need advice on an overseas sale!

[felix37]

I have a person from Germany who wants to buy two parts cars that I have. He want's to know my bank's routing number and my checking account number so he can send me the money. I'm questioning the safety of doing this as I have heard of certain scams on this forum before. Has anyone done this before,and if so,how? His e-mail address is ([email protected]) and goes by the name of Basti. Any advice on this will be appreciated! Thanks Barner's!

[cuzncletus]

I've done business like this but never overseas. I would be very skeptical about giving any banking info over the net, particularly to Africa or Europe, especially Eastern Europe.

Two things come to mind but maybe someone smarter than me can chime in. First, I'd take a registered check with the understanding that there be a generous hold time to make sure the check deposits. There's plent of counterfits out there. Second, can you set up another account with you bank with no money in it? Open it, receive the money, redeposit in another account and AGAIN wait for the funds to clear. Then shut down the decoy account.

An organization I'm associated with has a website promoting our cause. In any month between 7 and 11 percent of the hits come from Russia. You can count on all of these as being some kind of internet scam.

[Mac VP]

Years ago I did an overseas sale on some parts (several hundred dollars). I didn't have the credit card setup at that time, and the buyer wanted to do a bank wire transfer. My bank (Chase) assured me it was secure.....just the account number and bank routing number.

However.....although the transfer went thru just fine, on top of my bank's fee for this service, I was also hit for a $25 fee by some intermediate bank (between the buyer's and mine) who would normally handle such international transfers. I had already quoted my buyer his "Total cost" so I was stuck with that fee. Not sure but I think that was based on a percentage of the transfer. My bank acknowledged that is was legit but said they had no way of knowing how much it was going to be....

It was another incentive back then to set up a credit card service. I don't accept wire transfers now.

[Jason in TX]

Mac has a good bit of advice. Call your bank and ask them if that is an appropriate way of doing business, or if there is a security risk.

[52merc]

we down here to swend money to usa bank it seems to go through a intermediant bank which charges plus the 1st bank it goes to charges this is on top of the bank in new zealand charging for electronic transfer i think we are in the wrong business!! i would be very care full of sending my details to europe in fact this morning i had a scam that i had been left a lot of money but would have to send details to this person and some cash for it to become mind be very carefull there is so many scams out there these days trev new zealand

[Old Redneck]

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When I sell over seas I go to my local bank and let them handle the deal. I open a special account with 50 dollars in it and give the bank his email address plus make copies of all what he emails he sends you. I have done this several times.

[klicker]

All good advice. Talk to the bank and get their assistance, that's what we pay the big fees for. In the old days, this (giving them your routing number and account number) was probably a reasonable way to get money sent to you via wire transfer. On the other hand, that information is just what a crook needs to clean out your account rather than sending you money.

Be careful with cashier's checks as well. They are often fraudulent, and if found to be so after your bank has accepted them for deposit, YOU can be held liable both civilly and criminally.

So, again, get the advice from your bank on the best way to safely receive money. Or at least set up the "decoy" account as mentioned above, so that no-one has the ability to dip into your regular account.

Ah, the computer age. The technology that lets us talk about flatheads lets crooks find victims all over the world!

Stay safe, and hope the transaction is legit.... Roger

[ken1939]

I purchased two cars from Argentia. In both cases the seller used a New York Bank Account that was legitamate for the transaction. I checked into the seller to make sure it was proper before I sent any funds.

They way they worked it, I paid half up front, and when the car was loaded and in the container, I sent the remainder.

I would probably set up a seperate account that is not your personal one to get the funds sent to you. Once they check out, then send the vehicle.

I like the suggestions of checking with your local bank, and I was thinking of a car broker or broker of imported items for some red flags.

I have been fortunate, everyone I have delt with have been honest and up front.

In the end I got to meet the seller years after I purchased the cars, when he came up to Carlilse for the spring swap meet.

[paul2748]

Like was said before, set up a special account just for the transaction. Put a minimal amount in it (50 bucks). Then you can give the buyer the account and routing numbers and be safe. When the deal is finished, you can transfer the money to your regular account. Then close the special account.

[Lawson Cox]

Caveat Emptor

[Charlie ny]

Felix,
Yup what everybody said.........I found out the hard way
about overseas sales/shipments. Your customer should search out and
find a freight forwarder. All my west bound overseas deals are handled
by a forwarder in Ontario , Calif. All my east bound deals go to Newport
News Va. These are forwarders chosen by my customers not me....I've
stayed with them because they are stand up. You get your goodies to
the forwarder chosen by your customer and that's the end of it for you
in most all cases.
Shipping FEEs and surcharges and gov't fees and more heart ache
than you can handle pop up if you are not connected.
Charlie ny

[Mart]

You guys are paranoid.

Look up (google) traditional-motors.de

It has all the contact details you need. Full name and address.

You can call his home or mobile number, and look at the other projects he has.

How many scammers have a full blown web site with all that going on?

Call the number, have a chat with him.


I bought a car from a gentleman in Washington state. We talked the deal over on the phone and via several emails.

I sent $500 to his bank as a test of the system. It all went ok. Once things were well underway I sent the balance in two lots to keep the sums relatively small.

How could I send him the money if he did not tell me his bank details?

When you write a check, how do you think the bank knows which account to pay the money from? Your bank account numbers are on every check you write.

You dont refuse to send a check worrying it is about to cause you to be scammed, do you.

I know some scammers do exist, but in this case it looks ok to me.

If you punch his web address into google and it immediately comes up with loads of mentions of scams, that's another matter, but that is not the case this time.

Mart.

[Hoop]

"I would be very skeptical about giving any banking info over the net, particularly to Africa or Europe"

Hmmm ... Mart's over in England. That's getting pretty close to Europe. For all we know, he may be in cahoots with this "Basti" guy.

(Lawson, I tried to find Caveat Emptor. It's not any where near Europe ... or even Africa. I think it's in Mongolia ... over by Argentia.)

[ford1]

have him sent you a western union or money gram transaction, the money has to be deposited in cash on there end before they will wire the cash, you get the money sent to any place they do business in the usa, if they dont want to do it that way something is wrong, NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR BANK INFO OVER THE NET, get the cash in your hands before you go any farther with this deal, money talks, bull shit walks, protect your self

[Hoop]

"have him sent you a western union or money gram transaction,"


Then there's this advice from Craigslist itself:

"Never use Western Union or wire transfer to pay for goods - only a scammer will ask for this, and any funds sent will be lost."

[ora masters]

Originally Posted by felix37

I have a person from Germany who wants to buy two parts cars that I have. He want's to know my bank's routing number and my checking account number so he can send me the money. I'm questioning the safety of doing this as I have heard of certain scams on this forum before. Has anyone done this before,and if so,how? His e-mail address is ([email protected]) and goes by the name of Basti. Any advice on this will be appreciated! Thanks Barner's!

not no but hell no

[hardtimes]

52 merc,
YUP, same new zealand thing here as you describe! Got me coming/going and in the middle! Even your bud there said...well, I wasn't aware that 'they' (banks) did that..yeah , right!

[Mart]

Think of it the other way round.

He has to send money (don't know how much we are talking here) for a couple of cars. There will be charges for sending the transfer, charges for converting the euro's to dollars, trucking charges for the cars, loading fees, crating fees, shipping fees, unloading fees, customs fees, duty and tax to pay, and then trucking or trailering costs to his home base.
All to get a couple of cars he has not seen or inspected in person.

So, who, in anyone's opinion appears to be displaying the most trust?

Hoop, I assume your tonge is firmly in your cheek, I'm not in cahoots with anybody, just trying to portray things from a foreign buyers perspective.

Mart.

[Labold]

I've done quite a few overseas deals including sending a 65 Mustang to Germany within the last 3 months.
I've never had any sort of problem doing bank to bank wire transfers. They are not getting any more info than if you wrote them a check (your name and account #). Once the money is in your account, it can't be taken back out/canceled or anything like that.

[Mart]

Thinking about it, a check has your signature on it too, so in theory that's more info than just the numbers alone.