Photos used by the 'Dinky Gang' of vehicle advert scammers

I'll compile these over the next few days.

The scammer is tending to use the same photos again and again, also using the same e-mail accounts with each photo. This is a weakness in their tactics making it easier to spot their scams. If this forces them to use different photos and make new e-mail accounts and swap them round, they'll make more mistakes as more than one person is posting the fraudulent adverts and that'll be tricky to organise.

[email protected]
Audi A6 3.0 TDI Quattro Le Mans 5dr Tip Auto

[email protected]
Mercedes-Benz M Class ML350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Grand Edition

[email protected]
Vauxhall Astra 1.9 CDTi Design [120] 3dr

[email protected]
Ford Focus 2.0T ST-2 5dr

[email protected]
Mercedes-Benz E Class E320 CDI Avantgarde [Euro 4] [7] 4dr Tip Auto 3.0

[email protected]
Porsche 911 2dr 3.6

[email protected]
BMW X3 XDrive20d SE 5dr Diesel Estate 2.0

[email protected]
BMW 1 SERIES 118d ES 5dr 2.0

[email protected]
Volkswagen Polo 1.6 TDI SE 5dr

[email protected]
Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 CDI Grand Edition 4dr Tip Auto Coupe 3.0

[email protected]
Land Rover Discovery 3.0 TDV6 XS

[email protected]
Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi 115 Zetec 5dr

[email protected]
Mercedes-Benz CLK 280 Sport 2dr Tip Auto Cabriolet 3.0

[email protected]
Land Rover Range Rover Sport 2.7 TDV6 HSE 5dr Auto

[email protected]
BMW 5 SERIES 530d M Sport Business Edition 4dr Step Auto 3.0

[email protected]
Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 TB 155 Veloce 3dr

[email protected]
Citroen C4 GRAND PICASSO 1.8i 16V VTR Plus 5dr

[email protected]
Jaguar XJ 2.7 TDVi Sovereign 4dr Auto

[email protected]
Land Rover Freelander 2.2 SD4 Sport LE 5dr Auto

[email protected]
Volvo XC90 2.4 D5 SE 5dr Geartronic

[email protected]
Lexus RX 450h 3.5 SE-L 5dr CVT Auto Estate

[email protected]
Land Rover Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE 5dr CommandShift Diesel Estate

[email protected]
Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 CDTi ecoFLEX Elite [160] 5dr

[email protected]
Volkswagen Polo 1.4 S TDI 70 5dr

[email protected]
Audi A5 3.0 TDI Quattro S Line 2dr S Tronic Diesel

[email protected]
Audi Q5 3.0 TDI Quattro S Line 5dr S Tronic

[email protected]
Volkswagen Passat 2.0 Sport TDI 5dr

[email protected]
Vauxhall Vectra 1.9 CDTi SRi [150] 5dr

[email protected]
Citroen C5 1.6HDi 16V VTR+ Nav 5dr

[email protected]
Ford C-Max 1.8 Zetec 5dr

[email protected]
Audi A4 3.0 TDI Quattro S Line 5dr

[email protected]
Audi S3 Quattro 5dr S Tronic 2.0

[email protected]
Volvo XC90 2.4 D5 SE Sport 5dr Geartronic

[email protected]
Nissan Qashqai 2.0 Acenta 5dr

[email protected]
Audi A2 1.4 TDI Special Edition 5dr

[email protected]
Volkswagen Passat 2.0 Highline TDI CR DPF 4dr

[email protected]
Volvo C30 D2 [115] R DESIGN 3dr Diesel Sports Coupe 1.6

[email protected]
Peugeot 206 1.6 Allure 2dr [AC]

[email protected]
Audi A5 3.0 TDI Quattro S Line Special Ed 2dr

[email protected]
Audi A6 2.0 TDI 170 Le Mans 5dr Multitronic

[email protected]
BMW 3 SERIES 320d M Sport Business Edition 5dr 2.0

[email protected]
Audi A4 2.0 TDI 170 S Line Special Ed 5dr [Start Stop]

[email protected]
Volkswagen Golf 2.0 GT TDI 170 3dr

[email protected]
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Style 5dr

[email protected]
Audi A4 1.8T S Line 4dr Multitronic

[email protected]
Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge 2dr Convertible

[email protected]
Volkswagen Passat 2.0 S TDI 5dr

[email protected]
Audi Q7 3.0 TDI Quattro 240 S Line 5dr Tip Auto Diesel

[email protected]
Vauxhall Zafira 1.9 CDTi Club [120] 5dr [Euro 4]

[email protected]
Mercedes-Benz C Class C200 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Sport 4dr Auto 2.1

[email protected]
Land Rover Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE 5dr CommandShift Diesel Estate

The scammer has used this particular e-mail address in multiple assorted fraudulent vehicle advert photos. There's no need to show them all. I've just shown two examples of different typefaces used and listed the different vehicles involved.

[email protected]
Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 V6 TDI Altitude 5dr Auto
Audi A1 1.6 TDI S Line 3dr
Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TDI GT 3dr DSG
Toyota RAV4 2.2 D-CAT XT-R 5dr Auto
Nissan QASHQAI+2 1.5 dCi Tekna 5dr
BMW X5 3.0d Sport Exclusive Edition 5dr Auto
Volkswagen Polo 1.2 TDI Bluemotion 3dr
Audi A4 3.0 TDI Quattro S Line 4dr Tip Auto
Volvo XC90 2.4 D5 SE Lux 5dr Geartronic
Volkswagen Touran 2.0 TDI Match 5dr
Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDi 140 GT 5dr DSG
MINI Hatch Cooper 1.6 Cooper D 3dr
BMW 5 SERIES 520d M Sport 4dr Step Auto 2.0
BMW 3 SERIES 320d M Sport 2dr 2.0
Audi A3 2.0 TDi S line 5dr DSG
Vauxhall Zafira 1.9 CDTi Elite [120] 5dr Auto
Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge 3dr Dualogic
Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi [95] Titanium 3dr
Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi Titanium 5dr [110] [DPF]
BMW 1 SERIES 120d M Sport 5dr Step Auto 2.0
Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTi ecoFLEX Energy 5dr
Audi A6 3.0 TDI Quattro S Line 4dr Tip Auto

[email protected]
Renault Megane 2.0 T 16V Renaultsport 225 Cup 3dr

[email protected]
Fiat 500 1.2 Pop 3dr

I now have a better idea of how to tackle this gang of scammers.

I don't really have to report every single advert, though I will, but it's not a priority. All I have to do is identify what dealer they've hacked and then report a couple of adverts. Autotrader will then unlink the adverts making them virtually useless as their understandable economic priority is to protect those from whom their income is derived - the dealers. I can still pick the adverts up for a short while, but that's only because I'm specifically searching for them. Buyers won't find them and it looks as if these fraudulent adverts only have a life span of less than a day. As they're currently being set up late in the day, their impact is greatest overnight when no one sees them. That makes the scammer's activities little more than a smart but irritating trick.

I will focus on picking up and recording the photos and e-mail addies they're using. The purpose of this is to make it impossible for the scammer to rely on re-issuing the same unchanging library of photos and e-mail addresses. If they have to photo shop a new set of photos and organise, set up, operate and monitor an ever changing bank of mail boxes, the whole process becomes immeasurably more complex and any bogus 'buyers' entering the system will easily undermine and confuse the scam operation.

I'm currently organising and arranging the current details I hold and putting them in alphabetical order to make it easier for them to be checked. Even if the scammer beats me in overwhelming my bureaucratic process, he achieves nothing if his scams don't make money. If those he recruits see their adverts removed within 24 hours and warning details posted much more quickly, they won't waste time on what has become a pointless process.

Though the adverts tend to remain in place for several days after they're reported, they're usually unlinked pretty promptly from the dealer who has been hacked, which I suspect makes the vehicles 'invisible' to anyone searching either on the site or even the internet, though they can still be called up using the links I've recorded.

Obviously if a potential buyer can't find the advert on any search he makes - it is rendered useless. The fact that I can go back and call up details of the fake adverts from the links I've saved means that I can then retrospectively record the photos and e-mail accounts the scammer is using and by publishing the details, the scammer must keep changing them.

Effectively the over 50 scam adverts posted by the scammer last night have been wiped out and the scammer won't be getting the £50,000 - £100,000 he might have expected to steal from victims.

The changing typefaces that the scammer employs is helpful as it indicates more clearly which are new photo-shopped pictures the scammer is using and it doesn't make them harder to find if the amended photo isn't the primary one in the advert, but that tactic makes it less likely the potential buyer will contact them, rather than the dealer.