Net fraudsters target car buyers
Visitors to the qatarliving.com website have pointed to some of the cars-for-sale ads as a possible scam where the items are listed at very low prices.
The vehicles, in most cases, are quoted at prices like QR20,000 and are described as “scarcely used” with mileage ranging from 20,000km-30,000km. Pictures of vehicles posted by the fraudsters bear no local number plates as opposed to other listings.
Interested parties who contact the listed addresses, usually e-mail ids ([email protected], [email protected]), are told the same story over and over again.
“The car is in excellent condition, no damage, never involved in any accidents, no scratches, garage kept. It is working properly. I am the first owner of the car. I am from London. I have a company here in UK and I’ve businesses in Qatar and this car was used only for driving in Qatar where I’ve had some stores. Here in London I have a car with the steering weel (wheel) on the right side so I do not use the car here. The car is registered in Qatar, I didn’t register in UK and all the papers are ok. Now I have closed the stores in Qatar and I do not need anymore the car so for the sale it goes. The car will be shipped by a company from UK to your country. I will pay for shipping and insurance so you don’t have to worry for more expenses.
The car will arrive to you in about two-three days and you will have three days to inspect it before taking a decision to buy it or not,” the fraudster, using the name ‘John Michael’ writes, in a generic response to all queries.
On further interest, Michael generally responds that he is busy but has found a company that will help him ship the car “easily” and will handle shipping, payment and other charges. The potential customer, however, would have to transfer 40% of the car’s listed value to the shipping company who will notify the buyer “on how to make the payment.”
A spokesman for Qatarliving.com yesterday told Gulf Times that so far “no one has contacted us saying that they have been duped by these scamsters and actually lost money.”
The website, which is also a popular classified platform for a variety of small and large items, has a permanent warning for all prospective buyers: “Deal locally with people you can meet in person – follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts.”
It also has a separate advisory in a section entitled “avoiding scams and fraud” for the not-so-discerning visitors.
But those with a keen eye insist that for any online transaction one must always be vigilant and choose wisely.
Online purchasers urged to be vigilant
The Supreme Council of Information & Communication Technology’s (ictQatar) executive director William Fagan said any one transacting online should know the source (seller). “Buying anything online, especially something as big as a car should not be done without actually looking at it,” Fagan, a former head of consumer protection in Ireland, said. Although not under the ambit of ictQatar, Fagan suggested in case of grievance, a customer can go to the consumer protection department at the Ministry of Business & Trade, or register a police case. “A police case can be pursued since there are some provisions in the local laws that can be implied in online fraud,” ictQatar legal & regulatory manager Meegan Webb noted. “They (consumers) need to be informed, choose wisely and exercise their rights,” Webb said. “Just because a fraudulent ad was placed on a local website does not make the website a culprit. It’s similar to some housing agents putting misleading ads in local newspapers,” Fagan added.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=304558...
article goes against QL:
"Pictures of vehicles posted by the fraudsters bear no local number plates as opposed to other listings.
Interested parties who contact the listed addresses, usually e-mail ids (urnnsduhsr764/-a-t-/live.com, yubertel-orherju3894/-a-t-/hotmail.com), are told the same story over and over again."
They also posted the contents of the email sent by the fraudsters to the prospect buyer.
It is kind of awareness for public to avoid such scam if contacted.
I really can't believe that this is news material. If you are silly enough to be taken in by such an obvious con, then i have a landcruiser , carefully driven by a little old lady in London for sale - Cheap!
see any thing like that just click on th flag as spam under the ad. simple.
gullible + greedy + stupid = you get DUPED :P
not spy rizks actually im one of the nigerian scammer...lol
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
It's a magical combination of gullibility, greed and stupidity.
it is not 'gullible', it is greedy PM.
EMN .....
R U a spi here in QL ? :(
they think there is a financial advantage for them. Just look at the Nigerian scammers.
I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM
rms im trying to make qatar living better...lol.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
GT people / reporters too lazy to move their butt out of the office to go out there to find new story. It is alot easier just to vegetate in front of the computer and read QL then write a story from QL website.
Mind your own business !! ;-P
--
tEaCh Me RuLeS, i'Ll TeAcH hOw To BrEaK iT ..
rMs..!!
Ok question how does this spam button thing actually works.....does it get auto deleted if 5 or more users mark it as spam or the moderator still need to do it manually.
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
Geeze Gulf times seems to be keeping an eye on Qatarliving now. Or do we have some spies among us? Great news reporting copy and paste :P
Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)
_[]~SMoKE~[]_
They have read this post made 2+2 = 10 and written this article
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/617103
[img_assist|nid=50852|title=hmm|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
Thank you MOD for you response.... here are some more.
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/616372
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/616359
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
[mod note - thanks. At the bottom of each ad there is a link "flag this as spam/scam". If you click this we are made aware of it and can block the ad sooner]
>> rms .. they should have written that by themselves.. (i guess)
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
i missed reading this line..
"A spokesman for Qatarliving.com yesterday told Gulf Times that so far “no one has contacted us saying that they have been duped by these scamsters and actually lost money.”"
--
tEaCh Me RuLeS, i'Ll TeAcH hOw To BrEaK iT ..
rMs..!!
rms i was wondering abt the same thing...
Did GT contact any QL official before they wrote this article?
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
How's it insulting? It says that QL warns users about scams and how to avoid them, and ICT says that the website isn't to blame.
Isn't this a public insult to QL?
--
tEaCh Me RuLeS, i'Ll TeAcH hOw To BrEaK iT ..
rMs..!!
If someone fell for such an obvious scam then they'd deserve to lose their money.
sorry MOD is busy banning people and blocking threads....he dont have time to look into the classifields section.
[mod note: We probably spend more time moderating the classifieds than the main forum.]
Aana free, jaana free,
Pakde gaye tho khana free.
Thanks for posting.
Its helpful.
-------------------------------------------------------
Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.
(the copy of the reply mail i recieved)
i was wondering for the last 2-3 weeks how could one sell for such a low price.. and i thought may be the rest is loan ... :)
----------------------------------------------------
RE: [Qatar Living] what is the actual price for your corolla
From: john michael ([email protected])
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk
Sent: 21 July 2009 23:21PM
To: [email protected]
Hello,
The car is in excellent condition, no damage, never involved in any accidents, no scratches, garage kept. It is working properly.I am the first owner of the car. I am from London , United Kingdom. I have a company here in United Kingdom and I've made businesses on Qatar and this car was used only for driving in Qatar where I've had some stores. Here in London I have a car with the steering weel on the right side so I do not use the car here. The car is registered in Qatar , I didn't registered in United Kingdom and all the papers are ok. Now I closed the stores from Qatar and I do not need anymore the car so for the sale it goes.The car will be shipped by a company from United Kingdom to your country. I will pay for shipping and insurance so you don't have to worry for more expences. The car will arrive to you in about 2-3 days and you will have 3 days to inspect it before take the decision to buy it or not.
If you need any further information please feel free to contact me.
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [Qatar Living] what is the actual price for your corolla
> From: [email protected]
> Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:29:37 +0000
>
> romeogheti483,
>
> simpleman (http://www.qatarliving.com/user/simpleman) has sent you a
> message via your contact form
> (http://www.qatarliving.com/user/120865/contact) at Qatar Living.
>
> If you don't want to receive such e-mails, you can change your settings at
> http://www.qatarliving.com/user/romeogheti483.
>
> Message:
>
> hai,
>
> i would like to know the price of your car which in QL is shown QR22,000.
>
> any other details
>
> thanks
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S.M.I.L.E
Simpleman is loving everyone
:):):)