CBRParr
Active Member
I'm posting this in the hope that someone will Google the company name and this will pop up before being involved in a scam. Also apologies for the essay, it's a chunk of information.
I'm looking to spend some actual money on a car, I've been saving for a few years and was planning to top up the rest with a loan to get a car that I'd keep for the next 10 years (or more). As you do with these things you start at a value, then just expand that to see what you could get if you spend a little more.. and then a little more.
I stumbled on a recently reduced BMW i8, typically these are £40k upwards into the high 50s and more so over double what I wanted to spend. This had been reduced to £30k (First Red Flag 10k under the lowest). I didn't have 30K but his description was that he was leaving the country and I know now and then, people get desperate and just wanted it gone so I had hopes of knocking him down a bit and getting a deal.
I message the seller who replies that it's actually their uncle's car and if I send over my number he will give me a call, he doesn't use the internet type excuse. (Second Red Flag, seller isn't seller). I go along with it just to see what he says.
I get a whatsapp that evening with some more details on the car and news that he has actually left the country already and the car is being held with a logistics company in Newcastle (vehicle was advertised in London)(Third red flag, vehicle isn't anywhere near where advertised or even in the possession of seller). I was told that they would be in contact to discuss delivery etc etc. So I gave him my old junk email address just to see what they had to say. By this point it was all I had was a feeling it was dodgy so I wanted a bit more evidence.
I got an email from "Jonathan Sawyer" from LWG Obelisk Logistics with an inspection report that told me a lot of nothing, a weird company stamp and a digital signature over the top. Also stating that they would drop the car down to me, I could test it for 5 days and if I didn't like it, return it and my money would be released from their Escrow. (Fourth red flag, private owner offering a 5 day test period).
I asked for more pictures from both the seller and the logistics company to which I got a firm "no" from the seller and the logistics company replied saying it's not in their job description to do personalised pictures or videos (Fifth red flag, no non professional shots and hostility when asking). I asked for a video of the car stating my name and today's date just to see if the car existed at all.
At this point I did a reverse google image search of one of the pictures they had sent me and towards the bottom of the results it landed on a used car website in Kent and a page from October 2020. The seller had told me that he was the sole owner. This was the evidence I needed to confirm what I already knew, it was a scam. I went back to the seller and the logistics company saying what I found and that I assumed the car was never in their possession and haven't heard back since.
This all seems obvious to probably everyone on this forum but to non car people, it could seem like the deal of the century and be doing them out of a substantial amount of cash. I called the car dealership where I found the historic advert just to let them know and if they had any contact with the person they sold the car to and he was appreciative but said that it went abroad anyway.
If there's any other way you know of reporting things like this, let me know.
If it looks dodgy, seems dodgy and you get a feeling that it is dodgy, it's probably dodgy. Never send money to anyone before you've seen a car.
I'm looking to spend some actual money on a car, I've been saving for a few years and was planning to top up the rest with a loan to get a car that I'd keep for the next 10 years (or more). As you do with these things you start at a value, then just expand that to see what you could get if you spend a little more.. and then a little more.
I stumbled on a recently reduced BMW i8, typically these are £40k upwards into the high 50s and more so over double what I wanted to spend. This had been reduced to £30k (First Red Flag 10k under the lowest). I didn't have 30K but his description was that he was leaving the country and I know now and then, people get desperate and just wanted it gone so I had hopes of knocking him down a bit and getting a deal.
I message the seller who replies that it's actually their uncle's car and if I send over my number he will give me a call, he doesn't use the internet type excuse. (Second Red Flag, seller isn't seller). I go along with it just to see what he says.
I get a whatsapp that evening with some more details on the car and news that he has actually left the country already and the car is being held with a logistics company in Newcastle (vehicle was advertised in London)(Third red flag, vehicle isn't anywhere near where advertised or even in the possession of seller). I was told that they would be in contact to discuss delivery etc etc. So I gave him my old junk email address just to see what they had to say. By this point it was all I had was a feeling it was dodgy so I wanted a bit more evidence.
I got an email from "Jonathan Sawyer" from LWG Obelisk Logistics with an inspection report that told me a lot of nothing, a weird company stamp and a digital signature over the top. Also stating that they would drop the car down to me, I could test it for 5 days and if I didn't like it, return it and my money would be released from their Escrow. (Fourth red flag, private owner offering a 5 day test period).
I asked for more pictures from both the seller and the logistics company to which I got a firm "no" from the seller and the logistics company replied saying it's not in their job description to do personalised pictures or videos (Fifth red flag, no non professional shots and hostility when asking). I asked for a video of the car stating my name and today's date just to see if the car existed at all.
At this point I did a reverse google image search of one of the pictures they had sent me and towards the bottom of the results it landed on a used car website in Kent and a page from October 2020. The seller had told me that he was the sole owner. This was the evidence I needed to confirm what I already knew, it was a scam. I went back to the seller and the logistics company saying what I found and that I assumed the car was never in their possession and haven't heard back since.
This all seems obvious to probably everyone on this forum but to non car people, it could seem like the deal of the century and be doing them out of a substantial amount of cash. I called the car dealership where I found the historic advert just to let them know and if they had any contact with the person they sold the car to and he was appreciative but said that it went abroad anyway.
If there's any other way you know of reporting things like this, let me know.
If it looks dodgy, seems dodgy and you get a feeling that it is dodgy, it's probably dodgy. Never send money to anyone before you've seen a car.