One of the worst weeks of my life! (long) NO DISNEY, NO CAR, I WAS SCAMMED!

[janey99]

If every person that read this post

Send this family $1.00

Maybe she could get her money back.

What a wonderful thing that would be

What a wonderful scam THAT would be too . . . .

Jane

 

[BurnsideMommy]

I was just on Craig's List looking for something else and see now there is a big link at the top saying offers to ship cars are "100% scams."

This warning has been there for months (at least). Every single time I go to the Cars & Trucks section, the first thing you see is the large 'Offers to ship cars are 100% fraudulent' banner, then the car listing.

Sorry you got scammed. Years back DH had scammers hack his servers (he has a hosting company). I can't recall what all they did, but it cost us tens of thousands in terms of client income. Police came, took notes, gave us their IT dept guys, and still had no freaking clue what to do about tracking the guys who did it. Sad part was, DH with his computer knowledge tracked pretty well where the guys were, and when he gave the police this info they called the cops where the hackers were and they 'couldnt do anything'.

Guess I know when I fall on hard times I can always turn to hacking and scamming to get by - and apparently never get caught... That is if I lose my concience along with my money.

 

[LoraJ]

I work for BOA, and I can pretty much guarantee you that the money was long gone before you realized there was a problem. There are SO many scams out there - these criminals know when to run. When you send a wire, it is like sending cash in the mail - once it is snatched up, there is little to be done. BOA is not liable here, and neither is your own bank. I am sorry they ripped you off like this - people can be horrible.

How does this scam work though. The money gets wired to an account, whose account? Is there a name on that account?

 

[turkeymama]

How does this scam work though. The money gets wired to an account, whose account? Is there a name on that account?

It isn't always immediately evident that an account is fraudulent. If they opened an account with fake info, they could have (and probably did) walked with the funds as soon as they posted to the account. And like someone else said, wires are almost impossible to call back (heck they may be 100% impossible to get back). Basically, the originating bank takes the funds from their customer's account and sends it the receiving bank. Then the receiving bank deposits into their customer's account. At that point, the receiving customer has full access to the funds.

 

[thefirebuilds]

I was just on Craig's List looking for something else and see now there is a big link at the top saying offers to ship cars are "100% scams."

kinda unfair. A lot of folks, including me, supplement our income in just that fashion - and not by scamming.

uship.com

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

. Law enforcement has pretty much told me, don't call back there's nothing they can do, a

I hate to say my credit card was stolen a year ago. I had mailed in a magazine subscription renewal with my visa number on it. At the clearing house where those invoices are processed, a worker there stole a handful of credit card numbers -- mine being one. She placed an order for $500 on my card/. She ordered it in her own name and had the order sent to her own address.

My credit card co called me and asked if I had loaned out my card. When I said no, the fun began, I had to close my account and spent nearly a week in paperwork hell. All of my utilities and newspapers I had automatically billed to my card each month, I had to fill out paperwork to stop those payments and wait for my new card to arrive. Then set them all back up again. It was a LOT of work.

Law enforcement filled out a report -- they searched her house and found several credit card numbers on her desk with mine. She confessed to them that she took them from work! How much more evidence do you need?

I got a letter from law enforcement in her town a year later saying they had charged her $75 fine for using unauthorized cards. That's it! She bought thousands of dollars of stuff and she stole the card numbers and she gets charged $75 == that's it. The Law told me that there are so many scams out there right now..millions of them....this one wasn't really worth prosecuting since the total was under $5,000. I was livid! I bet she does it again.

I'm sending you pixie dust in hopes they really do find this person and then actually do something about it.

 

[thelionqueen]

I hate to say my credit card was stolen a year ago. I had mailed in a magazine subscription renewal with my visa number on it. At the clearing house where those invoices are processed, a worker there stole a handful of credit card numbers -- mine being one. She placed an order for $500 on my card/. She ordered it in her own name and had the order sent to her own address.

My credit card co called me and asked if I had loaned out my card. When I said no, the fun began, I had to close my account and spent nearly a week in paperwork hell. All of my utilities and newspapers I had automatically billed to my card each month, I had to fill out paperwork to stop those payments and wait for my new card to arrive. Then set them all back up again. It was a LOT of work.

Law enforcement filled out a report -- they searched her house and found several credit card numbers on her desk with mine. She confessed to them that she took them from work! How much more evidence do you need?

I got a letter from law enforcement in her town a year later saying they had charged her $75 fine for using unauthorized cards. That's it! She bought thousands of dollars of stuff and she stole the card numbers and she gets charged $75 == that's it. The Law told me that there are so many scams out there right now..millions of them....this one wasn't really worth prosecuting since the total was under $5,000. I was livid! I bet she does it again.

I'm sending you pixie dust in hopes they really do find this person and then actually do something about it.

These type stories just infuriate me! I am an honest law abiding citizen and get SLAMMED with a $50 parking ticket for parking in a MARKED space (fought it and won, but cost a lot of time away from work).

It makes me think I am in the wrong business. Seems like someone who steals thousands of dollars, and gets charged only SLIGHTLY more than a parking infraction knows what business works.

 

[thefirebuilds]

and thieves know it too. They purposely keep their target numbers low to stay "under the radar"

a bank teller has to report any transactions over 10k and any transactions that appear to skirt that number, therefore they try to pass fraud under that number to keep the alerts low.

 

[a1tinkfans]

OP: SO sorry for your situation. What a nigtmare.


Scammers are out there, and each and every day people are ripped off. law enforcement cannot keep up and in this DOWN economy it is probably only worse!


Meanwhile, the company you called SAID to you they KNEW that there was another company using THEIR name as fraud....to me....THAT is just as scary....they KNOW yet they do nothing??? UH, they should have reported this as well...WTH???????

I HOPE that this works out someway....where you can get some MONEY back.....since it IS a fraud, did your bank then cancel the loan you took??? I am a little lost on that........so you are not paying on a non existent car, right? sorry, I am a bit lost here.....again, sorry for your troubles...I am keeping your fmaily in my prayers...
HANG IN THERE....BETTER things WILL come to you...Bless You!!

 

[JB2K]

We contacted the guy, via e-mail, and he contacted us back and told us that He was in the Navy, and had been sent to Texas for training since posting the ad in Nashville (which is not far from where I live).

As a former military member (and also originally from your neck of the woods, OP -- heck, maybe even your hometown), here are some questions you should've asked...

What was a Navy person doing in Nashville? No ships, docked there. Actually, the closest active military bases are Ft. Campbell (Army) and the Arnold Engineering and Development Center (Air Force). That would've been my first signal that something was not right.

So we couldn't look at the car. But, he sent lots of pics of the car, and described it in thorough detail. He told us that he was being shipped out in Dec. and needed to sell the car quickly to keep from having to pay storage fees on the car, while he was gone, because he expected to be gone a while.
This did not raise any red flags to me, because I have a cousin in the ARMY, who is in Iraq right now, and was put in this very same situation.

It should've raised red flags -- for those of you who may not know, the military will store a servicemember's vehicle at Government expense (I did this when I was stationed overseas in 2004-2005).

Anyway, he told me that he could not leave the base, so that it was necessary to use a 3rd party (mediator) company, to take care of the transaction.

You should've asked "which base". As I said, there's not a whole lot of sailors running around Middle Tennessee.

He had the company get in touch with me and send me all the details on the transaction process, the company's name was AutoCheck. The emails looked official, with links to the company site, everything looked to be on the up and up. I contacted the Better Business Bureau, and the company was in good standing, I didn't suspect anything.

The company is indeed legit -- it's a service that operates like (and competes with) the better-known Carfax. Vehicle history sort of stuff.

I won't go on any further, as you've been through enough grief and embarrassment -- for the rest of you doing your car shopping at Craigslist, I suggest you ask a ton of questions if you're going to spend a ton of money on something, sight unseen.

 

[thefirebuilds]

OP: SO sorry for your situation. What a nigtmare.


Scammers are out there, and each and every day people are ripped off. law enforcement cannot keep up and in this DOWN economy it is probably only worse!


Meanwhile, the company you called SAID to you they KNEW that there was another company using THEIR name as fraud....to me....THAT is just as scary....they KNOW yet they do nothing??? UH, they should have reported this as well...WTH???????

I HOPE that this works out someway....where you can get some MONEY back.....since it IS a fraud, did your bank then cancel the loan you took??? I am a little lost on that........so you are not paying on a non existent car, right? sorry, I am a bit lost here.....again, sorry for your troubles...I am keeping your fmaily in my prayers...
HANG IN THERE....BETTER things WILL come to you...Bless You!!

if the FEDS cant get money back on an interstate fraud case why would you think a private company would fair any better?

banks pay for services to track their logo usage online, so they can catch "phishing scams." When they do they call the FBI, who care more because it's potentially a million + in damages and the bank is important, and they email their customers. Businesses are pretty much just along for the ride like the scammed are.

 

[msmayor]

I HOPE that this works out someway....where you can get some MONEY back.....since it IS a fraud, did your bank then cancel the loan you took??? I am a little lost on that........so you are not paying on a non existent car, right? sorry, I am a bit lost here.....again, sorry for your troubles...I am keeping your fmaily in my prayers...
HANG IN THERE....BETTER things WILL come to you...Bless You!!

As I recall, the OP said the loan they took was on the truck they already DID own...so the truck is the collateral, not the non-existent car. Even if the loan WAS on the car, it wouldn't matter. A bank isn't going to cancel a loan that you took out because someone stole the proceeds of that loan. The contract to pay the loan back doesn't go away.

 

[mickeyboat]

OP, so sorry this happened to you.

Last year DH found a tractor on Craigslist with a trailer and a price that was to good to be true. We emailed the seller and got a sob story about a dead husband, and an offer to ship via a escrow shipping company. We offered to travel to pick it up and the seller refused.

We were suspicious and it really did not take long to find out that it was a scam. There is a Craigslist warning about the scam.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

If nothing else, OP, you have warned a lot of people on the DIS about this scam. I hope you are able to figure out who did this and they are prosecuted.

 

[minnie1928]

Probably because the receiving bank had no evidence yet that a fraud had occurred.

Wire transfers are final transactions. I don't believe they can legally be reversed without the permission of the account owner that received it. This is why wire transfers are the preferred method of scammers...they are virtually impossible to call back.

In my experience (working in the wire room for about 10 years), this is true. On the few occasions that a wire was requested to be returned, we had to get the approval of the account holder before the money was sent back to the originating bank.

 

[pweyl36]

As a former military member (and also originally from your neck of the woods, OP -- heck, maybe even your hometown), here are some questions you should've asked...

What was a Navy person doing in Nashville? No ships, docked there. Actually, the closest active military bases are Ft. Campbell (Army) and the Arnold Engineering and Development Center (Air Force). That would've been my first signal that something was not right.



It should've raised red flags -- for those of you who may not know, the military will store a servicemember's vehicle at Government expense (I did this when I was stationed overseas in 2004-2005).



You should've asked "which base". As I said, there's not a whole lot of sailors running around Middle Tennessee.



The company is indeed legit -- it's a service that operates like (and competes with) the better-known Carfax. Vehicle history sort of stuff.

I won't go on any further, as you've been through enough grief and embarrassment -- for the rest of you doing your car shopping at Craigslist, I suggest you ask a ton of questions if you're going to spend a ton of money on something, sight unseen.

My BIL was stationed in Tennesse and he is in the Navy. They lived there for 2yrs in the Memphis area.

 

[C.Ann]

If every person that read this post

Send this family $1.00

Maybe she could get her money back.

What a wonderful thing that would be

I really don't understand what you're getting at here....

 

[Stitch76]

Hi, just thought I would update, those watching my SAGA as it unfolds. (gotta laugh to keep from crying!)
I am still waiting on the FBI, I email everyday, but no response.
I contacted the media yesterday, I received an email stating that they would review my information and get back with me, if they decide to actually do a story on it. So, we will wait and see.
Also, I thought I would answer some recent questions that have popped up, I have the answers in here somewhere, but there are so many posts now, not everyone reads them all. I am grateful for all the posts, though. It means that I am actually accomplishing what I set out to do here, and that is, to maybe save another family from going through the H-E-double hockey sticks, that my family is going through now. .

For the questions about the loan. The loan we are paying on has not and will not be cancelled. I haven't even asked, it wasn't my bank's fault, it was mine.
The loan is on my DH's truck, which we have had for years. We were supposed to borrow the money on the truck, which was already paid off, wait until we got the car, and then pay $20 for the loan to be changed over to the new car. Since that day will never come, we are going to be paying 3 more years worth of payments on DH's truck now.

As far as knowing all about the Military, and bases in the area, I have no idea.
I don't know many people in the Military, other than a few in the ARMY and 1 MARINE. I know of Ft. Knox and Ft. Campbell, because they are BIG bases, and in the news quite a bit, but I don't know if they are the ONLY Military bases in the surrounding area? As one poster said, she had family in the NAVY stationed in TN at one time, and I have had COAST GUARD helicopters fly over my house, even though the "Coast" is a LOOOONG way from KY. Maybe I just let the idea of being able to finally own a nice car blind me. But, it sounded like a true story to me. Especially the part about the guy being moved about a month prior to deployment, and not being able to leave his new base, (in TX) because of training.
My cousin who is in Iraq right now, was stationed in VA, about a month before she went to Iraq, she was moved to GA? I think, she had to go through training, and couldn't leave. We had to throw her going away party, when she came back to KY to visit the family before going to GA.
Also, I know that she had to put her car in storage, because by the time she gets back, her DH will be deployed as well. (Because of deployment schedules, they have spent a total 3 months together the 2 years they have been married, anyway that's a whole other story). She never told me who was paying for the storage, I just assumed she was.

For all of those who have sent prayers and kind words, thanks again, you're the best.

For those who only have "I told you so" on their mind, good for you that you are too smart to fall for something like this.
You never know though, there maybe one out there that gets you someday. I hope for your sake that there isn't, but these people are smart, and think up different lies on a daily basis.
I just wanted to be able to warn others that may be like me, and slip up from time to time.

 

[C.Ann]

Hi, just thought I would update, those watching my SAGA as it unfolds. (gotta laugh to keep from crying!)
I am still waiting on the FBI, I email everyday, but no response.
I contacted the media yesterday, I received an email stating that they would review my information and get back with me, if they decide to actually do a story on it. So, we will wait and see.
Also, I thought I would answer some recent questions that have popped up, I have the answers in here somewhere, but there are so many posts now, not everyone reads them all. I am grateful for all the posts, though. It means that I am actually accomplishing what I set out to do here, and that is, to maybe save another family from going through the H-E-double hockey sticks, that my family is going through now. .

For the questions about the loan. The loan we are paying on has not and will not be cancelled. I haven't even asked, it wasn't my bank's fault, it was mine.
The loan is on my DH's truck, which we have had for years. We were supposed to borrow the money on the truck, which was already paid off, wait until we got the car, and then pay $20 for the loan to be changed over to the new car. Since that day will never come, we are going to be paying 3 more years worth of payments on DH's truck now.

As far as knowing all about the Military, and bases in the area, I have no idea.
I don't know many people in the Military, other than a few in the ARMY and 1 MARINE. I know of Ft. Knox and Ft. Campbell, because they are BIG bases, and in the news quite a bit, but I don't know if they are the ONLY Military bases in the surrounding area? As one poster said, she had family in the NAVY stationed in TN at one time, and I have had COAST GUARD helicopters fly over my house, even though the "Coast" is a LOOOONG way from KY. Maybe I just let the idea of being able to finally own a nice car blind me. But, it sounded like a true story to me. Especially the part about the guy being moved about a month prior to deployment, and not being able to leave his new base, (in TX) because of training.
My cousin who is in Iraq right now, was stationed in VA, about a month before she went to Iraq, she was moved to GA? I think, she had to go through training, and couldn't leave. We had to throw her going away party, when she came back to KY to visit the family before going to GA.
Also, I know that she had to put her car in storage, because by the time she gets back, her DH will be deployed as well. (Because of deployment schedules, they have spent a total 3 months together the 2 years they have been married, anyway that's a whole other story). She never told me who was paying for the storage, I just assumed she was.

For all of those who have sent prayers and kind words, thanks again, you're the best.

For those who only have "I told you so" on their mind, good for you that you are too smart to fall for something like this.
You never know though, there maybe one out there that gets you someday. I hope for your sake that there isn't, but these people are smart, and think up different lies on a daily basis.
I just wanted to be able to warn others that may be like me, and slip up from time to time.

Thanks for sharing this story with others - and hopefully there will be some kind of resolution for you..

Don't worry about the nay sayers - I'm 60 years old and have yet to meet a person who has "never" made a mistake in their lives.. And if someone ever makes that claim to you? RUN - as fast as you can in the other direction.. LOL..

Try to have a happy holiday anyhow.. You still have your family and your health - the two most important things in life..

 

[purpletiger]

Hi, just thought I would update, those watching my SAGA as it unfolds. (gotta laugh to keep from crying!)
I am still waiting on the FBI, I email everyday, but no response.
I contacted the media yesterday, I received an email stating that they would review my information and get back with me, if they decide to actually do a story on it. So, we will wait and see.
Also, I thought I would answer some recent questions that have popped up, I have the answers in here somewhere, but there are so many posts now, not everyone reads them all. I am grateful for all the posts, though. It means that I am actually accomplishing what I set out to do here, and that is, to maybe save another family from going through the H-E-double hockey sticks, that my family is going through now. .

For the questions about the loan. The loan we are paying on has not and will not be cancelled. I haven't even asked, it wasn't my bank's fault, it was mine.
The loan is on my DH's truck, which we have had for years. We were supposed to borrow the money on the truck, which was already paid off, wait until we got the car, and then pay $20 for the loan to be changed over to the new car. Since that day will never come, we are going to be paying 3 more years worth of payments on DH's truck now.

As far as knowing all about the Military, and bases in the area, I have no idea.
I don't know many people in the Military, other than a few in the ARMY and 1 MARINE. I know of Ft. Knox and Ft. Campbell, because they are BIG bases, and in the news quite a bit, but I don't know if they are the ONLY Military bases in the surrounding area? As one poster said, she had family in the NAVY stationed in TN at one time, and I have had COAST GUARD helicopters fly over my house, even though the "Coast" is a LOOOONG way from KY. Maybe I just let the idea of being able to finally own a nice car blind me. But, it sounded like a true story to me. Especially the part about the guy being moved about a month prior to deployment, and not being able to leave his new base, (in TX) because of training.
My cousin who is in Iraq right now, was stationed in VA, about a month before she went to Iraq, she was moved to GA? I think, she had to go through training, and couldn't leave. We had to throw her going away party, when she came back to KY to visit the family before going to GA.
Also, I know that she had to put her car in storage, because by the time she gets back, her DH will be deployed as well. (Because of deployment schedules, they have spent a total 3 months together the 2 years they have been married, anyway that's a whole other story). She never told me who was paying for the storage, I just assumed she was.

For all of those who have sent prayers and kind words, thanks again, you're the best.

For those who only have "I told you so" on their mind, good for you that you are too smart to fall for something like this.
You never know though, there maybe one out there that gets you someday. I hope for your sake that there isn't, but these people are smart, and think up different lies on a daily basis.
I just wanted to be able to warn others that may be like me, and slip up from time to time.

Thanks for the update. and prayers to you and your family during this hard time.

 

[LoraJ]

I hate to say my credit card was stolen a year ago. I had mailed in a magazine subscription renewal with my visa number on it. At the clearing house where those invoices are processed, a worker there stole a handful of credit card numbers -- mine being one. She placed an order for $500 on my card/. She ordered it in her own name and had the order sent to her own address.

My credit card co called me and asked if I had loaned out my card. When I said no, the fun began, I had to close my account and spent nearly a week in paperwork hell. All of my utilities and newspapers I had automatically billed to my card each month, I had to fill out paperwork to stop those payments and wait for my new card to arrive. Then set them all back up again. It was a LOT of work.

Law enforcement filled out a report -- they searched her house and found several credit card numbers on her desk with mine. She confessed to them that she took them from work! How much more evidence do you need?

I got a letter from law enforcement in her town a year later saying they had charged her $75 fine for using unauthorized cards. That's it! She bought thousands of dollars of stuff and she stole the card numbers and she gets charged $75 == that's it. The Law told me that there are so many scams out there right now..millions of them....this one wasn't really worth prosecuting since the total was under $5,000. I was livid! I bet she does it again.

I'm sending you pixie dust in hopes they really do find this person and then actually do something about it.

Wow! That is crazy!

I once had my identity stolen. I had my credit report pulled at a car dealership when I was car shopping. Someone there sold my SS# to someone and they applied for about 50 credit cards under my name using their address. Several banks called me to alert me. I had to call secret service of NJ or something. I do not know if they ever did anything about it. Their address and phone number would show up on my credit report. I called their number once, asking for myself and I heard a gasp followed by a quick hangup.

One time I bid on a comoputer or something on ebay. The seller refused to use pay pal or ebay's escrow service, he kept sending me links to pay through some sort of escrow service that looked like the website was homemade. I refused and reported him to ebay.