Saturday, August 27, 2011

Scammer's late call


I woke up this morning with a headache. I was already sleeping at 11pm last night when my cell phone rang. When I answered it, a street-wise talking guy was on the other end selling his 1969 VW bus. I was annoyed because this Bozo can't seem to wait until the following day to call me.

With sleepy eyes & 1/4 functioning brain, I asked the guy to give me details about his bus. After 1 1/2 minutes of talking to him, I immediately detected that this guy is a scammer. One indicator that you are dealing with an amateur scammer is they tend to repeat some of your questions after you asked them. When I told him his price is too high, he asked me, "How much money do you have, man?" Legitimate VW sellers don't ask that kind of question.

There had been cases in the past where VW buyers went to meet up with sellers and ended up being robbed. This I definitely want to avoid.

What alarmed me more is while we were talking about his bus, he suddenly asked me, "Do you know a nearby Sushi place?". I had to end the conversation because that question raises red flags telling me that this Bozo is trying to locate me so that he can rob me.

These scammers love to rob vintage vw buyers because they believe that we are always carrying cash just in case a good deal comes out of the VW market. (I don't carry cash for this reason). Once they find out what city you live at, they will ask if you live nearby a certain business establishment. The moment they get this info, they will drive around that area looking for a house with vintage VWs parked on it. Once they find you, they will either steal your high-end VWs & your rare expensive parts or rob you of cash.

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