the number starts with +1 then it's overseas, I would give this a wide berth and have nothing to do with it, in fact I would tell them psis off. or go away.

Australian mobile numbers start with +61, so any mobile showing another prefix should be treated with suspicion. But bear in mind there are Australian scammers too.....

Gerty, I asked my daughter in the bank about that and she said yes, a cheque could be retrieved and redeemed on payment of a fee even after it had been cleared.

It seems the only real advantage of a bank cheque is the person drawing it had the money in the bank in the first place as opposed to a private cheque which could bounce due to insufficient funds, but not very comforting to know neither is safe. Seems like Wombat's suggestion to get the money in cash is the only safe method, but you would have to be very careful carrying that sort of money around after you receive it, especially for large amounts.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't !!

-- Edited by Vic on Friday 23rd of March 2012 08:41:50 PM

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

as Vic was saying the number starts with +1 then it's overseas, I would give this a wide berth and have nothing to do with it, in fact I would tell them psis off. or go away.

Gerty Dancer · Guru

My daughter waited till the bank cheque cleared, then it was revoked after she'd handed the car over. and she lost her money and her car. Be careful folks!

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

I did not realise the bank cheque could be taken back once it had been cleard to your account, under those conditions I would contact the banking ombusman, but I would still only sell for cash, for large amounts take a security guard with you.

Vic · Guru

A security guard could be expensive, maybe arrange to meet the buyer at a branch of your bank and hand over the money there inside, exchange the papers keys etc (you could have your RV in the parking lot), count the money in the bank first and then deposit it straight away into your account over the counter.....just a thought!

That way they take the risk of getting it to you, but you are not exposed with the money outside of a bank.....

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

Vic wrote:
A security guard could be expensive, maybe arrange to meet the buyer at a branch of your bank and hand over the money there inside, exchange the papers keys etc (you could have your RV in the parking lot), count the money in the bank first and then deposit it straight away into your account over the counter.....just a thought!
That way they take the risk of getting it to you, but you are not exposed with the money outside of a bank.....

good idea Vic