Scam. Total scam. They send you a “certified” check, your bank takes it, you give the “agent” the car, and then the bank realizes the check is not kosher, and you’re out the car and the money. I’ve heard of this before.
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I would not sell a car to someone with an “agent.” WTH is a “certified” check? The lingo is definitely off.
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Don’t worry, he will not be waiting for the certified check, haha. I knew it was bs. A local will buy the car after test driving it, like a sensible person would.
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Make sure he knows that the title needs to be promptly transferred. If the buyer insists on not filling out the buyer’s name or odometer reading, run! If the title is not properly transferred, the seller can be on the hook for illegal things like title floating or infractions. My husband always took the buyers to the local DOL agency and finalized transfer of the title and payment there. No ifs or buts about that.
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I sold an antique recently via FB Marketplace. Buyer kept wanting to send a “relative” with a cashier’s check. I said no, cash only (it was for $250 - not thousands). Finally I agreed to meet them at my bank, and when their check was approved, and $$ deposited into my account, I’d sell the piece. I’m not sure if wise, and it sure added a lot of extra effort by all, but bank mgr. confirmed it was best, as not all cashier’s checks were legit.
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A call today:
Me: Hello
Caller: (static and clicking) This is Shirley from one of the main Medicare Advantage insurers.
Me: I don’t live in Maine.
Caller: No, we are a large Medicare provider.
Me: Which one?
Caller: I can’t say at this point.
Me: What are you wearing?
Caller: (click)
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I peeked at the content of a spam email without opening and had to laugh. I gather Mr. Simon Clarke is indeed the Secretary to the Treasurer - of Great Britain!
Do you authorized Andrew Cotton to contact US US Department Treasurer
to make a claim of your Unpaid funds $10,5 Million dollars, just
because you weresuffering from Corona-Virus disease and you don’t think you can make
it alive again to receive the fund?Due to his complaint we concluded to hear from you second time before
proceeding with him as your next of kin. If you really want to claim
your Fund contactthe Representative director in charge of your payment Mr. Roland
Johnson Via Email: rolandfjohnson3@gmail.com or +1 612-467-9582Forward your full Address information below
- Your Full Name:==
- Your Country:====
- Your Home Address:====
- Your Telephone No:====
- Your Nearest airport:==
Thanks
Mr. Simon Clarke
Chief Secretary To The US Department Treasurer
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We are trying to sell our son’s car. It’s being advertised on Auto Trader snd Car gurus. Also Facebook. I never knew there was a whole world of car scams out there.
*Anonymous buyers who will pay cash for the car, TODAY!
*Buyers who will send me a cashiers check, but they are out of town, so when the check clears, they will send their “agent” to pick up the car.
*People who say nothing except “I’m ready to buy your car, text me now.”
*People who insist on me getting a VIN report only from the site they recommend. I just figured this one out this morning.
I have had fun with some Facebook “buyers.” They don’t seem to be scamming so much as trying their luck. One offered to trade for a Jeep. Another offered to trade for a motorcycle and some cash. My son was a bit interested in that offer, haha. I said no. Others are offering half the advertised price.
It’s been a LONG time since I sold a car, and I honestly am not sure who is a scammer and who isn’t. Right now, I’m going with the idea that a legit car buyer will ask some questions about the car before asking to test drive.
Why not sell it to a dealer?
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Sell to a dealer, a car buying co… with so many scammers around, I would be nervous to sell to a stranger. Especially something with a title. Our Honda dealers are running a TV ad saying they will gladly buy any car, trade in or not.
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I think you might be on to something. At this point, I’m thinking any money is better than none.
Older S sold to CarMax right as the car shortage began. He got a couple thousand more for it than I would have ever guessed. And a co-worker just sold a used car to a dealer for more than he paid for it (used). You might be surprised. And so much easier
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I got calls from “American Bar Association” and “Lockheed Martin.” Both left me a message saying something about being eligible for an upgrade of my AT&T plan… 
Well sure, that makes sense.
A coworkers husband got taken in by one just a few weeks back. I (and she) were utterly shocked he fell for it. He got a call from “Microsoft” (I think) saying his bank had contacted them about $8500 that was scheduled to come out of his account that they were concerned about. Bank was closed if course. Somehow convinced him to go to Walmart and get $8500 of gift certificates. Fortunately Walmart has a limit of $1,000 (because of scams I believe). Gave them the codes. Then let them log into his computer remotely. She came home from work and noticed his screen was black and asked him about it. She said you didn’t do it, right? He just kept saying “but they told me”.
Our IT guy checked his computer and if course it had viruses and malware. Bank of course said they had not and would not have contacted Microsoft. Money of course was gone from gift card. He was out $1,000. At least it was not $8,500.
She is just in shock he fell for it. We work for a CPA firm and are very aware of scams like that. I have had a discussion or 2 with elderly clients and have the hardest time convincing them it was not the IRS on the phone. I usually end up telling them to have the caller call me (surprise, they don’t call). I also add a customized paragraph to our annual organizer telling clients about this kind of call and that it is always a scam.
I guess we assume everyone is aware of these scams. Apparently not. (Coworkers husband is retired but early 70s and in possession of his faculties!)
Very scary.
I’m sorry to hear about this. Tell the coworker to assume every single online logon they have (banking, insurance, College Confidential, you name it) has been compromised. They need to change every password immediately, especially including the password to logon to their email since that is where password reset requests go. They should also setup 2-factor authentication, if they don’t have it already, for every bank/brokerage and credit card account so that they need to be texted a code to logon. If available they should also set up their credit cards so that they are immediately notified if a transaction is made without the card present (eg. online orders). They need to sign up for an Identity Protection PIN from the IRS so somebody else doesn’t file a return in their name and claim a big refund mailed to their “new” address or deposited in their “new” checking account.
In addition they need to immediately set up a credit freeze at the 3 major credit card companies, as well as the ones used to verify bank accounts. This actually is a good idea for everyone to prevent fraud. See Credit freeze - Bogleheads
They should buy a new computer and toss the old one after erasing the disk (have the IT guy help). And all the activity above should be done on a different computer. Maybe the IT guy found every virus and all the malware, but maybe not. At this point do they want to save $1000 and bet all their savings that the computer is now fine?
Set up his cellphone to ignore any call from someone not in his address book. You can do this on Android and iPhone. They know they’ve found a mark and others will be calling. See Effects of Financial Fraud on the Elderly | graceinaging Sometimes they even call as his bank or law enforcement, tell him they know he’s been victimized in the past and they’ve just detected the crooks are up to it again. Money is being stolen from him as they speak but with his assistance they can stop it and arrest them. He may just bite again.
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Very helpful
It’s true that elderly are targeted. My folks in their 80s/90s had someone using their CCard without their permission or authorization. I called Citi to put a fraud alert and called the cops. Citi was VERY UNHELPFUL. I had to turn the case over to an attorney to get it resolved and freeze all their credit bureau records.
Had an email in my ipad inbox from an acquaintance with the message “I should have sent this to you sooner but better late than never” and a link to a new Tinitus treatment. I’d had a conversation some time ago about this and couldn’t remember if it was with this particular individual. Idiotically, I clicked on the link which took me to a webpage with ads for the product and testimonials with a “Free offer, $60 value” button which I did not investigate further. The product looked suspect to me at this point but I was not yet suspicious of the email or link as several people from this group tend to be into fringy new-agey treatments for all sorts of ailments and sometimes ask my opinion since I’m a bit skeptical about such things. I was puzzled though so went back to the email and checked the address (had it arrived in my junk folder I’d have done this immediately or deleted it). It was not from the person I knew but from an email address associated with an ISP telenet.be which appears to come from Belgium.
I’m unsure how worried to be at this point. I didn’t give out any personal info which I think would have been the next step had I clicked on the Free Gift button but am afraid to do any banking etc on my ipad in case I’ve somehow made the ipad vulnerable. This happened about a week ago and I haven’t noticed any obvious consequences but then again, I’m shockingly ignorant about how these things work. Has anyone else had a similar experience or know what this is?
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