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Buying A Car Online? Beware of SCAMS!

Hubby dreams of changing his car all the time.. so once in a blue moon, when he is in the mood, he will do his research to keep up to date with the LATEST car prices.

Today, we found two very cheap and good deals online and he was so excited. The two cars listed were diff models.. one is a BMW and the other one is a Merc.. the BMW Series 5 was selling for $25,000 AED (since we are based in Dubai now. Just fyi, it is abt $6850 USD) and the Merc E300 was going for $40,000AED. According to the ads, both cars were brand new and in excellent conditions.

But you see, after all the scams we have seen, we know tat if you see a deal that is too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true!:P

Just for the fun of it, he emailed both of them (with a small flicker of hope tat this is a legit steal).

Within an hour, the BMW guy replied..
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From: rftkh@hotmail.com
To: hubbysname@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: BMW 523i M-Kit 2008 ventilated seats,sunroof - URGENT - AED 25,000
Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:42:45 +0000
Hello,


 The car is in very good condition, like new. The interior and exterior are perfect. No accidents, no scratches, service ready in time etc,
 Is not mortgaged. The car is GCC spec ,2008 BMW 523i(2,497cc petrol),190 hp ,80000 km, black collor,Automatic transmission.
 I moved with my family in Newcastle, United Kingdom. The car has UAE papers and titles. The total last price is 25 000 AED.
 I sell the car so cheap because I need a car here with the driver's seat on the right side, and the cars are very cheap in the UK.
 I want to do business with eBay, because they have a protection for buyers and sellers.
 If you want to buy it, answer me and I'll give you all the details.


More photos of the car are below
LINKS FOR THE PHOTOS:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2pq9lpk.jpg
 



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For a moment, I couldnt figure out what the hell his broken english was trying to say!

But within the same minute, the Merc guy replied too!:)

--------------------------------------------------
From: kumar984@hotmail.com
To: hubbysname@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: AVANTGARDE -- E300
Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:46:43 -0700
Hello,
 
Nice to hear from you.
 
The car is in perfect condition, it has never been involved in any accident (accident-free), no technical problems (engine works perfect), no any scratches or dents on the car body. We both are non-smokers, nobody ever smoked inside the car. The car is uae spec.All inspections are done and all taxes are paid. The vehicle has a complete service book.
 I was in Uae for 2 years and now I'm back in Newcastle, United Kingdom. 
 I sell the car so cheap because I need a car here with the driver's seat on the right side, and the cars are very cheap in the UK.
 I want to do business with eBay, because they have a protection for buyers and sellers.
 If you want to buy it, answer me and I'll give you all the details.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can you spot the difference?? Or rather, SIMILARITIES?! Wahahaahhaa..

Itfinally dawn onto me tat the email is trying to say tat the car is overseas now. THAT MEANS YOU GOT TO PAY WITHOUT SEEING OR GETTING THE CAR! and then got to wait till they ship over...

Hubby asked if we should play along.. I asked him not to waste time lah. Better just report these guys to the website and post it here.

Anyway, just be careful no matter wat you want to buy online if you see a deal too good to be true. As a rule of thumb, I will cut and paste the email addresses or the email contents and search through google.. usually the scams would have been reported somewhere. Usually these scammers are lazy one lah.. they cut and paste and dun bother to change the details much.. so if you see anything SIMILAR online.. u know it is likely to be a scam.

good luck!

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Comments

Nita Stelling said…
A car that has a price that’s too good to be true definitely reeks of scam. Unfortunately, many still fall to this trap, and kiss their money goodbye. If you’re going to buy a car online, make sure that you do the transaction face-to-face. Be careful and good luck!
October 11, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Patrick Gauer said…
The advent of the Internet really made buying cars a whole lot easier. But at the same time, people who want to exploit buyers, especially those who aren’t well-versed into the online marketing area, grew drastically as well. Making deals online is a great thing, as long as you’re doing it with a reputable company or person. It pays to be vigilant these days. Take care!
October 29, 2012 at 12:48 PM
Naomi Champy said…
This is exactly the reason why you shouldn’t entrust vital and personal information easily to anyone online. One day they will offer you what seems to be a limited and valuable item, the next thing you know, they are already using your name and bank account information for other transactions. These are the types of people we all should watch out for.

Naomi Champy
December 11, 2012 at 7:38 AM
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