SYDNEY – April 15, 2011 — Today, Auto Professionals Australia (APA) released a general public warning of a significant new variation of fraudulent car sales websites claiming to be ‘car movers‘, as a variation on a previously reported automotive brokerage scam.
APA President Sean Morahan said “The scammers who run these websites are luring victims via advertisements on other car sales advertising websites like carsales.com.au and carpoint.com.au. The scammers post a carefully crafted fake ad (often copied from a genuine seller’s advertisement). The scammers send anyone who enquires about the car to a website that claims to be an ‘Car Movers / Car Transport’ service. The site claims that it will hold the buyer’s money in trust until they get, and are happy with, the car. The scammers are only contactable by e-mail or a one-way contact form on their scam Car Movers websites. The scam sites request payment via unsecure methods including Western Union money transfer. Victims of the scam send the money and no car ever arrives. Subsequently, if the victim attempts to contact the websites’ owners, there is no answer.”
Car buyers should immediately cease contact with any seller insisting that they deal through a car mover service or car transport agent, especially on the internet.
‘Car Movers’ Scammers Have Registered Hundreds of Web Sites
Research has discovered that these ‘car movers’ scammers are extremely well organised and have been using this fraud method for years in the US and Europe with many hundreds of different sites. They often (but not always) use the same template design over and over on many sites. They can easily make new scam website in just a few minutes, usually the same day that they register the new website name. We have uncovered records of them registering large batches of websites at one time, and then publishing them gradually every few weeks..
Many of the fake auto transport sites traced by our investigations are registered in Russia, but the sites are listed to fake registrant names and addresses in the USA, Europe and Australia.
It is worth noting that the fraud car movers websites found by us have not had any phone number, nor any form of address (street or postal). Car buyers should not, however, assume that any details listed on a suspicious site are correct.
Scammers Use Real Details to Support the Car Moving Scam
To make their fraud seem real to victims, the scammers copy real ads from car sales web sites and alter just a few details. They also often steal the names and/or details of real people to make the scam seem even more real. Many versions of the scam have told buyers that the seller is serving in the Armed Forces, is about to be sent on a mission overseas and so is not available to show them the car and that is why he is using the ‘car moving’ web site service. The fraudsters also steal the registration numbers of real Australian Business Numbers (ABNs) and in some example we have seen, even tell buyers to verify the ABN registration on an ASIC or ABN checking website. We have seen several people fall for this so it is important to point out that this does not prove that the scammers are who they say they are, but merely confirms that a business exists (which the scammers have no connection with). Just because I quote you BHP’s ABN and get you to check that ABN on a web site does not mean that I am BHP!
The moving cars scam web sites also contain many ‘warnings’ of online car scams and fabricated testimonials and stories from ‘happy’ customers.
At the time of writing, a live site with this fraud is: www-carmoversaustralia.com
Example screen shots of some of the scam websites are below:
_
|
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the warning. Saved me from these scammers!
I got a bit suspicious and searched for ‘Car Movers Scam’ and this page came up no. 1. Your warning pics are exactly like what the scammers sent me to. Thanks for that!
That’s excellent, thank you for that! Will definitely inform family and friends as well as clients about this!
I saw a report on these scammers on TV last night’s “Today Tonight” on channel 7. Thanks for the info
I was just about to finalise a deal with a David Barob stationed in a RAAF base in the Northern Territory who is selling a small Mercedes. He recommended we use an escrow company to hold the money until we are happy with the car. I have been sent lots of photos of the car and of him in his uniform, a very pleasant looking chap.The car was for my daughter and she was very suspicious and so googled “David Barob”
We are no longer going ahead as this does seem to be a scam although I can hardly believe it.
Thank You for this warning. We were about to finalise a deal similar to Brian L with a “David Barl” who was apparently stationed in the RAAF in the Northern Territory. They were selling a 1997 Pajero on carsales.com. They sent me lots of photos of the car and of a man in his uniform and also of his RAAF id badge. I was a bit sceptical so tried to look up reviews as he wanted us to use an escrow service called “australian car movers” and this is what I came across. I am so glad I wanted to do some research first.
Thanks for the warning as just had the same scam laid on following an enquiry i made about a BMW X5 advertised on carsales.com. I had a mate in the miltary check the name provided and surprise surprise they did not extist and i also found this website so thanks again. I received 2 emails, both of which are copied below. The second email was after i responded to the first asking for a phone number to give the seller a call.
the sellers name was Sean Conroy and the fake website was autotransports.com.au/
Cheers
Email 1
Hi there
Sorry for the late reply, the car is still for sale. I’m serving in the Australian Army and I’ve been transferred to a military base in Tasmania where I am doing pre Afghanistan Deployment Training, before leaving for Afghanistan, where I will stay for a while. In fact this is the main reason for selling the car. It would be a pity to keep the car in the garage for so long. I definitely would not sell it if it wasn’t for this.
The car is in pristine condition, never smoked inside, always garaged overnight, very well maintained, both the interior and the exterior. Never had any problems with it, no accidents. It comes with full service history and the receipts from dealer.
If you are still interested reply with your questions. I dropped the price to $49900(negotiable) including the delivery to your location because I need to sell the car as soon as possible.
Cheers,
Sean
**Email included photo’s of the car not pasted here**
Email 2
Hi Shaun,
As I previously told you, I am camped in Hobart Tassie. The car is also here, in a local warehouse, ready to be delivered to the next owner. I really can’t handle personally this sale, so I will sell the car through autotransports.com.au, the shipping company that has the car in custody now. They offer a great service for situations like this, acting as a third party. They can deliver the car at your place and you will have 5 days to inspect it. If you are not happy with it you will cancel the deal and will be fully refunded.
You can read more about it here www-autotransports.com.au/how_it_works.php. Let me know if we can seal the deal this way. You can also check that the car is in their custody and to see a brief inspection report here: www-autotransports.com.au/inspection.php with this code: 4F161AEF822C6.
If you agree with my terms please register with Autotransports and let’s get the ball rolling! The payment method is bank transfer. If you don’t find Autotransports suitable, good luck finding another car!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Sean
I fell for that scam
just lost five grand. Was the raaf guy. Can’t believe I thought it was legit 
Thanks for these warnings. I nearly parted with $11600 to www-safecarmovers.com.au. Fortunately my gut feel was that the deal was too good to be true and started scratching around on the internet and found your comments. Most of the wording in the emails is very similar if not the same as the emails posted by Shaun, except the guy was Charlie Coleman who is also based in Darwin preparing to go to Afganistan!!
My partner and I just lost money on what was ment to be a Nissan navara! The site was www-Safecarmovers.com. The guys name was Paul also from Darwin in the army. Feel so stupid when we didn’t listen to the concern the bank manager had about it all! Worst of all we have a 6mth old son that we were putting money away for now we are gonna have to take it all back just to fight for our money back! Anyone out there know how the best way to do that is we can’t afford to loose this much!
Thanks for these warnings. I got a similar story from a guy via a Toyota HiLux ad on carsales. I wondered how the car could be so cheap compared to all the other HiLux models of similar age, kilometres and condition. Then when the ‘soldier’ Paul said that the transport would be taken care of that rang alarm bells. I work in the transport industry and trucking a car from Darwin to Sydney costs nearly $1,500! How could that possibly be included free of charge? It makes no sense to buy a car you haven’t seen from someone you’ve never met in a place that you cannot go to see them when the car is (suspiciously) thousands below normal market price and allegedly includes a large transport cost free of charge. Then the scammers ask you to send money in an untraceable, unverifiable way (Western Union).
There is a saying “You cannot scam an honest man”. These scammers have set the scam up so that the ‘victims’ feel like they are getting the car for thousands below its true value and are taking financial advantage of a digger about to go off to war. Makes you think.
Thank you everyone for your comments and information on the latest versions of this scam.
Vanessa, we have spoken with hundreds of victims of these sorts of scams and have not yet heard of anyone getting their money back. Sad but true.
If you have ‘landed’ on this page, you should also check out the escrow fraud scam that we have posted warnings about. The scams are very similar and are probably run by the same people. See more on the escrow scam version at:
http://www.autoprofessionals.com.au/car-scams/automobile-escrow-fraud-warning/
Sean – Auto Professionals Australia