Escrow Fraud - O.T.D.ComXa

[HILLYBILLY]

Hi,
I am currently interested in purchasing an old Motorcycle which is being advertised on a genuine car and motorcycle web site.

However, the Motorcycle was originally being advertised as being located in France, but now seems to be in the U.K.

I have just received details of the shipping firm, and this site is http://OTD.ComXa.com. Their e mail was sent from : o.t.d.comxaltd@inbox.com

Before I take further purchasing action could you please confirm whether this Shipping firm, and/or their Agent are a legitimate Escrow covered firm. Or is this just another scam.

If this does not seem legitimate I will provide further details of the Motorcycle seller. I will also write to the Internet Advertising site to advise them of this case.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

[lightfair]

I'm having connectivity problems right now so I can't say anything definite yet. But the story sure sounds fishy.
My advice right now is not to do anything before Monday. Hopefully I will have sorted out things on my side then and will be able to help you further.

[skambuster]

PAYMENT OPTION

You can make the payment only by Bank Wire Transfer.

With this = 100% Fraud

[lightfair]

Sorry for not getting back any sooner.

Yes, it's fake. There are numerous signs; like texts that were copied verbatim from (legit) escrow.com and many more things.

[HILLYBILLY]

To Lightfair and others,

First of all, Thank you for your reply re ComXa and their supposedly Escrow authentication.
Now, I'm going to ramble on a bit, but hope that all readers will make it to the end.....

I originally visited a legitimate Classic car and Motorcycle web site, which advertises vehicles for sale on behalf of various sellers. Some sellers being private individuals, and others will be dealers. After viewing a vehicle's details, contact can then be made with the seller via the web site who will forward any message to the seller direct.

In my case, I saw a Veteran Motorcycle being advertised and was extremely interested in purchasing it. A number of photographs were displayed in the advert, which stated that the Motorcycle was for sale in Paris, France. I then contacted the seller via the Classic vehicle web site. I later received a reply stating that the seller had inherited the Motorcycle from his Grandfather, who had lived in France. Hence the Paris location being shown in the advert. However, the Motorcycle was now in Preston, Lancashire, and could be shipped to any purchaser's location, with the cost of shipping to be shared between seller and purchaser. I then asked if any more photos of the Motorcycle, and/or documents available. The seller duly responded and included more photographs, and even a photo of the Motorcycle's Registration Document ( V% ), showing the Registration Number, and also the previous, prior to the seller's Grandfather, owner's details. Of course, the current owner's details had been covered over.

At this stage everything appeared to be legitimate.

I then asked if I could view the Motorcycle, but was told that it was now with a Shipping Agent in London. They had an Agent, who would deal with the actual selling and buying of the Motorcycle. The prospective buyer would then, in Advance forward any payment, made via a Bank Transfer. The Agent, acting as a Third Party, would keep the payment money safe, whilst the Motorcycle is shipped to the buyer. The buyer would then have 5 days in which they could examine the Motorcycle, test it and ride it, before deciding whether to keep it, or to return it. If kept, the buyer would e mail the Shipping Company, whose Agent would then forward the payment to the seller. If the Motorcycle was not wanted, and had to be returned, the payment would be returned to the prospective buyer, once the Motorcycle had been returned to the Shipping Company.

It was at this stage when I started to investigate this method of selling and Shipping, especially as payment had to be made prior to ever, if ever, receiving the vehicle.

The seller's advertised name is : Tristan Rodriguez
The seller's e mail address is : cquanon@aol.com

The seller provided the following details for the Shipping Company : The company is called OTD Comxa Ltd and it's located in London.You may contact them at the following email address " O.T.D.ComXaLtd@inbox.com "

I did send 2 e mails to that address to ask if they were acting on behalf of Tristan. Their reply, following the 2nd e mail was :

Hello,Sir!

First of all I would like to inform you that this is the first email we received from you.

The motorcycle will be protected and insured.

Below you have the other info. you requested.

Have a nice day!


Sincerely,Lissa V. Michaels
O.T.D. ComXa Ltd Financial Department
http://OTD.ComXa.com

I hope that I have provided enough details for any investigations to take place. Or, for any of your readers to see, just how these questionable sellers advertise their valuable items for sale.

If anyone can provide additional information regarding this company it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time, and more importantly, for your well informed Forum.

Thank you all.

[lightfair]

Hello,

thank for posting the additional information. The whole story is very typical for this type of fraud. This happens with other vehicles and bikes as well, all over the world (but mostly in Europe). The perpetrators come very often from Romania.

I'd taken the liberty to kill the site in the meantime.

comxa.com actually is a free webhoster (or more precisely - a brand of a webhoster) which - by the way - has an excellent track record in fighting this type of fake sites. So that fake "escrow company" was basically integrating the name of the hoster into their company name to make it look more believable.