Can one scam via Western Union?

[tartempion]

I post this here because it is not Thailand related.

 

Had a friend ask me to drive him from Brussels to Frankfurt.

 

He saw an internet advert selling a VW Bora, 3 years old, 75k kms. Emailed with the owner. Friend proposed to drive down to Frankfurt and pay the car cash (if he likes the car) and part with the car.

 

I saw the exchange of emails: the seller claims he works in Switserland and need to fly over to sell the car. He states: This are my conditions: you transfer money to yourself in Frankfurt via Western Union, you scan and mail me the Western Union proof, I will then buy a plane ticket and will meet you in Franfurt to show the car which you then need to buy on the spot (unless you don't like the car) We will then drive to the Western Union branch, you collect the money and hand it over to me.

 

Using Western Union is my guarantee you are serious abouth this and only then will I buy a plane ticket.

 

The seller emails are getting more unfriendly each exchange and he will not bulge when we say that we will drive down and bring cash with us.

 

I don't know what the trick might be, but feel not good with this. Could the man go to a Western Union branch with the scanned information and possibly get away with the cash?

 

A 3 year old VW Bora with 75k kms for 4k euro is too good to be true, none can be found on the net, add the seller hard WU requirements and it smell as a scam to me.

 

Any comments?

 

I told my friend to back off, but he wants this car too much

[pe7e]

It's a common con trick, if your friend pays it's the last he'll see of his cash and the car and seller will dissapear, never to be seen again. It's used a lot on ebay to scam the gullible, usually by offering an expensive item at a price that's usually 'to good to be true', it's a con! fake ID is easy to get, especially by a con man.

He has no reason to insist it is done this way, any genuine seller would be happy for a buyer to travel to them with payment.

[pe7e]

Your friend could always sent himself 1 or 2 euro as instructed, then photoshop the receipt to show the 4K requested. Then he would only stand to lose his travel expenses, if the seller is genuine he would have no idea the 4K had not been sent, and your friend could pay him in cash without the need to go to Western Union. Personally, I would just tell the seller his plan had failed and to f**k off.

[tartempion]

Ok persuaded my friend he will loose his hard earned cash, the deal is off.

 

Thanks

[Snowman71]

I don't see how any Western Union would pay out unless ID is validated 100%.

 

I could be wrong though...

 

Snowman71...

[drogon]

WU will not pay out without a valid ID.

(especially as in some EU countries there are additional requirements)

 

-> the scam: You send by WU but nothing is said anywhere that he has to give you the car.

 

WU= U send money to whoever you want.

 

Go prove after that (having the receiver ID) that he had to give you the car in exchange...

[bust]

You can also nominate a "word" or "special detail" that the recipient must have in order to collect to prevent this happening.

 

If you were to nominate "big smelly dog's bollocks"

they will not hand over the cash without whoever is collecting the money knowing this.