SCAMS: Caveat emptor or rather Seller Beware

If you are selling a car well anything expensive via ads watch this scam.

A friend arrived today asking about a buyer for a car wanting to pay through Paypal - I said No way it will cost you $200 or so in Paypal fees. Tell him to send to bank account. He was chatting via SMS with this buyer.
The buyer said he would transfer the money from the Royal Bank. Funny the only Royal I know is in Canada.  It was all strange my friend said the guy has not seen the car as yet.

Next seller asked for email address. Emails arrived saying his agent was in UK and transfer fees were $1500 to be sent via Western Union.
And also there were notes appearing to come from Royal Bank in Canada saying money Plus the $1500 fees had been transferred but was on hold until the fees were paid. Sounding like once the fee was paid the money including the fees would be deposited.

Then SMS started to arrive from the buyer asking when fees would be paid so money could be released.
I asked for the phone number and it had a prefix of 1646 which is New York. So my friend stopped SMS as must be costing to SMS to USA.

Then my friend realised this was a different buyer to the one who had spoken to the night before. And he phoned this real buyer..

So this is a Scam like "you've won the lottery". Except someone is scanning Aussie for sale notices and contacting by SMS or Email offering to pay the full price but inventing this agent story and trying to extract this rip off fee.

So this was real scam not just directed at a list of emails but directly at a person. Some people might be taken in as there was a real push to pay the fee to release the funds.

I advised my friend to perhaps contact the AFP see Internet fraud and scams - Australian Federal Police

Watch yourselves friends