Over the last year I’ve warned you about Fake Vehicle Scams on the Junk Mail Blog. Our team have become more vigilant when it comes to the removal of these adverts, but unfortunately these scammers have not stopped trying to lure in potential victims and have been constantly changing their contact details (phone numbers and e-mail addresses) when they’re placing adverts (which makes it more difficult to track them). Because this is happen I though that it would be a great time to remind you about fake vehicle scams.

A classifieds user recently reported a scam involving a fake 2008 Ford Focus Titanium TDi on the Report a Crime website. Chances are that this vehicle was advertised for way below the market value. Take note of this Fake Vehicle Scam response (which was part of his report):

Hello, My 2008 Ford Focus Titanium TDi is still for sale, has 64,000 kms, manual transmission. I’m a private seller and the final price price is R 34,950. The car is tidy and mechanically in good running condition, non smoker, always garaged, has never been involved in any accident it has no leaks or drips. My brother owned this car, he lived in, South Africa. My brother died two months ago in a motorcycle accident and now I’m the owner of the car but I decided to sell it. I also don’t want to get rich on the death of my brother and also to bring the car here will cost me high import fees so that’s so that’s why I have lowered the price. I’m from Greece and is very difficult for me to get the car shipped here to my country so I chose to sell the car in South Africa.I’m not interested in any trades, only to sell it for cash! The car is priced for a fast sale, so it would be better if you don’t need financing. Please let me know where are you located and if you need anything else. Thanks for your interest!

The classifieds user thought this was to good to be true so he responded by telling the scammer that he would pay cash and added a few safety requests (like meeting at a testing ground, etc). The scammer responded as follows:

Hi again, I’m located in Greece and I can’t make the sale in person because I’m not in South Africa. I chose to sell the car online using eBay Vehicle Purchase Program services to close the deal for our secure. First you need to make the payment to eBay by bank transfer and after this the delivery process will start and will take 2-4 days depending on your location. I’ve already prearranged the entire process with them. The car is located in Springbok in a hangar of eBay ready for delivery to my buyer address. I thought you might want to see the car, no worries because I’ll grant you a 5 days inspection period, to test ride it starting the moment you receive it and before eBay releases the payment to me. I think this is more than fair for both of us. The payment will be handled by eBay Vehicle Purchase Program so if you are still interested to proceed further in this deal just email me your full name, your address as is stated in your ID, phone #, and delivery address if you want to get the car delivered to other place than your residence address. As soon as I get this information I will register you as my buyer with eBay Vehicle Purchase Program and they will send you the Invoice trough e-mail regarding the payment and delivery for our deal. Here are pics with my car: http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/martinplank7/library/. Thanks for your understanding. Martin

This is a perfect example of a fake vehicle scam response. Remember that Junk Mail is not affiliated with Ebay in ANY way. This scammer obviously doesn’t want this user to view the vehicle before they pay them a deposit for it. Remember to take note of the 5 Questions to ask yourself when responding to a Junk Mail advert before you even think of paying money into a seller’s bank account.



If you are unfortunate to encounter ANY fraudulent or suspicious activity whilst using Junk Mail, please report it to our Customer Care department via e-mail at ccc@junkmail.co.za or telephonically on 012-3423840 x2295 (during office hours).

Spread the word about this fake vehicle scam advert reports by sharing this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. You may be the reason that someone doesn’t get caught by this kind of scam. Sharing is caring after all.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Safety and Security category on the Junk Mail Blog.