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Overseas purchase scam?

Poskashflo

New member
My b-in-law unfortunately decided to purchase a bike seen on e-Bay from a seller in Rome, Italy. It was a 2006 LT, listed for about $7500. I do not think he actually bought it through e-Bay.

The whole thing sounded fishy to me, but he went ahead and sent, via Western Union, a 50% deposit. They supposedly were using a shipping company called Global-TST. I can't find anything about them and their website is filled with typos. They have continued to ask him for the remaining 50% plus another $1800 "customs tax".

He thinks he is going to get the bike, I say there is no bike and it is a scam.

What do you folks think?

FYI, he has seen no copy of a title, nor Bill of Lading.

S
 
Unfortunately from your initial description, I think he's gotten hosed...However he may (or may not) have some recourse through eBay since it was initially advertised there. I would suggest he contact eBay immediately with his concerns, to see if there is any recourse. I would suggest that under NO conditions he send them any more money until the situation is resolved...just my 2 pennies worth. Also, I agree with Kent, even if the offer/sale is legit, the bike is probably not legal for U.S. import, unless it is specifically a U.S. model.
 
Any time you are asked to wire money via Western Union you are being scammed, period. I have heard of hundreds and hundreds of motorcycle and motorcycle parts transactions where the seller asked for money via Western Union and every single one was a scam. Not one single one, not even one, was legitimate.

Let me guess - the deal is, he wires all the money and they will ship it to him for a 2-week inspection period. If he doesn't like it they will return his money? There is no bike, no customs dues, no shipping fees, nothing but a couple guys sitting in an Internet Cafe in London or Lagos, occasionally going down to Western Union to quite anonymously pick up money wired to them by victims of their scam. Call Western Union's fraud department at 1-800-325-6000, I will bet a case of beer that your brother's first installment was picked up in London or Nigeria.

Your brother is being scammed, probably by someone who hacked an e-Bay account with one of the many eBay phishing e-mails that go out looking in particular for accounts with perfect feedback to use in scams just like this.

Here is one I literally got today:
ebayphish.jpg


Looks legit doesn't it? Only it isn't. If you click the "Respond Now" button you are taken to a look-alike site hosted on maxwager.com that was set up to do nothing but capture your login and password, and then use your eBay account (and your 100% positive feedback) to run scams just like this. The "Sent to: Undisclosed recipients" is a dead giveaway, and if you hit "View Source" you can see for yourself that even though the link says eBay and is even using eBay's own graphic it is really linked to somewhere else, in this case a site (maxwager.com) registered in Australia with fabulous.com and hosted in London with VPS.net's hosting services. I have already notified them both of the scam, let's hope the Phish site has already been taken down.

Have your brother call the local FBI field office and the local police.
 
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There is a 99.999% chance that this he has been scammed. He should NOT send them another cent.
 
Although a different site, I think the same applies here. Craigslist.com explicitly states that any deal that is outside of the USA and requests sending money via Western Union or another money-gram service is likely a scam.
 
Scam. The other posters are correct. Western Union? Overseas? Banks and many web sites have warnings posted regarding these types of transactions.
 
Hosed!

Ted's nailed it!

Your brother-in-law just got an expensive education.

Another good reason to use your local dealer. Yep, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

piperjim
 
dont even waste your time calling the FBI or your local police.
They won't do anything. I had the same thing happen on a boat I was trying to sell. The guy sent me a payment in full "Certified bank Draft" on a bank in Dallas which was bogus. At that time I contacted the FBI and the local police.

Playing along, I even went so far as to tell him that something was wrong with the first Bank Draft.......He sent me another from a bank in N.J.

They never did a thing.

460
 
Thanks everyone:

Just an update on this scam.

After another inquiry as to the status of the bike on Friday, a discussion with " the company" via a "live chat" function off their website, the story got better.

They said that there was a problem and they had been trying to reach my BinLaw. Apparently the seller had been arrested and the bank was holding the "bike" as colateral. They were holding the bike in San Francisco until the debt was repaid. Oh by the way, if another 2000 euro was paid (via Western Union), the bank would release the bike. "You do want your package don't you..?"

I was in error when I mentioned eBay, the bike had been listed in Cycle Trader.

I am curious as to everyone's opinion of the shipping company's website. www.global-tst.com.

Oh, some final depressing news- he had sent all of the money plus the customs request for a total of over $9000. Noooooooooo!

Thanks!

Stuart
 
Financial Darwin Award

If there's something similar to Darwin Awards (except, not awarded posthumously), I think your b-in-law would be a strong contender!! I bet he feels real bad! Sorry, there are some scummy people out there trying to get money from us honest folks.

piperjim
 
I am curious as to everyone's opinion of the shipping company's website. www.global-tst.com.

Don't know about the web site, but the domain name was created last May using a registrar in Melbourne, Aust. It's registered owner is hidden with a Sunnyvale, Ca PO box, a SF East Bay phone number, and an email contact that points back to the Melbourne registrar. In other words, they don't want to be found.
 
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