Attempted craigslist fraud--wesell4you.org

[westfrau]

I responded to a Craigslist posting for a vehicle at a good price. Here's the posting:'85 Volkswagen Vanagon Campmobile - $4000 (Dallas)
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Date: 2012-01-24, 3:33PM CST
Reply to: sale-jkayv-2816235656@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
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1985 VW Vanagon Westfalia (Full Pop-Up Camper). This VW Westfalia is clean & complete with all the original deluxe options, and runs super strong and smooth. Manual 4-speed standard transmission is optimal for mountain driving, 1.9-liter, water-cooled four-cylinder engine, new heads and gaskets only have 3,900 miles, the vehicle has approximately 207, 351 miles. This Westy runs strong and super smooth. Over $6100 invested. Receipts/Records available. I have taken affectionate care of this vehicle. I hate to sell her but I need to save up to buy a home.

The following are his initial response and then replies to my emails asking to see the vehicle and for more information. He declined to answer questions, focusing on describing the escrow company that he was working with--same story as other scams I have read about in hindsight, unable to meet because he is helping his daughter with her wedding plans.

-----Original Message-----
From: William Stromme
Sent: Jan 26, 2012 10:26 PM
Subject: Re: '85 Volkswagen Vanagon Campmobile - - $4000

The van is not sold yet . The vehicle is in excellent shape, has a fresh oil change, newer tires, brakes and battery. I have always taken great care of it, always serviced it on time. Mechanically the van is in excellent condition, engine runs great without any oil leaks and does not smoke. Transmission shifts smooth through all gears. Suspension is tight, there are absolutely no rattles or noises. A/C and heat work great.
The brake pads are all in excellent condition.There aren’t any service indicators or warning lights on.
The interior in great shape dash intact no tears in seats. It has never been in an accident. It has a clear and clean title, free of all liens and encumberances.
I have to let you know that i left town a few days ago because i have to help my daughter organize her wedding, and i may stay here a while, but this is no problem because i`ll sell it through WS4U services. I guess you used WS4U before, if you didn`t let me know because i met people that never used it and i will explain how it works in detail. I want to sell it now because i need the money for my daughters wedding so if you are interested in buying it now let me know.

Regards,
William Stromme
P.S see more photos bellow:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1000501910 ... oNzSjZb_IA

-----Original Message-----
From: William Stromme
Sent: Jan 27, 2012 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: '85 Volkswagen Vanagon Campmobile - - $4000

I'm pleased you are still interested. Like i said before i'll explain the WEsell4u concept,their website is wesell4you.org . They are a chain of ebay drop off stores and they offer their services for craigslist users too. I left the van in their possession when i left and intended to sell it when i got back (if you ask why i'm selling it now when i'm not around), but the wedding costs too much and i need to sell it now to help my daughter get married.. They will take care of shipping, payment and title transfer(it is already signed by me and notarized so they are empowered to do this ). So if you want to purchase the van, all you have to do is to register on their website. After you are registered with them an invoice will be sent to you. There you will find out more details about this sale like how to complete the payment, shipping process, insurance,etc .Afterward you have to complete the payment. They receive the payment and start the shipping process. You receive the van and you have 10 days to inspect it and see if it's exactly as described. If you decide to keep it, you let them know and they will transfer the payment to me, if you decide to return it, they will give you a full refund back and return the item on my cost. So you can be sure the van is exactly as described because i wouldn't sell something that i know it will be returned and loose extra money. The shipping cost is already included in the price listed on craigslist so you don't have to worry about that. The process is very simple, it probably looks a little complicated from what i explained but it's not and for a better understanding of how their service works you can check out their "Selling on Craigslist" page. I would advise you to read the Selling on Craigslist page before you register so you can be sure you understand how the process works. Let me know if you are still interested and if you have questions please ask, no problem. Also, if you don't want to register on their website for any reason, you can send me your full name and shipping address and i will forward it to them, but it's better if you register yourself.
Thank you
PS: I am sorry for the long email but i couldn't explain the process in less words.
William Stromme

-----Original Message-----
From: William Stromme
Sent: Jan 27, 2012 5:57 PM
Subject: Re: '85 Volkswagen Vanagon Campmobile - - $4000

Yes right it have AC vents in the rear only.
The van is kept in the WS4U warehouse from TX.They picked up the van from my home within a few days i left the town.
If you want to arrange a local pick up, please contact the company and see if they can help you.
Is not in my power to make this happened, because as you know i'm out of town.
Also don't forget that you have 10 days return policy.In these 10 days you will have the opportunity to test the condition of the item. If the item is not how you expected then a full refund will be accepted.I will support all the return taxes as seller but i don't think this will happen because it is in 100% working condition, as described in my ad. Also don't forget that between us is a company.The payment and shipping will be handled by them. Both of us will be protected and i am sure that everything will go straight and clear.Is not the first time i am using their services.I used their company few months ago and everything had been finished as i wished.(without any problems for me as seller and also for the buyers).
When you are ready to go forward please click on their register button from wesell4you.org
Regards,
William Stromme

From: William Stromme <williamstromme0@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: '85 Volkswagen Vanagon Campmobile - - $4000
Date: Jan 28, 2012 6:52 PM

OK great, just keep me updated when you have completed the registration process so i can know that everything is in order.
Regards,
William Stromme

The escrow company (wesell4you.org) has this listed headquarters address: 401 Alaskan Way South, Seattle, WA, 98104
They list several nonsensical locations in the US (none remotely close to where I live), as well as in Canada and the UK.
They sent me an invoice with the wrong vehicle listed and a request for funds to be wire-transferred overseas:

• Next step to be taken: The Buyer must send the payment to WEsell4u thru Bank wire transfer and fax or email the receipt.
Sending the payment by any other method of payment will void this transaction and your right to refund.
The payment has to be sent to WEsell4u. The funds will not be released under any circumstances. We will hold the payment until you will send us your confirmation that you have received, inspected and you have agreed to keep the merchandise. When we will have your confirmation we will release the funds to the seller. We would like to confirm that your transaction is covered by the WEsell4u Purchase Protection Program.

When I pointed out that they had the incorrect vehicle and would not wire any money but would consider a secure credit card or paypal transaction, they sent me this:

Your invoice has been updated (please check). Was a error from our data base. We accept Credit Card payments but only for items that worth less than $1,500. For items that worth more than $1,500 we accept only bank to bank transfers as a method of payment. As we have told you in the payment invoice we aren't able to receive the payment in the U.S due to our largest number of transactions.You may be asked to send the payment to one of our Bank Accounts located outside your country due to the fact that we have a lot of transactions to process and our US Accounts are not always available ( Is not important where you will send the payment because no money will be released to seller until WeSell4U will be notified by buyer that he received and accepted the merchandise! ). We are offering our service on eBay and Craigslist which are the largest marketplaces in the world and they have a lot of active transactions. This will not affect the transaction in any way, on the contrary, it will speed up the process because the payment is handled faster. We have given you our company bank account which is company bank account not a personal one. Not everyone can open a company bank account. Also the bank we are working with, Barclays Bank PLC which is a global bank and has It has operations in over 50 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America and around 48 million customers. As of 2010, it is the world's 10th-largest banking and financial services group and 21st-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. We are not talking about an unknown bank.
Only with your confirmation the funds will be released to the Seller.

Is very easy to arrange a Bank to Bank transfer. Please contact your Bank and arrange the payment to our Account details provided in the invoice.
After the payment has been completed please send us the receipt of the transfer.
We look forward to receive the receipt of the transfer in order to start forward with the shipping.

Thank you for using our services !
We Sell 4 You Payment Department

After this obvious ploy, I let them know that I wouldn't be purchasing the truck after all, and haven't heard back from either William Stromme or wesell4you.org

Nonetheless, I'm chagrined to have gotten that far in before finally obeying my growing suspicions. Especially now after reading about so many similar scams on this site--wish I had discovered this site previously. Thanks for what you do here!

[lightfair]

Hello,

thank you for your detailed description. I've added http://wesell4you.org/ to our database.