RECENT SCAM EMAILS --  February 23, 2007
Last week we told you about a new scam relating to Internet classified ads. (See the Cars On Line Daily Update newsletter for February 16, 2007.)

But advertisers still have to be careful of the traditional Nigerian scam (the one where the "fake buyer" wants to pay you with a cashiers check made out for more money than they've agreed to pay so you will have to refund them the overage.) We keep track of scam emails that have been received by Cars On Line sellers. Here is a list of recent scammer email addresses. Be sure that one of these scammers is not trying to contact you.

bagdziukas@yahoo.com barristermichaelsmith_ng@yahoo.com allen_sandra2006@yahoo.ca joycemine45@yahoo.com johnsonleo89@yahoo.com georgeoamani@yahoo.co.uk

terryautosplc@yahoo.com davidalfred01@yahoo.com holywalterwood@yahoo.com saintlivico@yahoo.com davidalfred01@yahoo.com

You can help us keep track of the scammers by forwarding any questionable emails to scamtrack@gmail.com. We will be sure to check them out and let you know if they are scams.

NEW SCAMS UNCOVERED  -- February 16, 2007
On Wednesday we heard from a Cars On Line advertiser who reported a new scam tactic that may be being used on classified advertisers. He received a contact by phone and by email from a man who seemed interested in buying a car he was advertising for sale. The seller said he spent a lot of time with the potential buyer because he seemed genuinely interested in the car. "I stopped when he asked me to send his bank a copy of my drivers license," said the seller. "He (the buyer/scammer) stopped calling when I sent him an email saying I wanted everything done by email so I would have a record of the transaction." He said this man had called him from an 818 area code.

The same seller said he has since been contacted by other "buyers" who end up asking him for personal information. This is an identity theft scam. They get enough information from you through casual conversation to be able to use your identity to apply for credit cards or borrow money in your name. This particular seller said the "buyers" would usually tell him they were from Los Angeles or San Bernadino, California. They never haggle over price, and asked very little information about the condition of the car. They tell you that they must apply for a loan. After a day or two, they call back and say the loan is approved. But then they ask the seller for information so that the bank can send them the money. They asked this man for a copy of his drivers license. But they also might ask you for a Social Security Card.

Although this is unrelated to the collector car community, another development is arising that has implications for investors. We have recently heard that scammers are gaining access to online investment accounts. If you visit a website that plants spyware on your system they can actually "watch" you type key strokes on your computer. It is as easy as placing a "cookie" on your system. With the spyware resident on your system the scammer can watch the keystrokes you use when you enter your investment account with Schwab, Ameritrade, etc. If they acquire your login information they can raise havoc with your investment account. To clean spyware off your computer, you can run a spybot program. It is like an anti-virus program to detect and destroy spyware on your system. We recommend you run the spybot weekly if you do any amount of internet surfing.

A NEW TWIST ON THE NIGERIAN SCAM
(Reprinted from the Cars On Line Daily Update Newsletter, March 31, 2006)

Newsletter readers know that Cars On Line is a leader in the effort to stop scams on the Internet. We believe that the more you know about how scammers work, the less you need to fear from them.

This week we found that there is a new twist being used in the Nigerian scam. One of our regular advertisers from Arkansas was contacted via an Operator Assisted Relay service. Operator Assisted calls are a service provided to handicapped persons who cannot speak or cannot hear, or both. The service allows a handicapped person to communicate with the Operator who will call the seller and act as an "interpreter." The Operator talks to the seller and communicates with the handicapped buyer via his keyboard, thus asking the seller a question and typing the answer to the handicapped buyer.

An Internet scammer posed as a handicapped person and used the Operator Assisted call system to communicate with our advertiser. He then offered to buy the vehicle and asked the seller to accept the purchase price by cashiers check. The seller agreed and then the scammer also asked him to accept an additional amount to cover payment for the transport company. If the seller had agreed then the scammer promised to send a cashier's check for the entire amount. But immediately after the scammer hung up, a fake transport company called the seller and told him they needed the payment for the transport right away. The seller smelled a rat and did not go along with the scam. He called our office to alert us that this was going on. We had already heard a similar story from another of our customers.

The fake transport company will pressure the seller to pay them upfront with a credit card or Western Union money order. Of course, the deal never happens and the seller would be out any money he paid to the fake transport company.

While I don't think many of our Cars On Line readers are going to fall for this scheme, it is just different enough that they may catch a few people off guard. It is reprehensible that the scammers are using a handicapped service to try to rip off honest people. How low can some people go?

The "Nigerian Scam" is one of the most often used scam techniques on the Internet. The scammer contacts you and says he wants to buy your car. If you haven't read our Scam Warnings information please refer to our Nigerian Scam page. The reason we call it the Nigerian Scam is that when we've traced the IP addresses of the scammers the trail always takes us back to an Internet Provider in Nigeria, an African nation.

Watch out for the reverse of this latest scam also. We have heard of scam sellers on other websites that are using the Operator Assisted phone number in their ads. Their excuse for not being able to talk to you is that they are mute. They will then try to persuade you to send them a deposit on a car that they do not actually have. The Operator Assisted phone system will allow them to hide the fact that they do not speak English.

Stay vigilant. They are coming up with new scam tactics all the time. We'll try to keep you updated on them as we hear about them.

NEW TRICKS, BUT ITS THE SAME OLD SCAM   
Reprented from the Cars On Line Update Newsletter, 2005

Internet scammers are coming up with some new tricks. In the past we have told you about a "selling scam" that uses a new approach. The "selling scam" is the reverse of the classic Nigerian scam. The seller is the scammer and places fraudulent classified ads. They will place ads for very special cars at ridiculously low prices. What they are looking for is someone who will believe them. Then they get the buyer to send them a security deposit. They even promise to do the shipping for free! Obviously their goal is to get your security deposit.

This week a COL reader informed us that one of these scammers had set up as a dealer on the Auto Trader Canada website. The fake dealership was said to be in Marquette, Manitoba, Canada. The fake dealer was offering a 1970 Hemi Cuda with only 25,700 kilometers for $9,900. He was also offering a 1969 Camaro Z-28 with only 39,000 kilometers on it for $9,000 and a 1970 Pontiac GTO with Ram Air IV and only 39,000 kilometers for $9,500.

We contacted one of these scammers and this is how he replied to us:
"I hope you are serious in your intention for buying. Don`t take it personally, but I am tired with people who offer to buy my car and in the end they turn out to be scammers. Anyway, the car is available and I guess you could be the owner if everything turns out all right and you are serious about buying. Let me tell you a few things about it: This vehicle currently has 9000 miles ... If you will take this price, I am willing to pay for shipping and insurance to your location. I ONLY accept payment though a wire transfer (western union). Don't worry, we will use a third party service (Square Trade) to protect both of us. I require a deposit up-front ($4,200 USD) to see that you really have the funds in order to purchase and secure the car."

Notice the gall of this guy to refer to being "tired with people who ... turn out to be scammers." That's what they mean when they say, "the pot calling the kettle black." The twist is that they are now offering to use an escrow or third party to conclude the deal. But don't be fooled. Scammers aren't interested in transacting a deal to its completion. They don't really have the car. They are only interested in getting your up front deposit via Western Union money order.

We are pretty sure that we have warned newsletter readers enough that they won't be caught in one of these scams. But the tactics they use are evolving and we want to make you aware of what they're up to.

BUYER SCAM UPDATE 8/25/04
After running this page on the Nigerian Scam for over five years now, you would think they would have run out of marks. But as W.C. Fields used to say, "There's a sucker born every minute." And I guess the Nigerian Scam just proves that's right.

This scam only works one way. A foreign "broker" contacts you and says he is going to buy your vehicle which you have advertised. The broker asks a minimum of questions about the car and then wants to send you the money. They send you a cashiers check for more money than you are asking for your car and then they ask you if you would refund the extra money. They always have some reason for making the check out for too much, i.e. "in case the shipping costs extra ... a business associate owes me money in your country ... my secretary made a mistake and made the check out for too much ..." etc. The cashiers check will always be counterfeit. Your bank won't know its a bad check for up to 20 days. You send the refunded amount to them out of your money.

Many people have asked how to avoid the Nigerian scam. It's real simple. It only works the way we described above. It is really easy to recognize the emails they send you. (They only work by email. Rarely will they call you because they don't speak English very well. Their emails usually don't make any sense either as you may have noticed.)

But if you want us to give you a set of rules to go by, here are a few tips to avoid the Nigerian Scam from effecting you:

1) Don't use your email in your ads
2) Only take cash for payment. (Cashiers checks or bank checks are always a risk and have been long before the Nigerian Scam came around.) Wire transfers are okay if you have a special account to receive these funds. Do not use your checking account, savings account, etc.
3) Only sell to buyers from your local area. (This one is pretty extreme, only for the most paranoid of sellers.)

It really is pretty easy to identify the scam emails. Don't let them bother you. One click and they are deleted forever. But don't reply to the scammers ... it just encourages them.

MORE ON SCAMMERS    Update 2/13/04
As you know, we try to keep you up to speed on scammer activities. See our recent alert on Internet scams in the Cars On Line Update for Feb. 6, 2004. We're getting pretty upset with these scumbags as are most people trying to advertise vehicles on the Internet these days. At best they waste our time, and at worst they seem to be able to pull the wool over on some pretty nice people. Let's put a stop to these guys. The only way to shut them down is to starve 'em out. When everybody is alert to what they're up to, they'll be out of business.

We just came across a website that is trying to form a database of the email addresses and the phone numbers which these scammers use. The website is ScamChecker.com. The link to their Scam Data Search Engine is: http://www.scamchecker.com/index.html  You can type in the email of a possible scammer and see if it's in their database. You can do the same for a phone number.

If a potential buyer contacting you is in that database you'll know that it is a scam. You can report a scammer at this website also, both by email address and phone number.

The problem with this service is that it is so new that they don't have a big database yet. We have typed in emails of known scammers and the database said it did not have information on these guys. So if your buyer or seller is not in this database it does not mean they are okay. You need to be vigilant.

Since many of the recent scammers are using Yahoo mail addresses, if you find out you are being contacted by a scammer using a Yahoo address just contact: http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/mail/cgi_abuse  Let them know about the scam and what you have experienced with this scammer. They need to know the email address which was used to contact you. They may need all of the header information in the email as well. They will shut them down.

CRIMINALS EXPAND THEIR SCAM BASE   Update 2/6/04
Cars are such a great hobby and I've met the best people through car shows, car clubs, etc. It's just a shame someone is always wanting to spoil a good thing. We've been posting warnings about the Nigerian scam for five years now. That's the one where a "broker" from overseas contacts you and says he's going to buy your car for his client. Then they send you a cashiers check for more than the amount you are asking for your car and ask you to refund them the overage. (See below for more on how this works.)

But just recently there is a new twist on the scam and it works like this. A "seller" acquires the credit card identity of someone in the U.S. Then he uses it to place fake ads on Internet web sites. The purpose of the scam is to get you to send him a "deposit." They will promise to sell you a car or motorcycle at a price that is way below the average value on that vehicle. Often they will tempt you by including shipping. Of course, the car does not exist and they are simply trying to get your "deposit" money. These sellers may say they are from somewhere in the U.S. or Canada, but when we track their IP addresses they are always from Romania, a former Eastern block country.

Sometimes these scams are easy to identify because the scammer does not want to talk to you by phone. They usually give fake phone numbers or the phone number of the person whose identity they stole to place the ad. They want to deal only by email. However, more recently we have noticed that people who are running these scams have become so bold as to take phone calls and pose as the person whose identity they stole. The way to shut them down is to ask if Cars On Line can inspect their vehicle. That usually stops them dead in their tracks.

We want our readers to be forewarned and armed with the right information to do business on the Internet. The Internet provides you with the ability to reach out to the whole world. But it also allows international criminals access to you that they would never have had before. Be vigilant and it will make us all safer.

THE CLASSIC NIGERIAN SCAM    Update 1/1/04
A con game we call the "Nigerian scam" is prevalent on the Internet. Most people who are trying to sell something on the Internet have already run into this situation. You are contacted by a "buyer" who wants to send you a cashiers check for an amount that is more than you are asking for your vehicle. The check looks so authentic that your bank can't tell it is a fake. Then the "buyer" asks you to refund the overrage to help him out.

The problem is that the original check will be a fake and when you refund the money, it will come out of your pocket. Last year, we had issued warnings for our advertisers not to be taken in by this scam. The scam is being run on anyone who may be selling something, i.e. real estate, jewelry, boats, etc. But cars are a natural for this scam because cars sell so frequently over the Internet that buyers and sellers who are intently focused on the sale don't often stop to think that they are being taken for a ride.

The way it works is like this: the buyer (usually claiming to be a broker representing a wealthy buyer or group of buyers from "whereever" (Sierre Leon, Israel, United Arab Emirates, South America or even London, England) sends a check for payment for the car. The check is for too much money, so he asks the owner of the car to cash the check and then send the overpayment back to the him. So the sting is that they get you to send the money back before you know if their check has cleared. Banks can't tell if the check is real for up to 17 days.

It used to be that the scammers all identified themselves as being from Nigeria, perhaps the most corrupt country on the planet. Now they will tell you they are from somewhere other than Nigeria, but when we trace the IP address of these emails they are almost always sent from a Yahoo mail account and the address always starts from Nigeria. The reason for that is that this scam is protected by the Nigerian government. Some say it is the fifth largest industry in Nigeria.

If you are contacted by buyers who identify themselves as being brokers from overseas, refer to this link: http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/

Please understand that any offer you get from a broker should be looked at with some skepticism. Then if they say they're going to send you a check for an amount that is more than the price you are asking for your car, tell them you will only accept the exact amount. It is best if you receive your payment in a Western Union money order. That way you don't have to give out your bank account number. They will use your personal information and your bank account number to scam other individuals.

Please don't get so excited about selling your car that you fall victim to one of these "criminals." Here at the Cars On Line office we want to make sure that none of our advertisers gets caught in the "pigeon drop."

The world is full of real buyers. Don't get suckered in by this scam.