SELLERS URGED TO HEED SCAM WARNINGS
CCW reader has narrow escape from online confidence trick over his Alfa
ACCW reader who says he narrowly avoided being targeted by a scam when selling his Alfa Romeo has warned anyone selling a classic to watch out for similar tactics.
Douglas Tatem, from Suffolk, got in touch after a would-be buyer approached him about his 1975 Spider. The potential new owner was prepared to pay the full price for the car – but only if they accepted payment online through PayPal, and without meeting or even speaking to the buyer first.
Mr Tatem said the would-be purchaser was a lady who wished to purchase the Series II Spider as a present for her son, but claimed could not be contacted in any way up to the transaction due to working on a North Sea oil rig. He became suspicious due to the poor language used in the email, and the lack of a response when he asked further questions about the buyer ahead of a potential deal.
He said: ‘The English in all of the emails was really broken and didn’t read very well – it’s almost as though whoever had been writing them had run their emails through Google Translate first. They would only communicate by email, and had no interest in the car’s
history.
‘To say that you’re on an oil rig, can’t be contacted and will only deal through Paypal with someone you’ve never met is no way that anyone should buy a classic car. I want to make people aware that these sorts of scammers are out there, as I’m worried that someone else might be taken in by it.’
Richard Barnett, CCW’s markets editor, said: ‘Despite the fact sellers are becoming more scam-savvy and distrusting of any potential chancer, sadly these nasty, money-grabbing couldn’tcare-less types are out there. The rule is – as it always has been – if it sounds too good to be true, it will be too good to be true. If they call you, hang up, if they email you, delete the message straight away. It’s time we took a much firmer stand against these types.’