Escrow Fraud on willhaben.at

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Escrow Fraud on willhaben.at

Postby bloda23 » Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:44 pm

Hey Everybody!

First of all, a big thanks to escrow-fraud.com for existing :mrgreen: .

So, a friend of mine found a car on the austrian website http://www.willhaben.at - this is a legit austrian website similar to autoscout24.de or mobile.de.
He asked the "seller" if he could inspect the car on the following day... This is what came next (the first email is in german):

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Hallo,

Danke für die E–mail!

Meine Auto ist unfallfrei und ist in einem Optisch und Technisch perfekten Zustand !! keine Mängel, keine rost, keine Beschädigungen, Beulen, Kratzer, usw. Alles an meine Fahrzeug ist zu 100% funktionstüchtig!

Es hat 4 neue Sommerreifen drauf und ich habe immer noch die Winterreifen in den neuen Bedingungen als auch (ich habe nur verwendet sie für ein paar Wochen im letzten Winter). Ich werde ihnen geben entlang mit der Auto für den gleichen Preis.

Das auto hat 173.900 Km und Servicegepflegt nur beim Audi Vertragswerkstatt. Die letztes groß service wurde gemacht in Juni 2014 bei 165.000 KM !

Pickerl ist gültig bis 05/2015.

Verkaufe es wegen Jobwechsel. Ich arbeite als Railway Maschinenbauingenieur und ich habe in Österreich gearbeitet für die letzte wenige Jahre. Mein Arbeitvertrag ist abgelaufen und jetzt bin ich wieder Zuhause in Belfast, Nordirland.

Das Fahrzeug ist noch angemeldet und hat österreichischen papiere und Nummernschilder.

Der Preis ist Verhandelbar!

Ich habe nie Räucher im Auto und ich will es zu verkaufen zu einer ernsthaften Person wen dauern wird gute Pflege es, wie ich tat. Ich habe nur in Betracht zu ziehen jene Käufer, die wirklich Interesse am Kauf mein Auto, NICHT HÄNDLER, um sicherzugehen, dass ich nicht meine Zeit verbringe mit endlosen Diskussionen, oder reine Neugierde.

Wenn Sie ernsthaft über den Kauf von meinem Auto sind, werde ich glücklich sein, Ihre Fragen zu beantworten.

Es tut mir leid für meine schlechte deutsche Sprache, bitte schreiben Sie zurück in Englisch wenn möglich.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Robert Stephen Allen

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Hello,

Thank you for your English answer.

As I've mentioned in my first email, I have bought the car while I was working in Austria but now I'm back home in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the car is here as well. It is impossible for me to drive it here because of the steering wheel, (we drive cars with the steering wheel on the right side here in Northern Ireland) so the only option left is to sell it back in Austria.

If you are still interested in buying my car, you can come here in Belfast and pick it up by yourself or we can use a transport company (escrow service) to deliver the car to your address. The process is very simple and the car will be delivered directly to your home address from Austria within 2-3 days. The transport company is fully licensed and accredited as an escrow company and guarantees a safe and simple procedure including a 5-day inspection period. All the transportation costs will be paid by me, there are no additional costs or hidden fees. You will have an inspection period of 5 days, during this 5 days trial period, you can do a test purchase at ÖAMTC or you can do any test you wish with my car before you decide to buy it.

The final price is 4.000 Euro is not more negotiable and it also includes all the transport costs to your home address from Austria. I know it's cheap price for such a car, but my special situation makes me do things I don't do under normal circumstances.

Please e-mail back if you are still interested in buying my car and let me know which option you prefer.

Thank you!
Robert Stephen Allen
Tel: 0044 7749 905 860

*************************From here on I helped my friend out with sending english replies*****************************************************************

Hello Robert,
Thank you for your reply!
I'm still interested in the car, but going to Belfast won't work, so the escrow service would be the way to go for me.

I've got two questions regarding that:
- Which escrow service are you planning to use?
- What if I decide against buying the car? Will the escrow company pick it up at my home address and take it back to Belfast? And what about the cost of returning it to you?

As I said before I'm definitely interested, so the second question is more of a just in case.

I'm happy with the 4000 EUR price tag including transport.

Best Regards,
/*name of my friend*/

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Hello /*name of my friend*/,

The price of the car (final price 4.000 Euro) includes all the transport costs to your home address from Austria and all the other fees so all you have to pay for my car is only the amount for the car and nothing extra.

My car will come along with all the original documents necessary to register the car from my name to your name in Austria and get your own Austrian number plates. I will also give you my Austrian number plates so you will be able to drive the car on public roads until you will get your own plates. I am aware of all the needed documents necessary to register the car from my name to your name and everything will be there along with the car, no worries.

The name of the transport company is Belfast Express Transport. They will handle all the details of the transaction (delivery to your home address, payment, they will also provide us the Kaufvertrag). The vehicle will be brought over in order for you to inspect/test it - loaded on a trailer, fully insured during the trial period and transportation. This comes with up to 5 days inspection period enough time to test the car and check the documents properly.

This is how the deal will work:

First of all, I will go with the car to the transport company, I will pay for all the delivery costs from my own pocket and leave the car in their custody on your name and address. After the car is in their custody they will contact you and they will ask you to pay 50% from the price of the car 2.000 Euro. For your safety you will transfer the money by bank transfer directly to the bank account of the transport company. After you pay the first half to them, the car will be delivered to your address so you can test and inspect it for 5 days.

At the end of the inspect period you have 2 options:

1 - You keep the car and pay the remaining 50% (2.000 Euro) and the deal is done.

2 - You don`t like the car or the car has hidden damage or it`s not like I describe it . In this situation the shipping company will return the car to me on my costs and they will refund you the first 50% - 2.000 Euro that you payed, no questions asked.

This are the terms of the deal. I think it's a safe and fair deal for both of us.

Remember, once you receive the car you will have it in your custody for 5 days to test and inspect everything properly before you decide to keep it. If my car is not like I described it or if you find any problems with it then I'll pay for the return costs and the transport company will refund you the deposit payment no questions asked. But I'm sure it will not be the case, because my car is in absolutely perfect condition.

If you are ready to buy my car and start the transaction please e-mail me your delivery information as follow:

Full Name:
Address:
City:
Postal/Code:
Country:

- Mobile Telephone number:
- Home Telephone Number:
- A copy of your driver license or passport for the Kaufvertrag.

(I've also sent you a copy of my passport and you will find it at the end of my e-mail.)

I will be waiting for your quick answer.

Thank you!
Robert Stephen Allen
Tel: 0044 7749 905 860

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Hello Robert,
Thanks for your quick reply.

The Deal sounds good, however, I was unable to find any Information on the Transport Company you want to use. Could you send me a link to their Website?

Thank you!

Best Regards,
/*name of my friend*/

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Hallo /*name of my friend*/,

Here is their website : http://www.belfast-express.cargo-dv.com

I will be waiting for your quick answer.
Robert

********************************************************************************************************************************************************



Since I've never heard of an escrow service before, the fact that the guy wanted to know an awful lot of personal information (passport, driver's license) and an upfront payment of 50% I became suspicious.
A search for escrow service let me to this forum and some of the stories I read here were eerily similar to the email the "seller" sent to us.
He also sent an image which supposedly is a scan of his passport, I'll attach it below.
Following my email to send me a link to the website of this escrow company he sent the following URL: http://www.belfast-express.cargo-dv.com.
I did a quick who-is lookup and as it turns out the domain cargo-dv.com is registered in Russia.

A quick recap of the facts:
The "seller":
Robert Stephen Allen
Tel: 0044 7749 905 860 -> of course I was not able to reach him or the service line on the site of the escrow company
email: robertstep10@gmail.com
Escrow Company: http://www.belfast-express.cargo-dv.com -> should probably be added to the database.

So, I'm pretty sure that's a scam, what do you think? Thank you for your help.

FYI: We haven't sent him any money yet :).
Attachments
my_passport.JPG
the sellers "passport"
my_passport.JPG (92.82 KiB) Viewed 1748 times
bloda23
NewBorn
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 5:14 pm
Location: Austria

Re: Escrow Fraud on willhaben.at

Postby lightfair » Sun Oct 05, 2014 12:11 pm

bloda23 wrote:A quick recap of the facts:
The "seller":
Robert Stephen Allen
Tel: 0044 7749 905 860 -> of course I was not able to reach him or the service line on the site of the escrow company
email: robertstep10@gmail.com
Escrow Company: http://www.belfast-express.cargo-dv.com -> should probably be added to the database.

So, I'm pretty sure that's a scam, what do you think? Thank you for your help.

FYI: We haven't sent him any money yet :).


You are of course right: this is a scam. Thanks for posting the information of the alleged "seller". I've added the site to our database. You can also compare this to previous "incarnations":

http://escrow-fraud.com/index.php?page= ... layout=272

And yes: Don't send any money.
lightfair
Master
 
Posts: 865
Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:54 pm


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