A member was potentially scammed when selling an item on our classifieds.

The potential purchaser claimed they needed to buy it with an international cheque in Euros which was duly sent including an additional amount for fees and exchange rates.    Fortunately the member got his bank to validate the cheque and found it to be a fake.  The scam is that once the money is posted in the account – but NOT cleared – the purchaser would have asked for a refund to be sent back to him electronically.   When the funds fail to clear, after you have sent the refund, the bank takes the money back out of the account. 

In general I would recommend that sellers never be pursuaded to use unusual methods of payments such as bank transfers to foreign accounts or cheques as in this case.  Another warning sign, as in this case, would be if the purchaser does not ask much about the car or part or asks for the ad to be immediately taken down.  A scammer is also unlikely to have much knowledge of Saabs.

This purchaser came over as being genuine so don’t be fooled by apparently ‘nice people’ making contact.

Please note that this is a general issue and not specific to the club websites Classified ads