As an e-bay Vehicle seller since 1998, I have seen many fraud and scam attempts, but none seem to be a prevelant as "The Nigerian Scam".  It is called this as many of these scams originate in the internet cafes in Nigeria, but it is certainly not limited to that country.  One of the most tenacious scammers we came across was from Abu Dabi in the United Arab Emerates.

The scam has several different openings, but the most common starts with  "I am an agent for....." and ends with a request that you take payment for the vehicle AND shipping and wire the shipping amount to a third party.  There is another version where they send the check and on the day it arrives you get a panicked phone call telling you that they were buying several cars and they sent you the wrong check.  Could you please deposit it and wire the difference to...... before their client finds out and they get in trouble.  We once received a $31,000.00 check for the purchase of a $15,000.00 truck.  Our net loss would have been $16,000 if we had fell for it.

The root of the scam is in counterfeit cashier's checks.  They are usually VERY well made and will fool most banks until they are verifed with the issuing bank.  The intent of this scam is to have you deposit the fake check, and then wire a large amount of the proceeds to a 3rd party who is supposed to be the "Shipper".  Then the issuing bank rejects the check, they remove the funds from your account and you are stuck with the net loss.

The most annoying thing about this scam is that many of the scammers hit the "Buy it now" button on 100's of vehicle auctions to try and run the scam.  They only need 1 sucker to make their week.  Of course you get your FVF back, but you lose any legit bidders, and you have to pay to list it again.

There are several ways to protect yourself against the "Nigerian Scam".  The first is to state that you will "Not forward payments to 3rd parties.  All shipping payments must be made directly to the shipping company".  Second, if you are sent a cashiers check drawn on a US bank from an overseas client, look up the phone number for the issuing bank and give them a call (make sure you look it up online, don't call any number printed on the check).  Ask to speak to thier "Fraud Department" and tell them you are concerned about the validity of the check.  A quick faxed copy will usually settle the issue. 

As for the "Buy it Now" problem we have only found one solution.  If you have a verified business account with Paypal,  you can set your auction to require immediate deposit through Paypal for all "Buy it Now" auction purchases.  This stops them dead in their tracks.

Most of all use common sense.  We deal with many very honest international clients.  About 40% of our collectible vehicle sales are shipped overseas.  Real purchasers wire you the funds, or use Paypal, Western Union, Etc.  We have never had a valid overseas client use a US Cashier's Check, it could happen, but it isn't the normal route.  The scammers are out there, know the scams and if it looks like one, proceed with extreme caution.

If you are sent a counterfeit cashier's check, you should forward it and all related names, contact info, phone numbers and e-mails to the nearest US Secret Service office as they cover this area.

L. Christian Mixon

President

Collector Car Central LLC