Well, a few of you know I've been looking at getting a 300ZX and I found one. A great car at what seamed to be a "too good to be true" price. Well as things go, if it seams too good to be true, it probably is, right? Anyways, I decided I'd be cautious in this deal and research every possible way not to get "scammed."
First off, the seller who goes by "Martin J. Lehtio II" or just "Martin" suggested we use Escrow, which is what I wanted to use. In any case, he suggested a website (http://www.online-transactions.com) to go through which he claims his cousin used a few weeks earlier to buy an ATV. So I scoped out the site and thought I would call them to make sure they are members of the Better Business Bureau, etc. Funny enough, their phone number and their fax number are conveniently the same, meaning you can't get in touch with them other than by e-mail. Odd, for a company that's been in business since 1999... However, I didn't think much of it until I accept his escrow. Once I accepted it and was looking at payment methods, I discovered they only have two methods. Either a money transfer through Western Union or a wire transfer/direct deposit:
====================Bank name: Wells Fargo BankBank Address: 1950 Grant Ave.Novato, CA 94945-3121 - USARouting #: 121042882 Account #: CYFROCASH, INC.
For Western Union money tranfer payments,please send the amount to: Our agent name: JOHN ALEXIAddress: 33 Burts PathCity: New YorkState: New YorkZip: 10011 ====================
Note, the two locations are on different sides of the country and payment is to an individual, not to a corporation. So, I decided to present the idea to him of paying via http://www.escrow.com. Seamed reasonable to me. Apparently not to him, however. He insisted over and over again he would only use online-transactions.com for escrow:
====================B2bdirector: i don`t know why .. but you want escrow.comMiniMan: It is much safer Martin. Please understand.B2bdirector: i`m sorry but i`ll complete the deal throguh online-transactions.com , like we talk about B2bdirector: is safer , my cousin told meMiniMan: It took me a mere 5 minutes to successfully register on escrow.com Martin. Please may you follow suite? You can have the cash in hand in less than an hour.====================
At that point I asked him to call me so that we could talk about it over the phone. He said he wouldn't call me, but I could call him. He gave me the number on his companies website (http://www.on-gold.com). I called the number, which hrrmm, wasn't "On-Gold's" phone number. Instead it was "Con-Edison's" (funny name eh?) phone number. So I suggested he call me and I will reimburst him the cost of the call. He replied he doesn't need money for that, he just needs a serious buyer... LOL.
Anyways, when I was getting him to send me the interior pictures of the car I recorded his IP (via Netstat). I also noted the interior pictures didn't include the "custom interior" he had shown me before. Funny eh? It gets better.
So I whois his IP (194.102.251.151). Man, what an amateur! The guy didn't even use a proxy or BNC!!
====================Final results obtained from whois.ripe.net. Results:
inetnum: 194.102.251.0 - 194.102.251.255netname: KAPPAdescr: KAPPA NET - BUCHAREST - ROMANIAcountry: ROadmin-c: KH339-RIPEtech-c: KH339-RIPEstatus: ASSIGNED PInotify: [email protected]mnt-by: AS3233-MNTmnt-lower: AS3233-MNTmnt-routes: AS3233-MNTmnt-routes: KAPPA-MNTchanged: [email protected] 19990614changed: [email protected] 20010215changed: [email protected] 20020104source: RIPE
route: 194.102.248.0/21descr: Astral Telecom Bucharestorigin: AS6746mnt-by: ASTRALTELECOM-MNTchanged: [email protected] 20030108source: RIPE
person: KAPPA Hostmasteraddress: Astral Telecom SAaddress: Bd. Mihai Bravu nr. 223address: sector 3address: Bucharest ROMANIAphone: +40 21 3266196fax-no: +40 21 3266196e-mail: [email protected]nic-hdl: KH339-RIPEremarks: Hostmaster's Team at Kappa-NETremarks: Team members are listed belowremarks: Gabriel Petre (GP8106-RIPE)remarks: Mircea Damian (MD65-RIPE)remarks: Teodor Iacob (TRI1-RIPE)notify: [email protected]mnt-by: KAPPA-MNTchanged: [email protected] 20030504source: RIPE====================
Woah! Romania eh! Even I wasn't expecting that. It just so happens to be the LARGEST place in the world for scam artists to come from! Well, I guess that explains his brutal English...
Let this be a lesson to the lot of you. ALWAYS be careful with your money. You can NEVER be too safe! Make sure you do things your way, don't let them pressure you. After all, it is your money! Lastly, as the old saying goes, if it seams too good to be true, it probably is!
That's all for now folks!
Corey
[Edit]On a side note, once I became seriously interested in the car, I did a carfax on it. The VIN he gave me was of the correct model, etc. However the car had been registered it's whole life to the same owner in "SCHWENKSVILLE, PA." Wait, he said he lives in New York?[/Edit]
Scammed! Err, just about...
Funny how Rob called me earlier today and we talked about this! At that point though, I was still blinded by the glistening deal, though taking all the necessary precautions.
I believe it will be back to the Q unless I can find a legit 300zx! Back to scouring Japanese auctions and classifieds!
Until then though, I'm gonna be dishing my money into my Q. *Greg, where are you with that supercharger!* I need to blow some $$$ on the Q to save me from buying another car!
Corey
I believe it will be back to the Q unless I can find a legit 300zx! Back to scouring Japanese auctions and classifieds!
Until then though, I'm gonna be dishing my money into my Q. *Greg, where are you with that supercharger!* I need to blow some $$$ on the Q to save me from buying another car!
Corey
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2003 Audi A6 2.7T (stock) - Contact:
MiniMan wrote:Funny how Rob called me earlier today and we talked about this! At that point though, I was still blinded by the glistening deal, though taking all the necessary precautions.
I believe it will be back to the Q unless I can find a legit 300zx! Back to scouring Japanese auctions and classifieds!
Until then though, I'm gonna be dishing my money into my Q. *Greg, where are you with that supercharger!* I need to blow some $$$ on the Q to save me from buying another car!
Corey
GOOD! I was happy you were getting a tight car, but sad you wern't going to be sharing in the Q45 modification frenzy.
Now you're back!
(I'm secretly happy)
Greg, I'm with ya 100%. 
You better believe the 4.08 is on my mod to do list! Unfortunately though, a few other mods have to come first (read I need a supercharger!).
If I end up finding a nice legit Z I probably won't do the supercharger, but will stick to smaller mods instead... headers, exhaust, JWT and 4.08.
Well seeing as though I just finished scraping together the money for that Z, buying a legit one or a supercharger (depending on which happens/comes first) isn't a problem anymore .
Corey
You better believe the 4.08 is on my mod to do list! Unfortunately though, a few other mods have to come first (read I need a supercharger!).
If I end up finding a nice legit Z I probably won't do the supercharger, but will stick to smaller mods instead... headers, exhaust, JWT and 4.08.
Well seeing as though I just finished scraping together the money for that Z, buying a legit one or a supercharger (depending on which happens/comes first) isn't a problem anymore
.Corey
http://www.q45.org/scamthescammer.pdf
This is a story (with photos) about how someone went all the way with a scammer and got even with them. Its long but SO satisfying to read.
-Jesda
This is a story (with photos) about how someone went all the way with a scammer and got even with them. Its long but SO satisfying to read.
-Jesda
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szh
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Unfortunately, no longer a Nissan or Infiniti, but continuing here at NICO! - Location: San Jose, CA
Re: Scammed! Err, just about...
MiniMan wrote:Woah! Romania eh! Even I wasn't expecting that. It just so happens to be the LARGEST place in the world for scam artists to come from!
Also Spain. There are many eBay stories about ripped-off accounts and "cheap" camcorders and cameras from people selling them from Spain. Hard luck stories and "purchased extra for company"! Yeah, right! :rolleyes
Z
My friend was just telling me of a Supra he was looking at buying on eBay with no reserve... great deal at $6k he says. So I got him to send me the headers to the e-mails and sent him a link to this thread. I also got him to search www.cardomain.com for the car. Sure enough, the car is on cardomain (Link) and take a look at the headers from their corresponding e-mails:
==========inetnum: 193.231.234.0 - 193.231.234.255netname: RDSNETdescr: Romania Data Systemscountry: ROadmin-c: RDS-RIPEtech-c: RDS-RIPEstatus: ASSIGNED PAnotify: [email protected]: AS3233-MNTmnt-lower: AS3233-MNTmnt-routes: AS3233-MNTchanged: [email protected] 19980210changed: [email protected] 19981123changed: [email protected] 20010924changed: [email protected] 20020104source: RIPE
route: 193.231.224.0/20descr: RDSNETholes: 193.231.224.0/24holes: 193.231.226.0/24origin: AS8708mnt-by: AS8708-MNTchanged: [email protected] 20011206source: RIPE
role: Romania Data Systems NOCaddress: 71-75 Dr. Staicoviciaddress: Bucharest / ROMANIAphone: +40 21 30 10 888fax-no: +40 21 30 10 892e-mail: [email protected]: AS1385-RIPEtech-c: BS747-RIPEtech-c: MIHV1-RIPEtech-c: ADON-RIPEnic-hdl: RDS-RIPEremarks: ---------------------------------remarks: Abuse reports: [email protected]: NOC Phone 24x7: +40 21 30 10 888remarks: NOC E-mail: [email protected]: ---------------------------------notify: [email protected]: AS8708-MNTchanged: [email protected] 20040112source: RIPE==========
Look familiar? Romania... again.
The seller claimed to have just moved to France and having just had a kid decided he wanted to sell the car. Lastly, the seller didn't want to use western union, or want him to deposit the money into some random person's account claiming it was a legit escrow service, but instead wanted to pay through a service called Square Trade. There's lots of services to use out there, but only one is truely safe; Escrow.com. Accept no substitute.
Needless to say, he won't be buying that car any more.
Corey
==========inetnum: 193.231.234.0 - 193.231.234.255netname: RDSNETdescr: Romania Data Systemscountry: ROadmin-c: RDS-RIPEtech-c: RDS-RIPEstatus: ASSIGNED PAnotify: [email protected]: AS3233-MNTmnt-lower: AS3233-MNTmnt-routes: AS3233-MNTchanged: [email protected] 19980210changed: [email protected] 19981123changed: [email protected] 20010924changed: [email protected] 20020104source: RIPE
route: 193.231.224.0/20descr: RDSNETholes: 193.231.224.0/24holes: 193.231.226.0/24origin: AS8708mnt-by: AS8708-MNTchanged: [email protected] 20011206source: RIPE
role: Romania Data Systems NOCaddress: 71-75 Dr. Staicoviciaddress: Bucharest / ROMANIAphone: +40 21 30 10 888fax-no: +40 21 30 10 892e-mail: [email protected]: AS1385-RIPEtech-c: BS747-RIPEtech-c: MIHV1-RIPEtech-c: ADON-RIPEnic-hdl: RDS-RIPEremarks: ---------------------------------remarks: Abuse reports: [email protected]: NOC Phone 24x7: +40 21 30 10 888remarks: NOC E-mail: [email protected]: ---------------------------------notify: [email protected]: AS8708-MNTchanged: [email protected] 20040112source: RIPE==========
Look familiar? Romania... again.
The seller claimed to have just moved to France and having just had a kid decided he wanted to sell the car. Lastly, the seller didn't want to use western union, or want him to deposit the money into some random person's account claiming it was a legit escrow service, but instead wanted to pay through a service called Square Trade. There's lots of services to use out there, but only one is truely safe; Escrow.com. Accept no substitute.
Needless to say, he won't be buying that car any more.
Corey