Friend buying a car - sounds sketchy to me

SatanIsMyMotor

A good friend of mine and his gf are buying a car together. They found one online (Kjiji) in a nearby town but the owner is actually over in England.

The way the transaction is supposed to take place is what sketched me out a bit, and I could swear I saw a thread in here relating to something very similar.

Basically the money transaction is meant to take place through a company called "WorldBuy" (whom I've never heard of). They give their money to this company who holds it while they get to drive the car for a week. After a week if they are satisfied with the car the money goes from the company to the seller.

I told him straight up that it sounded fishy to me but I don't have any proof beyond "I think I saw something to that effect on the PA forums." Any advice here would be greatly appreciated as I do not want to see my buddy get screwed.

precisionk

This smells of a scam to me. Scammers will frequently create and make companies or "money-holding" accounts to make you think you are giving your money to a safe and secure party, when in fact, its going right into the hands of the scammer.


Never give money upfront to test drive a car you "might" buy. That is just stupid. Buy locally, with the owner at hand and face to face. This can pretty much go with any large money transaction. If the owner can't be in person to sell you the car, then the owner doesn't deserve your business.

EclecticGroove

What the guy above said... even when buying a car from a lot, unless you are special ordering it from a manufacturer or it's some specialty car that needs to be delivered to them... you NEVER pay money before you are able to sit in the car and drive it off right after paying.

Basically the WorldBuy deal is an escrow scam.

If they bite on it, basically what will more than likely happen is they will send the money to this service, the car will never show up again, and all contact information for this Worldbuy will disappear along witht he seller.

fightinfilipino

send your friend to this link: http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/

while it isn't concrete proof that this "WorldBuy" is a scam, it does break down a typical escrow scam similar to your friend's car "deal". it's also highly amusing.




plus, if it sounds too good to be true, well, you know the rest. so should your friend.