# Beware the clever CON



## EdofWigan (Jun 28, 2015)

Well, a few days ago, while mooching about online for a Motorhome (to take to Spain for the 1st phase of my Spanish Adventure, I found a suitable Hymer.

Advertised on a very reputable website, I completed the onsite 'Message the Seller' form

The next day I received a reply from the 'Seller' all going well and the price was £2k under the normal, due to personal circumstances. 

I replied with an email that I was interested

The second reply arrived earlier and I carried out due diligence, as we all should. 

It turned out to be a very, very clever con. The con was known to the Caravan Club 

Please be careful out there. It could have cost me many thousands of £

Not sure if this has already been discussed on here but if folk want more details, post and i will add more detail.

Suffice to say UK Police have been informed

Have others come across the same thing?


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

More info please - no need to name names but how the scam works 

Davexf


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## EdofWigan (Jun 28, 2015)

_caravan sale con


I think we have just ALMOST fallen for a scam..we have been looking all over the internet for a touring caravan..just found one at a bargain price of £3,200 supposedly based in the ISLE OF MAN at an army base the person is using the name JOHN BURRIDGE..the caravan was a brilliant buy he said he was being posted to MALI there is another scam on here regarding a similar story its obviously the same person , the ad read just the same as the one he sent us..he said he was prepared to deliver at his expense..i thought it was too good to be true and I did a google search which brought me to this page..it would seem he has already conned people..didn't get us though!BE WARNED-if it sounds too good to be true IT USUALLY IS!_

This was very similar to my, more recent experience. Although, my seller was based at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh. Much the same MO though.

I will post my received emails, when I have removed the hyperlinks, so no one accidentally clicks on one, if they are also of interest.


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## EdofWigan (Jun 28, 2015)

From a legitimate on website 'Contact' form, I received this email:

1998 LHD Hymer B544 Motorhome‏


1998 LHD Hymer B544 Motorhome
Jacob Slater ([email protected]) Add to contacts Attachment 24/01/2016 Keep this message at the top of your inbox Photos
To: [email protected] (Removed by Me)
[email protected]
Outlook.com Active View
12 attachments (total 2.1 MB)
Click for Options
Click for Options
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Download all as zipSave all to OneDrive
Hi there,

I can confirm that the van is still for sale and that it's never been involved in an accident. Nobody has smoked in it, and I never carried pets in it either. Full history and V5 document are present, and the HPI is clear. My best price is £3200.

The only reason for selling this van so cheaply is because I am involved in a military project and move to South Africa on February 11 and don't come back for 12 months. It's the first time I've been to South Africa and I'm a little nervous but excited at the same time.

It would be a shame to keep the van in the garage for 12 months without being used and I also need some cash before leaving for South South Africa.

Right now I am located in Redford Barracks in Edinburgh Scotland, because our squad is doing some special training here. The van is here with me in the base garage and in case you decide to buy it, I will deliver it to your address anywhere in the UK at my own expense.

In case you are still interested in buying, please reply.

Thank you for your interest,
Jacob Slater


Please be careful out there folks 

Ed


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

EdofWigan said:


> From a legitimate on website 'Contact' form, I received this email:
> 
> 1998 LHD Hymer B544 Motorhome‏
> 
> ...



I still don't see the con - that could be a legitimate ad!


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## EdofWigan (Jun 28, 2015)

_... and that is how they seek to draw you in. Then comes the third email:_

Re: 1998 LHD Hymer B544 Motorhome‏


Re: 1998 LHD Hymer B544 Motorhome
Jacob Slater Add to contacts 25/01/2016 Keep this message at the top of your inbox 
To: [email protected]
*********

Hi Ed,

As I've said in my previous e-mail I am currently located in Redford Barracks in Edinburgh doing daily training, waiting to be deployed to South Africa. I'm doing a special training programme each day and I am not allowed to get out of the unit or make calls whenever I want. The delivery will take 2 to 3 days depending on your location and it's not a problem because I can do it at no cost to you. Because it is a large transaction, we will complete the deal only using an authorised third party such as Amazon Payments because I have already pre-arranged the whole process with them, using their Amazon Safe Pay Solutions (bank-to-bank wire transfer) for vehicles.

The money will be sent to Amazon Payments, before you receive the vehicle. So, you will deposit the payment directly into the Amazon Payments agent's bank account in United Kingdom, either online or at most banks, and they will hold and secure your money during the entire transaction. I repeat, they will hold and insure your money until receipt of the vehicle in good condition and will release the funds to us only after you decide to keep the vehicle and you register it, in your name. You will have an inspection period of 7 days. In this time you can check, test and inspect the vehicle. If for any reason (the vehicle has any hidden damage or is not as I have described it) you can reject the deal. In this case Amazon Payments will refund you totally and they will deliver the vehicle back. You can read more about Amazon Payments here:

http://payments.amazon.XXXXXXXXXXX_<Removed by Me>_XXXXXXXX _ this link will take you to a bogus Amazon like website to convince you the Safe Payment is real and there to protect your money._

Please let me know your delivery details (your full name, full address and home phone number) so I can open a transaction case with Amazon Payments and declare you as buyer. They will contact you with further information regarding payment and delivery but with no obligation to pay.

Regards,

Jacob

_and that would be the last you ever see of your £3,200 (in this case)

Clever isn't it? 

Ed _


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

Cons are nothing new.You mentioned the Caravan Club,this was a scam that happened 2004.It was aimed at people with static caravans and motor homes so that anybody driving over in winter would have a permanent site to put their motor home with water and electric.Like they say if its too good to be true it will be.The only reason I remember it was down the coast when the police were raiding the office and a lot of these people never got their money back.(((Brits arrested for Álora real estate fraud ))



Police have arrested two British men in relation to an alleged real estate scam in which dozens of British buyers of property in Álora were swindled out of a total of over 400,000 euros. The investigation began after some of the buyers contacted police in late January complaining that the company they’d purchased the land from had ‘disappeared’.
According to police reports, the bogus company was charging 17,000 euros apiece for 500-square-metre lots in a fictitious Álora mobile-home development called Lemon Falls. Marketing material included descriptions and pictures of an idyllic Guadalhorce Valley setting just minutes from the coast. The group even erected a roadside sign for Lemon Falls, though without any telephone number. But the company did not own the property, which actually belongs to a local resident and is zoned as non-developable.

According to police reports, the company attracted buyers via a Web site aimed at potential customers in the UK. Purchasers transferred their money directly into one of the company’s two Spanish bank accounts.
The arrested men, S.L.S. (36) and M.H. (25), were involved with two additional bogus companies allegedly involved in the fraud. The two men have been charged and released pending trial. Police say two of the principal scam operators have yet to be tracked down and arrested.))))


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## EdofWigan (Jun 28, 2015)

No, I agree they are nothing new, all seem to be variances on a few basic themes but this was well planned and so, I just thought a reminder on the forum, might save any of our members being taken in.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

EdofWigan said:


> No, I agree they are nothing new, all seem to be variances on a few basic themes but this was well planned and so, I just thought a reminder on the forum, might save any of our members being taken in.


that's why people are lucky to have these forums and the internet and people like yourself.Wish me and the wife had places to go like this when we came to live here permanently 21years ago but sadly then there was nothing and you really did have to be at the top of your game.Back then you really did have to take people at face value.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

As I have said before on other threads (most relating to building work etc.) you are more likely to be ripped off by somebody who can easily upsticks and be away before you even twig you have been conned. That somebody is more likely to be a foreigner who has no family ties to Spain or to the area. Most Spaniards, through intermarriage have family ties all over the place and find it far harder to just disappear with your money.


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