[s-cars] Online fraud (car related, delete if you're not interested)

[Brett Dikeman]

On Oct 16, 2006, at 4:29 PM, Joe Pizzimenti wrote:

> Probably not, back when I was selling my s-car, I got a bunch of  
> scam e-mails and phone calls from "Steve Anderson" from the  
> midwest.  I knew it wasn't any relation to the Andersons, but a  
> familiar name will sometimes do it.  He wanted to fly to NY, give  
> me the check and drive the car back.  Screw that, you can fly to  
> NY, give me the check, go sightseeing and I'll give you the keys  
> when the check clears.
>
> Some people fall for it, I guess.
>

I know of half a dozen people who have bought cars in precisely this  
manner, though I think cashiers or bank-issued loan checks were  
involved.  Not sure; didn't really ask.

I recall reading about a guy who was convicted of drug trafficking  
because he had several tens of thousands of dollars in cash on him  
which was found during a traffic stop; he was picking up some sort of  
truck or farm equipment and paying in cash, but that didn't matter;  
they threw away the key and pocketed the cash.  I can't see the  
Department of Homeland inSecurity looking cheerfully on an airline  
passenger carrying enough cash to buy a car...

They need to have plates and insurance to legally drive the car home  
(NEVER let someone use your plates, no matter the distance!)  To  
board the airplane, they needed photo ID which will match their  
boarding pass.  If it is a personal check, the name and address  
obviously should match ID, insurance, registration, etc.  Write up a  
bill of sale.  Etc etc.  That's plenty to go after them with later if  
the check bounces, and as long as it's over $5k, you'll get plenty of  
interest from law enforcement.  If the check wasn't legit, I would  
think that would fall under theft or fraud, and both "vehicle" and  
"crossing state lines" notches penalties up quite a bit up the jail- 
and-$ scale, probably.  Has anyone personally experienced or heard of  
this kind of scam being pulled off?  Doesn't seem worth the  
considerable risk or effort.

   You can report the vehicle VIN and plate as stolen, which would  
make driving from NY to the midwest pretty hazardous. For example,  
state cops in several states are now using hand-held cameras with  
optical character recognition, and they're connected to laptops  
populated daily with federal stolen vehicle registry data.   
Reportedly, the Virginia state police were getting a demo from the  
company next to an interstate and a few minutes in, the unit picked  
up plates on a stolen u-haul truck.  Hell, even the hotels/motels are  
tracking this stuff now.  A hotel out in the midwest -demanded- photo  
IDs from my father and I, as well as the plate numbers of the truck  
and trailer a few years ago on the way out to Mid-Ohio.  A plaque on  
the desk politely explained this was because of "post september 11th  
security concerns."  What a bunch of BS...

Brett