Internet Car Sales Fraud??? Please Help

I put a car on cars.com this guy from several states away emails me we haggle I am thinking BS but I play along we agree on a price he adds money to the price to cover moving the car and some other stuff he has stored $7,000.?? he never asked me for more than my address to send the check to he sends me a cashiers check I take it to my bank (were I retired from) the president of the bank inspects the check, the check has the watermark, security threads,2, inked signatures he says the check is real lets go see if it is stolen, it is not stolen lets preform the real test run it through the machine and deposit it the check clears with a "No Hold" meaning the money is available right now so the money is in my account, clear to spend that was 3 days ago, its still in there, the Banker tells me NO body can touch that money but you the buyer says let me know when your banker says it's clear and he will arrange to pick up the car

Now here's the weird part, when I say I feel good about my money, then I take the rest of the money and put it in the movers bank!!! my banker says so what do it, you will still have your money in your account and the car until they come pick it up???????????????? WTF somebody tell me what they think, I still have all the cleared money and my car.

I smell something fishy.

If it is a scam then this is how it will play out.

The mover will show up and say that the bill is much more than you were told. The buyer will say for you to pay for it and another check for the difference is on the way.

I have seen scams like that before but I can't recall the small details

What stuff are you moving for him? You're delivering the car with his stuff?

The wrote: Now here's the weird part, when I say I feel good about my money, then I take the rest of the money and put it in the movers bank!!! my banker says so what do it, you will still have your money in your account and the car until they come pick it up???????????????? WTF somebody tell me what they think, I still have all the cleared money and my car.

This part confuses me.

You have the money free and clear.

Does he want you to personally pay the movers with the money he already sent you?

How can I get someone to send me a check that clears and not come get my car?

It's a scam. I don't know how, but it is.

Hold tight for a few more days to make sure something does not go wrong with he check clearing all the banks.

It still sounds fishy to me also.

Dude, bail. This is all scam, all the time. Was he in the military or away on business?

You have the money free and clear.

Does he want you to personally pay the movers with the money he already sent you?

How can I get someone to send me a check that clears and not come get my car?

Yes, I have the money free and clear plus the car. He added money to the price of the car to have it moved.

yes I have the money free and clear it has already cleared, plus he is in no hurry to pick up. yes I pay the mover with the extra money he added to the price of the car no he is not in the military, I did get a few of those Banker says it may be some kind of tax where he is paying these other folks without paying taxs but I could not be held liable There is no hurry he says, when your banker says ok, then we go

I remember a little more detail now.

In a scam, buyer and mover are actually the same person.

You pay agreed upon amount when they take the car. This enters you into a contract with the mover. They say later that the bill is much higher and you are responsible because you are the one to pay for it. You deny the claim but they have legal recourse to demand the payment...... along those lines

I am suppose to deposit the movers money in their bank.

The check will not actually clear. You think it's OK at first, transfer the money, then get notified that the check is bad and the money is being removed from your account and the person who sent you the check disappears. You will lose any money you send the "buyer" and he won't ever actually buy the car.

I'd tell him that something came up and you can't meet the movers in person. You'll refund the extra so he can pay the movers and worse case you'll have "someone" meet whoever is going to ship the car. Their response will tell you a lot.

Scam. You move the money and then the check hits the final destination and there is an issue, then you are on the hook for the check and your cash is in their account.

I believe that's how it tipacally goes down, I would give it some more time, tell the buyer it's still on fhold with your bank, for another week before moving on it.

it's weird, like I said I used to work at this (BIG) bank and everybody there is telling me the check is clear I could take the money out today.....but good advice I am going to hold everything until at least Thursday, maybe move the money around a little. see what his next move is, would you send somebody you never met tens of thousands of dollars.

In reply to The:

Woah ... $7000 for the car and you say "tens" of thousands of dollars? How much did they send?

my truck sold for 30k right at market value then they added 7k total 37k came on a NO HOLD Cashiers check sitting in my bank account, truck and title sitting in my garage, I just looked up the company that wrote the check, they are a legitimate financial institution.......so it goes

I wouldn't sign anything.

I would send him a check for $7k and the location he can retrieve the car and title explaining you can't meet him because you are in the military and deployed to Alaska.

Give the state attorney general a call while you are at it. They might be interested in pretending to be you. In fact, I'd do that before I did any other thing at all except move the money to a different account.

Edit: now that I think about it - sending him 7k might be the whole scam. Just follow the rest of my advice. Ignore that part.

I smell scam. And, it takes like 2 weeks for a check to fully clear, regardless of what anyone says. APMEX.com, for example, will happily ship you your product 2 weeks after they get your check. Any check. So, I would at a minimum wait 2.x weeks and see if that money is still "clear." Then, let them come get the vehicle. If the money is still clear, write him a check back for 7 large overpayment, clearly marked as such. Certainly don't sign anything with any "movers."

Oh, call up the company that wrote the check and ask them. Also, a company can have a legitimate looking web presence and still be total scam. Do a google drive by of their address. Sign on the building? Parking lot? Call the neighbor businesses and ask about them. Search the Wayback machine for a history on their web site. Was it there 5 years ago? Or just popped up 5 weeks ago?

Yeah, 2.x weeks, if the money's still there, give him the truck and a check for the difference. "Sorry for the misunderstanding. Good luck with your movers."

Q: How many of these things on Craigslist's list of avoiding scams have you violated?

A: too many!

Dr. Hess is right on, except it can take longer than two weeks. I've heard of these things taking six weeks or more for the "cashier's check" to be found fraudulent after it bounces around the system. Forget about sending him anything. Keep the "money." Besides some threatening emails that will die down after awhile, I'll bet you never hear from him again.

OK, eight weeks and route his emails to the spam folder until then.

I just sent a email to the originator of the Cashiers check to see if they will tell me anything. They have very nice facilities, website, facebook all the trappings of a real business. We will see what Monday brings. Again the President of my bank says theirs not a sole in the world that can touch that money and the truck is locked in my basement. Stay Tuned.

Admittedly not from personal experience, the whole reason this common scam works is that people are told exactly what the bank president has told you, but it later turns out to not in fact be the case.