The AutoTrader Scam

I recently placed a 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid up for sale on Autotrader.ca. On the first day I received the following email...

On Sun, 8/10/08, Gathy Brand wrote:

From: Gathy Brand
Subject: YOUR ADVERT CAR...
To: blank
Received: Sunday, August 10, 2008, 5:46 PM

HELLO,

My name is Gathy, i am an independent auto trader agent representing my client an auto trader who buys used cars from all over Canada, Australia, united state, and the united kingdom.

My client is interested in the purchase of your advertised car 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID, be kind enough to email me back if the car is still available stating the price as at today. Anticipating your urgent response.

Gathy.

GATHYB MOTORS AGENT.
Address: Unit 5 The Junction Shopping Center,
St. John's Hill, London, SW11 1SA
phone:+447024041502
mobile:+447024038931
Email.gathyb.motorsagent@yahoo.co.uk

and I responded with...

Hi Gathy...thanks for inquiring. The price of the 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid is $28,500.It is still available. Thanks.

Of course I was a bit suspicious this was a scam. How many of these have you seen in your spam or occasionally they slip through into your inbox. But I was selling a car...so it made me wonder. I decided to pursue this a bit.

Asking for the Car details

...

From: Gathy Brand
Subject: KINDLY UPDATE ME ON THE CAR !!!
To: blank
Received: Monday, August 11, 2008, 10:18 AM

Hello,

We are very glad to know that the car is still very much available and can still be at my clients disposal,you must understand that we really want to buy the car as my client finds it very reasonable for his kind of market and the demand of his customers.all i require now is, give me answers to the detailed questions below asap then we can make plans on payment and pick up.

what year did you buy the car ?

Have you been the only owner ?

Current mileage ?

has the car ever been involved in accident. ?

What's the present mechanical condition?

does the car have Any major concerns?

Any rust? Scratches? Any other damages?

when and where have the servicing been done ?

do you have the service records available?

What has prompted you in selling the car ?

is the car under insurance INSURANCE ?

Is the car automatic or manual ?

your bottom price ?

My client is an auto trader, he buys used cars and boat in canada, Australia and the united state ,and ship's to his customers mainly for profit purposes, the bottom price will really go along way to making him buy asap, thats if you really want to sell without delay, so you will have to be very considerate on your final price.

Also i will want you to get me some pictures of the car,the engine, seat, exhaust, gear section, and the tyre, as these will help my client have a formal view of the car and be able to make his assessment.

Thanks for your understanding..

Gathy.

GATHYB MOTORS AGENT.
Address: Unit 5 The Junction Shopping Center,
St. John's Hill, London, SW11 1SA
phone:+447024041502
mobile:+447024038931
Email.gathyb.motorsagent@yahoo.co.uk

my response...

From: blank
Subject: Re: KINDLY UPDATE ME ON THE CAR !!!
To: gathyb.motorsagent@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Monday, 11 August, 2008, 12:20 PM

what year did you buy the car ? 2007

Have you been the only owner ? yes

Current mileage ? 5067 miles.....roughly 8000 kms. This car is in miles as it was bought in the US.

has the car ever been involved in accident. ? NO

What's the present mechanical condition? perfect

does the car have Any major concerns? NO

Any rust? Scratches? Any other damages? NO

when and where have the servicing been done ? last week...oil change....local dealership

do you have the service records available? yes

What has prompted you in selling the car ? I need something bigger for the size of family we now have.

is the car under insurance INSURANCE ? YES

Is the car automatic or manual ? Auto

your bottom price ? $28,000 Canadian dollars Thanks for your interest. How would you normally complete a deal when you live in London? I was just there a few weeks ago. Beautiful city. Hope this helps.

Payment arrangements

I was curious to see how he might pull this scam off.

From: Gathy Brand
Subject: PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT...
To: blank
Received: Monday, August 11, 2008, 6:53 PM

Good morning.

We have drastically taken good look at the car update you sent and have observed that the car is in a good health and will be a good purchase for my client,i have been in discussion with my client on phone about your price, i am pleased to inform you that he has agreed to purchase the car after looking at the car details posted, also that he would have his shipping agency handle the shipping procedures with your optimum presence and support while your complete fund will be paid will be wired directly into your bank account.he is ready to make purchase of the car Asap ..

I wish to inform you due to time constraints on fact that we do not have much time,my client is ready to path away with the car for your bottom price of $28,000 based on the pictures you posted which was really beautiful.no one will really want to sell such a beautiful car in London, rather they would keep them .

My client has also proposed a payment plan, he said I should inform you to provide your Royal Bank of Canada account,where he would wire the car fund into. due to the fact that he happens to be a customer with ROYAL BANK OF CANADA , he suggests it would be best you provide a royal bank account, that it would facilitate the payment being a bank to bank transaction and that he would love his bank to help monitor the process to avoid any form of discrepancy. from his location he would wire your money into your ROYAL BANK OF CANADA ACCOUNT,as he wants to make payment before the pick-up date.

After pay has reached you,our shipping agent will fly into Canada for the final assessment and sign all necessary documents to effect the change of ownership and state of insurance, after that he will pickup the car and drive to a prepaid shipper to be shipped to his customer, while title papers and other necessary documents would be sent by you via courier or handed to the prepaid shipper if time permits.The pics were really good enough to convince my client..

Please Confirm and provide ASAP your,

Legal Name...........................

Telephone Number.....................

Office Address................

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA ACCOUNT INFO.........

Get this and get back to me ASAP.

Yours in service to perfect automobile.

Anticipating your urgent response.

Gathy.

GATHYB MOTORS AGENT.
Address: Unit 5 The Junction Shopping Centre,
St. John's Hill, London, SW11 1SA
phone:+447024041502
mobile:+447024038931 Email.gathyb.motorsagent@yahoo.co.uk

my response...

You didn't think I was going to give you all those personal details did you? I will talk with the Royal Bank and then if they say ok I may give you a new bank account number...but no personal info. Your email was recovered from my spam box...go figure...

Does he think I am not aware of the scam?

From: Gathy Brand
Subject: PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT...
To:
Received: Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 8:16 AM

Good Morning,

Your email content was well understood, but the fact that you discovered my email in your spam is not a failure as i also just recovered yours in my spam as well.

Now to make it clear to you, there is no way we can make payment for the car without having your full name, home address for the shippers when coming into Canada for the car pick up and your phone number for contact.

You can go to the royal bank of Canada and open a new account for these transaction no problem, but the fact that these is a private sale we would not like you discussing the transaction with the bank as my client would not like to involve himself in paying C.O.T as these is the major reason he like to wire fund from his royal bank account to a seller own royal account, to help him save cost and make the transaction go as smoothly as expected.

So as you move into the bank i do advice that you just go there and open an account without discussing the transaction or sale to them , just go there and open a new account if you don't wish to use your existing royal bank account, because if you tell the bank of the transaction they would start requesting for my client to make payment for the transfer hence he is out of the country, please do understand as my client would want these transaction to move on asap he doest want his bank to know he is not in the country at the moment as he is presently in Pakistan on a market research as he is currently investing in the Pakistan auto trading market.as soon as you get to the bank just tell them you want to open an account solely for yourself and as soon as you do that email me the account details asap, do make sure the account is activated .

Thanks for your understanding.

Gathy .

Here is my response with fake details to trap him into visiting my recently setup free site with a statcounter to record his IP address.

Hi Gathy. I set up the account at Royal. I think a new account is a safe idea. The account is activated. I am not comfortable sending info via email....I have a password protected site with the info you need to complete the transaction.

Please visit it and we can move to the next step...

Bank Information with link

Let me know what happens next. oops...I almost forgot the password.... it is Cblack9878

The Scam Artist's IP address

Bingo...I caught him. This guy was very eager to jump onto my mock site where I setup an IP catcher. Here's what I caught...







...remember he said he was from the UK...not Nigeria.

GATHYB MOTORS AGENT.
Address: Unit 5 The Junction Shopping Centre,
St. John's Hill, London, SW11 1SA
phone:+447024041502
mobile:+447024038931 Email.gathyb.motorsagent@yahoo.co.uk

What did the Royal Bank have to say

I did visit my local branch to see what was this guy going to do with a new account number with zero money in it.

I was told that most likely they would send an amount over the agreed amount and then ask for the over amount to be sent back. They would send a fake $29,000 and ask for the extra back. They send fake or false data and I send the real money back. The details to how exactly they do it is still not clear. Apparently a wire is hard to fake. You have probably heard about this scam from some of the banks. The email is usually unsolicited and lands in your spam box. Gathy was little more devious and crafty.

Either way Gathy Brand or what ever his name is in Nigeria, is still on the move and probably has someone in his sights again.