Holey Moley - so many (judging by the ridiculously low prices). OK I got my eye on that rather bling 2005 Range Rover Sport 2.7 TDV6 HSE 22" Wheels (from 10 Feb).
Why is it £20,000 less than book?
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Really interesting - but when they're that far below book price, surely anyone with a bit of sense is going to get a little suspicious? If not stolen, then surely with a 'dodgy' history?
And why don't the police get suspicious at this point and step in?
Tell us more, seataltea!
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I won't labour the point but until recently most every Police Force had Stolen Vehicle Squads, only a handful remain.
Stolen vehicle cases often took months , the sentences were low, they were manpower intensive and at the end only a handful of crimes were detected. Stolen vehicles cases never made good headlines and the work was often viewed as a 'dark art' by Police managers. All the things that the Government did not want in other words, so gradually they were phased put.
To nail the coffin closed Labour embraced The Human Rights Act and The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. This meant that the simple act of a copper ringing up about a suspicious advert and pretending to be a member of the public to go and have a look at it required a number of these forms completing and signing by the correct people, it took days, the work ground to a halt.
security.homeoffice.gov.uk/ripa/publication-search.../
The thieves however continue to make huge profits and the cars are still stolen.
A great many of the people who part with their cash for these cars are clueless, it's easy with hindsight to ask what were they thinking, there are many reasons, greed, stupidity, vanity or any combination of these.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 10/09/2008 at 11:15
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So what exactly is the craigslist website?
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It is a cheap and cheerful listing site.
Has made the owner quite a lot of money from what I've read.
I guess dodgy people will always find a way to get their ads
out ...
eBay and Gumtree etc have their share of fraud too.
Should we all get gmail addresses that sound official and enquire
about the history of the cars for sale then ?
stolencarchecker2008@gmail.com ?
I have been at the other end of these kind of things. My mother's car
was stolen from a garage where it was being repaired in Glasgow.
We got a replacement, but every now and again, I see our original
car being driven in Edinburgh where I now live! It was recovered.
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Galaxian have you been watching CSI ?
That was the way I was heading, whatever you do make sure you use a false id and throwaway email address, Gmail is perfect.
Firstly find the suspicious advert. Look for tell tale signs...... price, mobile only number, one key, selling on behalf of a friend who's gone overseas, a landline that says 'only ring me between this hour and that hour' (the thief is sat outside a telephone box waiting for your call).
ONLY engage in email communication, tell them you have cash waiting, ask for legible digital camera camers shots of the V5 and papers, ask for the V5 serial number, where and when it was last serviced, you know the sort of stuff. Make sure you make a note of the tel number used in the ad, that's how most advertisers track their adverts.
If it's wrong they will eventually stop answering.
I suggest at that time your anonimity continues with this lot www.crimestoppers-uk.org and you report your suspicions.
Finally let me say that this can be a great deal of fun.... yes fun....you have a thief on the end of a line wanting to bite your cash, they will jump though many hoops before they twig you are scamming them. It's a little like en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scam_baiting .
.*********
Remember these cars are for sale all the time on all the major public routes to the second hand car market, the net has made it easier to attract a national audience however.
Email only contact using a throwaway address then report it via Crimestoppers.
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Would it not be much more fun to pay them with forged money or a dodgy bankers draft and shaft them at their own game?! :-)
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Have you got regular access to forged money and dodgy bankers drafts, something you want to tell us.....
I suggest sticking with email.
Edited by seataltea on 23/03/2008 at 10:57
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Whilst I certainly do not support the crime I also do not support the baiting and wind ups (got better things to do with my time!)
If you are so certain these adverts are for stolen / fraudulent vehicles why not inform your police and trading standards with supporting letters to mp etc.
That is what they are there for (part of the reason we pay taxes?)
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I have a £7000 "Bank of Ireland" bankers draft that I scam baited out of a "Norweigan" that wanted to buy my g/f's fiat Cinquecento...
It was advertised at £600, got the e-mail asking "please advise the final price you will accept for the car" so I told him £4000... being very kind he offered to send £7000 = £4000 for the car, £2000 which I had to wire to his friend immediately for the shipping and £1000 for my trouble....
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I'm a simple sort of chap, haven't some of these blighters ever thought of getting a job and doing a days work for a living like the rest of us.
This reads like a journey to hell.
Looks like the proper genuine dealer will be getting my lolly from now on.
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"This reads like a journey to hell."
I think that the Archbishop of Canterbury may have based today's sermon on this thread
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i have recently put a car on EBAY and im amazed at the number of people who have enquired about it but are not willing to come and have a look at it first.
ive had about 6 people email me for more details and not one of them has taken me up on my offer to come and check it out in person.....personally i think some people deserve to get scammed.........FYI my car is prerfectly legit so any of them buying it will be lucky this time but it still shocks me how willing they are to take the word of a stranger
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i have recently put a car on EBAY and im amazed at the number of people who have enquired about it but are not willing to come and have a look at it first.
Why? If I ask the relevant questions, and its not as described when I turn up to pay I wouldn't part with my money.
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I don't watch CSI, I find it too depressing, people keep dying :-)
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I often wonder what happened to my stolen Golf GTI 1.8T back in 2000 - six months old. If it was cloned and sold on then it was unlikely to match the donor vehicle ID because it had non-standard options for a black GTi, e.g. blue/black chequered seats (not the standard red/black), sunroof and air-con, cruise control and boot mounted 6 disc CD-changer. A proper factory order.
It would be interesting to know how many 5 door Golf GTI 1.8T MKIV's were sold with this spec ;-) And it'd had all the problems sorted out like a problematic gearbox, squeaking seat back etc.
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My first boss looked and behaved a lot like "Gene Hunt" from Ashes to Ashes. His choice of car though was a 3 litre Capri. Brown metallic with gold wheels and a gold coachline. Mmmm classy ! Had a shot of it a few times and by the standards of the day it was seriously quick.
Anyway the Capri was stolen and disappeared. It turned up five years later having been involved in something dodgy in France. It had been converted to left hand drive and had been bought by an honest person but had subsequently been stolen again and as far as I recall been used for some fairly serious non legal purpose. Astonishing really that this all came to light so long after the original disappearance.
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When I first came to Manchester as a student in 1989, I often saw a police Capri in the Fallowfield area. Probably a 3.0 "pursuit" car ;-)
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