SCAM

[sammyr]

A guy from Newzeland wants to buy my porsche. He wants all my bank info to send a wire transfer. Do you think its a scam? Can people screw you over like this?

1969 MERCEDES 280SL
WHITE ON BLACK/ BLACK HARD TOP

[Benz Dr.]

How many cars do you buy and sell in a given year? Two, five, maybe thrity five?

If the answer is thrirty five, then you should already know the answer to your banking question. If the answer is five you should have a pretty good idea. If the answer is none ( very unlikely ) I'd say check it out a bit more first.

Daniel G Caron

[mdsalemi]

Guys,

There's a financial "vehicle" designed specifically for international transactions where you need to have some kind of protection; it is called a letter of credit.  Go to the international department of any good commercial bank and they'll explain it.  Basically it works a bit like Paypal; with intermediaries holding the money until the contractual terms are satisfied.

Barring that, in a case like this if you feel uncertain, simply go to a bank and open an account with $5 in it, and give this account number and ABA number for a wire transfer.  You might also alert your bank that wire transfers IN are OK, but none OUT without your permission.  If something were to happen you'd only be out the $5.


Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[Mike Hughes]

This is likely ligit.  I sold my 1934 M.G. L-1 Magna Salonette to a collector in Japan earlier this year and the funds were handled by means of a wire transfer.  It saves both you and the buyer a great deal of trouble in converting the funds from his currency into yours.  Consider that there is a certain amount of trust needed on both sides of the transaction:  You are trusting him to send you the money and he is also trusting you to send the car and the ownership documents in return.  

Go to your bank manager and ask him for wire transfer routing instructions.  Set up a separate account to receive the money and have the bank manager flag it to: A.) notify you when the funds hit, and B.) block any wire transfers out of the account. Arrange with the bank manager to then transfer the funds into your main account once they have been verified.  Be aware that there are usually some wire transfer fees (anywhere from $5 to $50) that will be deducted from the amount the buyer sent to you.  

Where are you located?  If you are on the east coast I can recommend Baltimore Packaging at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in the port of Baltimore.  They did a superb job of containerizing my M.G. (one of six in the world) for shipment to Kobe, Japan.  It arrived without so much as a scratch.  If you are not familiar with shipping vehicles out of the country I would suggest that you let the buyer make the arrangements for transport.  He may have done this before and know a good local shipping company.  That way he will feel more in control and comfortable that his new car will arrive intact.

- Mike Hughes  -ô¿ô-
  1966 230SL Auto P/S
  Havanna Brown (408)
  Light Beige (181)
  Cream M-B Tex (121)

[bluedipper]

Can I suggest an escrow be used to conduct the transaction.  The wisest thing to do when buying or selling is to let an escrow company be the neutral third party.  The seller deposits the pink, and the buyer deposits the cash.  Both parties are clearly identified.  The buyer looks the car over, drives it around the block with the seller and they both contact the escrow company to release their deposit.  When the escrow company get a release from both parties, they do the DMV paper work and the deal is done.  If the seller can't produce the car or the buyer never deposits the cash.  No deal.  This way you are not giving confidential bank account information to a total stranger.

Chuck

[hauser]

Open a new account for the new transaction.  Use a different bank from the one you currently use.  Once the transaction is completed close the account.

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.