Autoscout24.com & Autozone.be Scams! Beware! Update 15.05.09

[jaxjazzy]

What recourse does one have against this fraud? I have also lost money on this scam...is there nothing I can do to get my money back from Anton Thompson, William Trogdon and the rest?

[lightfair]

What recourse does one have against this fraud? I have also lost money on this scam...is there nothing I can do to get my money back from Anton Thompson, William Trogdon and the rest?

The only thing you can do is to go to the police. Let them know that this is part of an organized crime ring (which it indeed is). Hand them all the details, including printouts of the emails. There is very little hope to recover any money but at least this keeps the pressure up on the scammers.

[martinrushton]

Looks like I have found this Forum a tad too late as I have sent 4600 Euros via Western Union to myself in London as payment for a car found on AutoScout24.

We are travelling from Spain to London on Tuesday; the seller said that he would meet us at the airport and take us to see the car but now I don't expect him to turn up.

The people concerned are:
[list=Anton Thompson. I have spoken to him on 00447092847136 but I now realise that this is probably a forwarding number.
E-mail from williamtrogdon73@yahoo.de
E-mail from auto.gmbh.web@googlemail.com
E-mail to autogmbh@web.de (from the photo on the AutoScout ad for the car)]

I will update this Post as events unfold, but I expect that we will be visiting a police station rather than a car showroom.

Has anyone had any luck in recovering money withdrawn from Western Union under false identity ?

Update 2nd March 2009

As suspected we have lost our money - the transfers were cashed using false identity last Thursday. We´ve filled out a from for Western Union but don´t hold out much hope ..... Over to the police tomorrow .... !!

Update 12 Feb 2009

This is all in the hands of the UK police now. As suspected WU will not accept any reponsibility if the the details of the transfer - especially the Money Transfer Control Number - is disclosed to anyone.

Caveat Emptor !!!!

[lightfair]

Looks like I have found this Forum a tad too late as I have sent 4600 Euros via Western Union to myself in London as payment for a car found on AutoScout24.

We are travelling from Spain to London on Tuesday; the seller said that he would meet us at the airport and take us to see the car but now I don't expect him to turn up.

The people concerned are:
[list=Anton Thompson. I have spoken to him on 00447092847136 but I now realise that this is probably a forwarding number.
E-mail from williamtrogdon73@yahoo.de
E-mail from auto.gmbh.web@googlemail.com
E-mail to autogmbh@web.de (from the photo on the AutoScout ad for the car)]

I will update this Post as events unfold, but I expect that we will be visiting a police station rather than a car showroom.

Has anyone had any luck in recovering money withdrawn from Western Union under false identity ?

The very first thing to do: Get in touch with Western Union immediately and find out if the money has already been withdrawn. If it's gone then it's indeed gone. The scammers have picked it up with a fake passport with your name.

I personally find there is very little reason to go to London. There is no showroom, there is no "William Trogdon", no nothing.

autogmbh@web.de runs hundreds of fake ads on autoscout each evening using hijacked accounts of real dealers. My own search pattern catches roughly 100 BMW's (always the same ads) each day, sometimes several times in a row.

The current gallery is http://picasaweb.google.com/lvc.leasing.cars

I have no idea how Western Union would handle such a situation but my guess is that they would deny any responsibility.

[kosmous]

I thing that I have the same problem. There is an almost new car in a very low price.
Here is their response :

Thank you for being interested in our vehicle. Here at KFZ INVESTMENTS LIMITED we value the customer, so feel free to ask any questions you may have.
The vehicle is still available for sale. Title of the vehicle is clear and has never been involved in any car accidents.
It is located in London / United Kingdom at our office . The car was bought from Germany.
The driver seat ( steer wheel ) is on the left side of the vehicle so it is impossible for the sale to be made in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The price is low because was previously owned by a company that had a debt ( loan ) at the Bank. The vehicle was impounded ( taken ) by the bank and sold to pay the debt.
We can not sell the vehicle at a higher price because we would pay an extra fee due to auction laws in the United Kingdom.
We have removed the advertise from the website because we have a lot of customers and we will sell the car for sure You can check our company at http://www.checksure.biz using our company number 03412696.
Thank you for your interest and We are looking forward for your response.

************
Oliver Svenson ( Sales Manager )
KFZ INVESTMENTS LTD
Company No: 03412696
Address: 20 HANOVER SQUARE
London
W1S 1HZ
Tel.0044 703 188 9958
Fax.0044 870 471 6507
United Kingdom

Be carefull guys !!!!!!

[kosmous]

Can anybody tell me if they are fraudsters ? As i posted above i thing that there is not an oiginal message

Thank you guys and be carefull !!

[JaxHot]

There is a real KFZ INVESTMENTS LTD
KFZ Investments Ltd20 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1HZ
p: 02076298171
Website - None Supplied
Email - None Supplied

However it appears you are not dealing with the real legitimate company.
What is the email address he is using?
Are they using a web site?
Thanks

[lightfair]

They are fraudsters.

The text has been used for over a year now. The real KFZ Investments Ltd is definitely not a car dealer.

[kosmous]

Good morning,
Here is their e-mail : kfzinvestmentslimited@googlemail.com
I asked to send me photos of the ca and they sent me photos of another car. I will not spend my time with them anymore !!

Thank you very much

[kosmous]

Also they use the following site : http://www.checksure.biz