Camper van Scam

Just got the following response from another ad, same text:

From: Julian Baalbergen < [email protected] >

Date: July 8, 2013, 12:09:24 AM GMT+01:00
To:
Subject: Re: 2003 VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER T5 CAMPER VAN 1.9 TDI 98,000 Miles.

Hi,

I can confirm that the vehicle is still for sale and that never been involved in an accident. Nobody smoked in and I never carried pets. Full history and V5 document are present, HPI is clear.
My last price is £ 5000.

The only reason for selling this vehicle so cheap is because I am involved in a military project and move to Mali on July 30 and come back after 8 months. It is the first time I will go to Mali and I'm a little nervous but excited.

It would be a shame to keep the vehicle in the garage 8 months without being used and I also need some cash before leaving in Mali.

Right now I am located in a small military base in the Isle of Man because our squad do some special training here.
The vehicle is here with me inside of the base garage and in case you decide to buy it I will deliver it to your address anywhere in UK on my expenses.

In case you are still interested to buy the vehicle please write me back.

Thank you for being interested in my vehicle.
Julian Baalbergen

It's the internet version of the 'pig in a poke' scam that's been in existence since the Middle Ages.

Scammers are looking for buyers who'll lay out cash for something without seeing it first, and they have the most attractive bargains and glossy photographs of the best vehicles you'll find on the internet. Any person selling a vehicle and expecting you to pay for it without seeing it first is a scammer or an idiot - probably both.

aaaaaaaagh! Just got another one. Motorhome on ebay. Looked great but did seem cheap. It was supposidly in Birmingham. I mailed through ebay and then on his mail. [email protected] This was his reply " I work 300 miles away from home and will get back only if the payment is made first as I don't want to waste my time or i can deliver the van on my cost. My job is more important than selling a van. I hope you can understand. You will have 5 days inspection period before eBay.


Thank You
Christian"

Havent got a phone number but have reported him to ebay.

If he's using an Ebay identity can you let us know what it is ?

It'll help us to know how they operate and how they're managing to get access to Ebay identities, if that's what they're doing. If we know how they work we can publicise it and point out the things people should look out for.

Hi again,
I have his number now, 07442311776 I did a search and he is after auction listers!!! Went on ebay, they dont rush to sort things out and the ad is still on, but when I did the phone search his number came up in another ad. The ids for these are, the first one is in Birmingham and thats the one I was interested in but I must say I was sus from the start which made me want to get him!!! liamlovesya (9) and staceyallenface (21) I so hope you can do something. I have left communication open with him and said I would ring him!! I wont of course. But then he is working 300 miles away from home lol!!! Hope this helps let me know if you want any more info I will do my best. Su

Hi
Just had the same e-mails from Julian! I have reported the ad to Auto Trader they removed it and now it's straight back on with a different price. Unbelievable cheek.
Black transporter for sale in Staffordshire.
MC

First time posting but this page saved me £3600 so thought it was worth registering incase others search for "Isle of Man army base" like I did. Exactly the same situation as the other posts on this site. Thought the price was to good to be true and the email didn't quite read write. This person is also using the name Alex Irvine.

"Hi,

I can confirm that the vehicle is still for sale and that never been involved in an accident. Nobody smoked in and I never carried pets. Full history and V5 document is present, HPI is clear.
My last price is £ 3600.

The only reason for selling this vehicle so cheap is because I am involved in a military project and move to Mali on August 07 and come back after 8 months. It is the first time I will go to Mali and I'm a little nervous but excited.

It would be a shame to keep the vehicle in the garage 8 months without being used and I also need some cash before leaving in Mali.

Right now I am located in a small military base in the Isle of Man because our squad do some special training here.
The vehicle is here with me inside of the base garage and in case you decide to buy it I will deliver it to your address on my expenses.

In case you are still interested to buy the vehicle please write me back.

Thank you for being interested in my vehicle.
Alex Irvine,"

Welcome to Scamwarners B_redds, and thanks for taking the trouble to contact us.

The work that many of the people do here is quite relentless and time consuming, and knowing that it does help prevent some people from falling victim is great encouragement. Happy campers and scammers with empty pockets is our aim - and it's always good to hear good news.

Hi
Just registered to say that my Mother & Father where nearly victims of this scamming scumbag..
After seeing his add for a very underpriced motorhome on e-bay he mailed him to express interest, the add was removed the same day and nothing else was heard. Roll on 3 weeks he received a txt from "Chris" explaining that he had just returned from holiday asking if I was still interested in the motorhome, he told him he was, he then sent email, I then got involved as dad contacted me with concern about this thief.

From Chris-scammer


[email protected]

Hi,
I've sent you more pictures of the motorhome in attach.

Mileage: 25,682
Year of Registration: 2004
Full Service History: Yes
The van is in perfect condition without any signs of damp/damage. Everything does work as it should with no faults.

Thank You
Chris

'I replied that I'd like to view'

He Replied...
Hi
I work 190 miles away from home and will get back only after i will register the transaction with eBay. My job is more important than selling a van. I hope you can understand. The deal will go strictly according to eBay Buyer Protection rules and policy. You will have 5 days inspection period of the van.


{we then received a fake e-bay page with details of his bank account and payment details...}
[color=#4000BF]
eBay Transaction #1210783609560 confirmed!

Current status: Payment pending...

Transaction details:

Item name: 2004 Peugeot Boxer Autosleepeer Inca EK 2.8 HDI Diesel 4/5 Berth
Item#: 12107***09560
Sale price:
£5,800.00
Postage&Insurance: Included
Quantity sold: 1

Complete your eBay transaction in 4 easy steps:

eBay accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer (if the transaction is declined, no further action is required from either the buyer or the seller);
The buyer sends payment and the seller receives it. After the payment was received, the seller must notify eBay . Buyer will send the payment details directly to the seller email address.. The seller has three business days to send the buyer and eBay the tracking number of the shipment. If no tracking number is provided, a full refund is immediately sent to the buyer;
Buyer receives the merchandise and has five days to inspect it. If it is complete and as described, the buyer should accept the merchandise. If he refuses the merchandise, the buyer must ship the merchandise back to the seller within ten business days.
After the inspection period is over, the buyer must contact eBay with the result of the inspection. If the buyer refuses the merchandise, the refund will be sent to the buyer after the tracking number for the returned shipment is verified.

The following item is protected in this eBay transaction:

2004 Peugeot Boxer Autosleepeer Inca EK 2.8 HDI Diesel 4/5 Berth (1210783609560)

Payment must be sent by Bank Transfer to:

Seller's bank account details:

Seller's name: Chris Idulancea
Seller's bank details: Bank: Barclays
Sort code: 20-73-53
Account number: ****4210

'I withheld a few numbers' wouldn't want him becoming a victim of scammers now would we!!

Welcome to Scamwarners scam-scum-hater. Your father is very fortunate that you spotted this scam for him. It's snared a lot of victims for a lot of money and it's a well organised criminal operation running it.

I've already said enough about this and made my opinions known, but the fewer victims they snare on ad sites the more likely they will turn their attention to other targets, and then the authorities might take more active steps to shut them down.

These criminals cannot function without 'money mules' and, whether dupes or not, they have to be taken away from them. The criminals will target companies, government bodies and banks, and they have already done this. Allowing them free rein to scam members of the public is merely encouraging them to be more ambitious.

Hi,

We too found a Motor Home advertised on the Auto Trader website. The offer did sound too good to be true, but we decided to contact the seller purely based on the fact that it was in the Auto Trader.

This is the email I received today: -

Hi,

I can confirm that the vehicle is still for sale and that never been involved in an accident. Nobody smoked in and I never carried pets. Full history and V5 document are present, HPI is clear.
My last price is £ 4500.

The only reason for selling this vehicle so cheap is because I am involved in a military project and move to Mali on September 23 and come back after 6 months. It is the first time I will go to Mali so I'm a little nervous but excited.

It would be a shame to keep the vehicle in the garage 6 months without being used and I also need some cash before leaving to Mali.

Right now I am located in a small military base in the Isle of Man because our squad do some special training here.
The vehicle is here with me inside of the base garage.

In case you are still interested to buy it please write me back since I can deliver the vehicle anywhere in UK on my cost.

Thank you for being interested in my vehicle.
Dean R. Dockray

I responded asking if we could come and see the vehicle first, I also asked for exact details of the vehicle for insurance purposes and a mobile number...the seller did not respond, I therefore googled army bases in the Isle of Man and came across this website with similar scams, it's obviously the same bunch of thieving bastards!!!

Luckily, we never lost anything this time, just a little red faced at the fact we got drawn in so easily...never again!

We feel sorry for anyone that has lost out to this person, we have his email address as: [email protected]

If I find out anymore information, I will repost it here.

Hello again,

In addition to my post above, the thieving bastard has just emailed me again saying:

Hi David,

As I've said in my previous email I am currently located in the Isle of Man in the military base do daily trainings for 2 weeks to get ready to be deployed on mission in Mali . I'm doing a special training program each day and I am not allowed to get out of the unit or give calls whenever I want. The delivery will take 2 to 3 days depending on your location and it's not a problem because I can do it at no cost for you. Because it is a large transaction, we will complete the deal only using an authorized third part like Google Wallet because I already prearranged the whole process with them, using their Google Safe Pay Solutions (bank-to-bank wire transfer) for vehicles.

The money will be sent to Google Wallet, before you will receive the vehicle. So, you will deposit the payment directly into the Google Wallet agent's bank account in United Kingdom, either online or at most banks and they will hold and secure your money during the entire transaction. I repeat, they will hold and insure your money until receipt of the vehicle in good condition and will release the funds to us only after you decide to keep the vehicle and you register it, into your name. You will have an inspection period of 10 days. In this time you can check, test and inspect the vehicle. If by any reason (the vehicle has any hidden damages or is not like I describe it) you can reject the deal. In this case Google Wallet will refund you totally and they will deliver the vehicle back.
You can read more about Google Wallet here:
http://wallet-google-uk.guneycim.com/en ... mpl=wallet

Let me know your shipping details (your full name, full address and home phone number) so I can open a transaction case with Google Wallet and declare you as buyer. They will contact you with further information regarding payment and delivery.

Regards,
Dean R. Dockray

So beware, this guy is dangerous and needs to be caught. I'm going to try and get further details out of him now that I know he's a conman!

It's pretty amazing that he's been using exactly the same script for months now.

The worrying thing is that I can only presume it's been successful, otherwise I can't see any other reason for using a story that isn't totally plausible.

hi just want to say he is still at it. More to follow!!

Welcome to Scamwarners Thesolver.

Please do post any more details you find. They're not only useful to help potential victims to avoid them but also to aid those who might be tracking the activities of these people. It's amazing what information scammers give away in what they do and how they do it, and it can be very revealing.