I put my car on autotrader and got this response:

"i saw your advert in autotrader please get back with the recent
mileage and why you want to sell it i offer$21,400please get back asap
Thanks"



I accepted his offer and told him to give me a call to negotiote things such as the wheels and so on. He then sent me this e-mail:




"Thanks for your prompt reply.After your mail I gotin touch with my client on the details of your reply
to our enquiry on the vehicles condition and it is satifactory to him.He really
commended your vehicle from its features in the Autotrader advert and has
instructed me to carry on the transaction at the price of$21,400 without negotiating
further,since the vehicle is still for sale and ingood condition as described by the advert.

I am therefore happy to tell you that I have concluded with my client
and he has instructed me to carry on with thetransaction, He said I
should let you know that payment will get to you ina cashiers check of
$30,000 which is a refund payment of a cancelledorder earlier made by
him.
Due to companys policy this payment has to be madeout in this amount
to you ,because company policy only allows a refundpayment on one
cashiers check,this amount is expected to in partcover both the shipping
and any other expences that might accrue in thecourse of this
transaction ,so you are required to deduct the costof your vehicle which is
$21,400 when payment gets to you and refund balancewhich is $8,600 to my
client's shipper,who will come for inspection/pickup
for him to be able to offset shipping & tax charges, and other
cosmetic repair costs.

After payment has reached you and balance sent toshipper, the
shipper's agent will come for inspection, pick up(of vehicle & signing of
title papers), make some cosmetic touches if necessary before driving to the prepaid shipper for
the vehicle to be shipped to my customer.
Confirm this and forward your LEGAL NAMES, ADDRESS and PHONE NUMBER
for payment to be made out to you as soon aspossible.
All other information needed in completion of thistransaction will
be given to you in due course.Your honesty, understanding and co-operation will be
highly appreciated. ,

Best regards,"





What do you guys think about this? Is there a way they can screw me out of my money? Thanks in advance,

--Mark

 

Anytime someone offers you more money for a used car, its a scam.

 

Thats kind of what I was thinking.

 

It's a rather well-known scam (although I guess not too well known ;-) ). The check for $30k will be bogus.

 

Ya actually some one tried to do something almost exactly the same with my dirtbike about a month ago. Offered to pay more and was buying it for a "client."

Wouldn't there be some way to wait and see if the check clears or something? How exactly does the scam work?

 

It is basically nothing more than a fake check, checks take a couple of days to process or even a week so that gives the theif time to take your posession.

 

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/12/checkoverpayment.htm

"According to the FTC, a check overpayment scam begins when a scam artist replies to the classified ad or auction posting and offers to purchase the item for sale with a check, then comes up with a reason for writing the check for more than the purchase price for the item. The scammer asks the consumer to wire back the difference after the check is deposited. Later, the scammer

 

You should kidnap "his agent" when he comes over, hold him for two weeks, and beat the living crap out of him when his check/money order/etc. bounces...

 

I just sent him this:

FTC Warns Consumers about

 

Thanks alot for the link and thanks for the responses guys.