I put an ad on the internet classifieds about selling my 1995 Honda Civic. I got a reply in the e-mail from a man named Sammuel Julius saying that he was owned a used car/parts store in Africa and he was interested in buying my car. He knew a shipper in the US that could easily ship the car out. He asked how much i'd be willing to sell the car and how I would like the payment. I e-mailed him back with a reply. And this is how it started.
I replyed that I would sell the car for $3000.00 and I want the money western unioned to me. He replied back saying that there was a guy in the US that owed him some money $10,200 so he would have him write me a cashiers check for that amount. I was to take my money and western union the rest to him.
The check came made from Bank of America. However, for some reason I decided to tell my boss about it. When I explained the situation he said it sounded fishy so he called a place in colorado asking about this kind of fraud. It seemed that this kind of fraud has been increasingly popular and the guy over the phone told us right away not to go through with it, and that it was a scam. Later on we went on the internet and checked it out. Sure enought he found some thing about people from Nigeria scamming people for their money and cars.
Apparently the cashier checks are bougus checks, in where they clear after 24 hours and so you may use the money to pay your car off or what not, but when the bank finds out they are fakes you end up owing them that money and you are out a car, in which they shipped to Nigeria. So you are left with nothing and you owe the bank money. The cashier check had come Fed Ex and so after I found out it was a fraud I tracked the Fed Ex to see if I can see where it came from.
The address had written on the Fed Ex said it was from PA, however when i tracked it, it said it had come from somewhere in Great Britian.
So, if you are trying to sell your car and someone from Africa/Nigeria says they want to buy your car please beware!
Mariko
Denver, Colorado
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