Scam with Autoshipping

How I nearly lost 2,500 EUR when buying a new car.

I post this my experiences to this blog to prevent others in loosing much money.
I'll also post short news messages in famous newsportals with a link to this blog over the next weeks to publish this article about car fraud.

I've also send a complain to:
The Federal Trade Commission’s Complaint Form
Local office of the Secret Service.
Yahoo Complaint Form
Western Union

An now I'll tell you my story:

To buy a new car I searched the most famous car selling portals on the Internet to find a good but inexpensive car.
I found one which was nearly new but unbelivable cheap.
To know if there is something wrong with the car I send an email to the seller.
I got an answer from John Queec topcars9@yahoo.com where the seller explained that he've just bought the car in Germany before he moved to London, UK.
While in the UK is left-hand driving he's unable to drive the car and no one in the UK will buy a righ-hand driving car.
This sounded plausible to me.
Here are the copies of the sellers emails:

1. Email:

Hello, Chevrolet Nubira 1.8 CDX Pkw - Limousine - Tageszulassung - Int. Nr.: N65 EUR 8.000 , EZ: 03/2007, HU: 03/2010, AU: 03/2010, 5 km, 90 kW (122 PS), Benzin, Automatik, Klimaautomatik, Schwarz - metallic Thank you for your interest in purchasing my Chevrolet Nubira 1.8 CDX The vehicle is in good condition, has no technical damage at all, no scratches or dents, no hidden defects, no smoking. It's fun and robust to drive. Technical inspection and emissions testing is passed and stamped as well. It has title of ownership, cleared of any obligations or fees and comes with all the documents you need to register it. The price I am looking for my car is Euro 8,000.00 including the shipping costs, insurance and handling (delivery to EUROPE).You will not have to pay additional taxes for this (VAT reclaimable). Let me know if you are still interested to buy the car and what method you choose to use and I will give you more information because I am tired of people that ask questions and are not interested at all. Thank you and have a nice day!

2. Email:

Hello, It's my personal car.I've listed the car under AutoPark so I can sell it faster, but it's my personal car. I have worked in Germany for the last 2 years and I've purchased the car there. My company wanted me back home, so currently I'm in England (UK). I've brought the car home with me and it's now located in London, England. I've decided that it's better to sell it because I don `t use it anymore (the steering wheel is on left side and it' very difficult for me to drive it), it `s a pity to keep such a car and not to use it. It's listed in Germany because when i have posted the car on www.mobile.de I had to use a German address. Now I'm trying to sell it back for such a low price because next week I have a deadline term for paying those taxes. I tried to sell the car in UK, but nobody want`s to buy a left side steering wheel car. My car is already at the "www.autoshippers.co.uk" at their local representant. We can have a deal if you are really interested to buy it. The price is correct and it's not negotiable and it also includes the transport. Please write me back to discuss only if you are interested! Regards,

3. Email:

Hello, i payed all taxes and all shipping cost and the car is ready to be shipped.Please done the payment to the company so they can deliver you the car.After you will have 10 days to inspect the car.If you don't like it, you will ask your money back.Is very simply and secured transaction regards

Than I got an email from Autoshippers UK Services shipping-started@uk-autoshippers.com :

We wish you welcome to Autoshippers UK Services. You are now one of our customers. As per your agreement with mr John Queec we are sending you the payment invoice for your waiting vehicle wich is in our posession. Through this e-mail we have the pleasure to inform you that the merchandise has been left in our custody, the shipping fee was paid by the Seller and the transaction is ready to start... Our company reduces risks associated with Internet transactions by acting as a licensed, trusted, neutral third party for online transactions. The Seller leaves the merchandise into Autoshippers UK Services custody. The merchandise will remain in Autoshippers UK Services custody until the Buyer provides the payment informations to Autoshippers UK Services. The payment must be made through Western Union Transfer of our Payment Agent. Once the funds are verified by Autoshippers UK Services, the merchandise will be delivered to the Buyer. Once the Buyer receives the merchandise and try it for 10 days, the payment will be released to the Seller only if the Buyer is completely satisfied with the merchandise. If the Buyer will not be satisfied with the merchandise, Autoshippers UK Services will deliver the merchandise back to the Seller at the Seller's expense. In the United Kingdom, Autoshippers UK Services worldwide delivery services are provided by Autoshippers UK. With 170 depots in the United Kingdom, provide the closest customer contact with a specially trained staff dedicated to customer satisfaction.

They asked to pay the money by Western Union:

Next step to be taken: The buyer must send the payment Western Union Transfer to our Autoshippers UK Agent. Full name: Martin Peterson Address: 170 Westminster Bridge Rd City: London Zip code: SE1 7RW Country: United Kingdom

I was skeptical, so I searched for Autoshippers UK Services and found this url
http://www.autoshippers.co.uk/
Than I googled for and fraud autoshippers.co.uk and found
this article about auto shipping fraud.
This article was written by the managing director of
Autoshippers UK.
So it seems that the company seems to be ok.

But this article let the alarm bills ring:
"Be cautious of overcomplicated transactions involving shipping agents, business partners, middle men and so on, all designed to leave you seriously out of pocket, and the crooks with your cash. As with all online transactions please check the credentials of who are you are dealing with. If it sounds to good to be true, then it normally is."

They requsted me to pay by Western Union to an agent but the managing director of the same company writes in his aricle not to do it.
Very strange.
I looked at the email addres and found that is was @uk-autoshippers.com instead of @autoshippers.co.uk .

So I took their phone number from their web site and called them.
They told me that I'm the fourth who called today and reported a claim and the last week they got many of such claims and their company has nothing to do with these fraudsters.