Is pinta-one.eu LEGIT or SCAM need advice please

[WillnotBFooled]

I recently found a vehicle of interest on Autotrader. However the seller claims to be in the military and will be posted abroad soon so he has hired a logistics company that also handles vehicle transport and escrow services (called PWA Pinta One Logistics). http://www.pinta-one.eu/

PWA Pinto One Logistics company website lists the headquarters location as being in London, UK, with several office locations around the world including one in Canada where I live. None of the offices have phone numbers posted except for the headquarters. When I tried calling that number I was sent to voicemail with a non-greeting (no mention of company name or staff directory).

The company website seems very professional and credible.

All correspondence has been prompt and much detailed information has been provided including; many photos of vehicle, a CARPROOF report, mechanical inspection, and detailed sample contract. All appear to be credible.

However, When I checked the domain name on WHOIS.EURID.EU it shows the domain name was registered on 05Nov2018 (very recently!).

Any tips on verifying that this business is legitimate would be greatly appreciated.

[lightfair]

It's fake; and so is the seller.

Please post name and email address he's using.

I know it's fake because I have seen this site type several times before. I'm currently a bit in a hurry but will post more information later (I'll also add the site to our database)

[HughRed]

What were the tell-tale signs that pointed this to be fake, Lightfair?

[lightfair]

What were the tell-tale signs that pointed this to be fake, Lightfair?

Well, mostly this:

However the seller claims to be in the military and will be posted abroad soon so he has hired a logistics company that also handles vehicle transport and escrow services

Story as old as it gets.

Then this:

When I checked the domain name on WHOIS.EURID.EU it shows the domain name was registered on 05Nov2018 (very recently!).

That's three days ago; but the alleged "seller" had already found it and hired it. Right. And especially notable since "PWA Pinto One" isn't getting any hit on Google. Which isn't surprising since the site uses javascript obfuscation which also prevents Google from indexing it...

But mostly:

http://escrow-fraud.com/index.php?page= ... layout=312

[WillnotBFooled]

The seller's name being used is: Lt. Col. Daniel Weiss. [weiss82.daniel@gmail.com].
Selling 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE AWD
Sent text message to me from 437-370-1165

Thanks for helping me to avoid being defrauded. It is amazing to learn how sophisticated that the scammers have become. They must be making lots of money scamming to go the extents that they have in order to create a credible looking story.

The links to "fake" online business news stories about PWA Pinta One Logistics look quite convincing and initially helped assuage any doubts I had about the credibility of the seller.

The was even a valid looking CARPROOF report that was provided with a history that aligned with the seller's information.

The Sale Contract For Vehicle sent to me looked thorough and professional ...but I was not comfortable about paying money into a company bank account until I investigated further. It's a pretty convincing CON job.

I truly appreciate the service and assistance that this forum provides.

[WillnotBFooled]

Another name to add to your list related to Vunndecars International Trading Corporation fake website
[ http://vunndecars.internationaltrdcorporation.com ] that I can across in my search for a used vehicle on AutoTrader:

Maria Garceau [mariagarceau30@gmail.com].

She claims to be from Fremont, Quebec , a remote community in NE Quebec near Labrador and is selling her father's (who passed away recently) 2014 Toyota Sienna LE van. Posting for vehicle on AutoTrader.

[lightfair]

Thanks for getting back to me with all the additional information.

The seller's name being used is: Lt. Col. Daniel Weiss. [weiss82.daniel@gmail.com].
Selling 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE AWD
Sent text message to me from 437-370-1165

Well, as soon as Google picks this up it means that this combo (email, phone number) is essentially "burned" for the scammer.

The links to "fake" online business news stories about PWA Pinta One Logistics look quite convincing and initially helped assuage any doubts I had about the credibility of the seller.

The site with those stories (it's just a single site: http://www.news-host.net/) was conveniently also registered on November 5...
I personally find it a bit suspicious that

http://www.news-host.net/cbj.ca/PWA-Pin ... ation.html

is allegedly "The Canadian Business Journal" which itself is located at http://www.cbj.ca/ (and of course completely legal).
Those business news stories are older stories with just a different name tacked onto it:

fake: http://www.news-host.net/cbj.ca/PWA-Pin ... ation.html

real: https://www.maersk.com/news/2018/11/01/ ... nfirmation

I agree that this would be easy to overlook, though. I'll see if I can get those fake stories to disappear.

I truly appreciate the service and assistance that this forum provides.

Thanks for the kind words; we're happy that you found out about this in time. If you come across another escrow scam please let us know.

[lightfair]

Another name to add to your list related to Vunndecars International Trading Corporation fake website
[ http://vunndecars.internationaltrdcorporation.com ] that I can across in my search for a used vehicle on AutoTrader:

Maria Garceau [mariagarceau30@gmail.com].

She claims to be from Fremont, Quebec , a remote community in NE Quebec near Labrador and is selling her father's (who passed away recently) 2014 Toyota Sienna LE van. Posting for vehicle on AutoTrader.

Thanks for posting this.

Yes, Vunndecars (and previously Vonndecars, Venndecars and Vanndecars and numerous others) Trading Corporation seems to target mostly victims from/in Canada (at the moment). I've been following this particular scammer since 2015.

Sounds familiar?

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinanc ... w_company/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments ... ces_legit/

[Riinno]

Oh my lord... your story is carbon copy of mine and i almost fell for it... my wife said this was too good to be true and seemed off. i was sure it was legit with all the emails and documents they provided... but when i was asked to deposit the full amount in escrow account... i wasn't comfortable with that. So i decided to write an email to "LT.COL.Daniel Weiss" and let him know i was unsure of the procedures and that i wanted to be sure #1 this was real and he was aware of the procedures and #2 I tried searching for a Lt.Col.Daniel Weiss on google only to find one from the US military who died from suicide. i got a response back a week later... only saying thanks for the follow up... that was it... i thought i would try and google his email address weiss82.daniel@gmail.com and there it was... your story, or should i say my story only the truck i was trying to buy was a Porsche cayenne... and the hook was set because i totally fell in love with it. The Logistic company he was dealing with was PKB Duales-Logistics also headquarter in United Kingdom, with a Canadian company they acquired in Halifax Canada. Everything looked totally legit and had all that seemed to be good info on procedures, etc...

i am so frustrated right now that i almost went through with this and that because i wanted this truck so bad, was almost blinded by this... i cant tell you how happy i am that i fell on this post and that although i feel sick to my stomach and very stupid... that i did not fall into a trap that could of cost me a lot of money!

i am not sure how to stop these guys, but i cant believe that its still happening and with the same email address... what should i do? report to autotraders, military, what?

[lightfair]

Hello;

thanks for sharing your story. I'm glad you listened to your wife!

First, I'm happy that you didn't lose any money in the process. I can also imagine that you must feel very frustrated. Still: lesson learned.
Second, you could have posted the web address of the alleged escrow company (PKB Duales Logistics). But don't worry; with a bit of searching I found it myself: http://www.duales-logistics.eu/
Now it's in our database and in other databases as well. Soon (probably tomorrow) whoever is googling for PKB Duales Logistics is going to see that it is fake. So in fact you did your share to help warn others by coming here.

You should report the fake ad to whatever site is was posted on so it gets taken down (and possibly the email associated with it gets blacklisted). No need to report this to the military - the scammer never was in the army (at least not in the US).

And you should talk to your friends about this so that they know that such a scam is there and how it works. You might save someone else a lot of money.

Feel free to post of you have further questions.

Best regards,

lightfair