weird situation selling car PLS READ

[240guyNY]

hey, im selling my 240sx w/ sr20det and i had a ad on MySpace.com. Some guy sends me a msg saying he wants my car blah blah blah, I told him how low id go and thats about it. He just emailed me back saying this:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Thanks for your prompt reply,how's life with you? $6400is ok with me.You see,since i'm not resident in the us,i've already spoken to my shipper and he say's he'll be needing $3000 to ship this 240sx for and my other goods over to me.Please also send some pictures along.Here is the deal,i'll send you a Certified Cashier check for $9600 which when you cash,you'll collect your money for the 240sx for ,you can collect an extra $200 for your expenses to help send the balance to my shipper via western union money transfer,hope i can trust you on this?,i'll send his details along with the check . If this is ok by you,kindly send your full name and address,tel.no and fax no.,so that i can send the check to you as soon as possible. Expecting to hear from you soon. RegardsTarry. -------------------------------------------------------------Now i feel like i saw a post about somehting like this along time ago. Something just smells kind of fishy here. Any opinions

Thankssean

[PaulSheraton]

Thats a very common scam, a friend of mine was selling his 2001 RSX locally and out of nowhere someone actually sent him a "certified' check, for $24,000 saying to ship it overseas... He knew about this kind of scam but took the check to the bank to make sure it was fake, and the bank confirmed it.

Other common Online car scams

Online Automotive FraudThere are two basic schemes in online automotive fraud:

A fraudster posts a vehicle for sale on an online site, generally for luxury or sports cars advertised for thousands less than market value. The details of the vehicle, including photos and description, are typically lifted from sites such as eBay Motors and reposted elsewhere. An interested buyer, hopeful for a bargain, emails the seller, who responds saying the car is still available but is located overseas. He then instructs the buyer to send a deposit via wire transfer to initiate the "shipping" process. The unwitting buyer wires the funds, and doesn't discover until days or weeks later that they were scammed. A fraudster feigns interest in an actual vehicle for sale on the Internet. The "buyer" explains that a client of his is interested in the car, but due to an earlier sale that fell through has a certified check for thousands more than the asking price and requests the seller to send the balance via wire transfer. If the seller agrees to the transaction, the buyer sends the certified check via express courier (typically from Nigeria). The seller takes the check to their bank, which makes the funds available immediately. Thinking the bank has cleared the check, the seller follows through on the transaction by wiring the balance to the buyer. Days later, the check bounces and the seller realizes they've been scammed. But the money has long since been picked up and is not recoverable. How to protect yourself:

If you're selling a vehicle, never accept a certified check for more than the amount and agree to wire the difference. Even if you insist on doing this, wait a good 10 days before you wire a dime - otherwise, you're certain to lose it all. If you're buying a vehicle, remember that if the deal you're looking at sounds too good to be true, on the Internet anyway, it nearly always is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I...Fraud