Possible scam??

Hi folks,
Just wanted to get your collective general feeling on something and maybe serve as a 'heads up' to you.
I'm advertising my Defender td5 for sale on gumtree. I got a response almost instantly from a bloke saying he's from USA and asking lots of questions about the vehicle.
He's saying he would fly over and then ship it back to USA. (He actually said to "import to Canada/USA"....bit vague????)
Perhaps I'm just too cynical in my old age but it seems strange to me.
I informed Gumtree and they asked for further info, told me not to contact him further, and say they intend to investigate.
My gut is telling me it all seems dodgy.
Have any of you heard of any scams that start like this?
Am I just being over-cautious?
Thanks in advance.
Very best wishes
Wayne

if he is prepared to fly over and put good cash in your hand and drive it away then I do not see a problem, on the proviso that until you have said cash in your mitt you could sell to anyone else.

Plus AFAIK, to import into the US it has to be original and over 25 yrs old or older.

Cheers

What would usually happen if you pursue the sale is that 'something catastrophic' wil come up and he can't fly over, and he'll ask you to arrange freight, shipping etc, he'll pay you an extra dividend for this service and he'll want to pay by bank transfer or Western Union.

Don't .. it's a scam ... He might actually live close to you and be absolutely bullsh/tting with everything, just want to look and scope it out for a dark night visit ...

Don't do anything if it costs you money before getting paid for it ... A TD5 doesn't work under the curent USA import rules, as @neilly said, and I doubt it'll be in sufficient demand over there to warrant such behaviour.

Yes, I'm cynical ..

Unless he actually does fly over and does present you with actual cash ... it could happen, someday, maybe ...

we buy cars from The USA all the time, we just transfer the cash via the bank , some owners get a bit stressed when we approach them after seeing thier for sale advert but eventually they realise we#er genuine ....so I wouldn't write the guy off yet......see if hes willing to transfer the cash via his to your bank

Thanks. Hmmmm. Well it's definitely not 25 yrs old - new in 2002.

Wavril said:

Thanks. Hmmmm. Well it's definitely not 25 yrs old - new in 2002.

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then he can't import it. simple as that.

He can import it to Canada... 15 not 25, as in the states.

You can import a car under 25 years old to the USA.......it will need to meet their safety and emissions rules.....and there are companys that will carry out any mods needed

Moron said:

and there are companys that will carry out any mods needed

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And what would they be for a 2002 Fender?

Cheers

neilly said:

And what would they be for a 2002 Fender?

Cheers

Click to expand...

no idea, but there are specialist firms that do know and will carry out the work
How much it would cost is another matter

Just to say thanks to all of you for your thoughts.
I will proceed with extreme caution! I will be cagey about giving out info relating specifically to me or the vehicle, only general stuff about condition etc but not chassis number or anything like that. I certainly won't part with any money or documents until all the money has cleared in my account.
I intend to keep gumtree informed of all developments so they can keep an eye on things. If it does turn out to be a scam, I'll post again here to warn others.
Shame I've ended up so cynical.
But you guys have restored my faith somewhat - thank you for freely giving your time and insight - it's refreshing that altruistic motives still abound! I will be sure to 'pay it forward' as they say.
Warm fuzziness to all.

Don't, under any circumstances, get involved with Western Union or similar.
As said proceed with caution, cynicism can be a virtue

Sell the wife' Micra recently and had 2 fraud attempts.. if they insist on PayPal payment and make excuses why it must be palpay then it' a scam

We copied and pasted the whole message into Google search and got dozens of hits of scammrs using the exact same wording..


Nige