Been scammed

[Fuckfuckbollocks]

NC for this. Feel really terrible right now. My husband bought a car through a website that sell on behalf of the actual seller and deliver the car to you. The money is paid to the company and after the car is delivered the funds get released to the seller. The company have a glossy website and claim to do all checks on said car.

Anyway we found this car and checked all the history out and were sent the service history with all the garages names on so we phoned them all and they all had record of this car being serviced with them etc. Multiple reviews online for this company saying how good they are and forums with people saying they've used them and it all seemed fine.
Husband transferred the money and got a confirmation type email with delivery date and time and the car didnt turn up.
I feel so awful for him, he isnt stupid and was weary about it but did so many checks and paid for checks to be done but everything we questioned there was a plausible answer for. Nothing seemed wrong at all. The company even comes up on Google maps with reviews. Apparently all fake

Sorry this isnt an AIBU I just needed to get it out and hopefully warn anyone considering buying a car this way. We feel so stupid and have lost a lot of money.

So you didn't see or test drive the car? I'm sorry, but that was incredibly stupid

For all these extremely helpful posts, I suggest their authors perhaps bring themselves into 2020, where several companies have set up business models where you can purchase a used car and have it delivered to you.
Cazoo is one of them (you've probably seen the extremely irritating ads)

Good luck OP, I hope this works out for you.

There's some great work on here, we'll done to all the munsnetters with such amazing detective skills. 😊

That forum page would have fooled me, if Google had brought it up. Yes, looking at it know it was used for a scam, we can start to find things wrong with it. I think it's quite sophisticated the way it links seamlessly into the real web site with virtually identical URLs. I'm surprised they went to this much trouble, I'd guess most of the time scammers would get away with posting on actual forums using fake ids.

Normally when it entails "lovers" in far flung countries who need money, or when the "police" need your assistance catching a gang by handing over your bank card and transferring money in branch I would question what possessed the victim to do it as those scams are pretty well publicised.

Here the OP and her DH did their due diligence and, although I would never buy a car without having seen it, I can see that this is a less common and more well hidden scam. Legit looking website to most, contact, listings, they checked the car's history with garages to ensure the car listed was real. They did more than most scam victims.

I hope the fucker is traced and has his guts pulled out through D&V style.

I once received a call about a possible fraudulent transaction on my credit card. I told the person calling that I would phone the bank myself. No argument from the rep. Turned my phone off and back on, called the general number for the bank and had the agent on the phone tell me that that was sensible.

Yet a senior colleague of mine was about to pay a fake HMRC call rep thousands of pounds when they threatened her with police/legal action/prison. It was only because the person she was with at the time had the good sense to stop her.

Just to add to the already comprehensive evidence, it happens that I work on Minto Place and there aren't 11 buildings. The photo of the building on Google is building 8 which is vacant.

@TheyDoDoThat I have mutual friends with him. He's a genuine person, in local media etc, head of a big financial company over here.

Been in the website, my spidey senses tingled at the mention of Nigerian Scams. Why would a legitimate website have to list individual scam types?

Been in the website, my spidey senses tingled at the mention of Nigerian Scams. Why would a legitimate website have to list individual scam types?

It's the phrase "Committed to be the leading..." that would have immediately got my spidey senses going. No proper marketing/comms person would write that sentence.

Although I will say it's unusual to use a 0800 number over here, everything is usually just the local 01624 in my experience.

The "over here" is misleading as the geographical location, names etc are almost certainly all fake

I started researching a similar ebay scammer years ago and realised quite quickly that it was not a small UK based scammer but an international network

Met another scam researcher who was onto them and they, unlike me, had managed to get the police involved. The police had told them that it was a Balkan "mafia" group

The internet provides OC newtorks with the opportunity to create the impression of a UK based entity when in fact they are operating from Latvia, Nigeria, Ukraine, anywhere really

Op it's so easy to fall for this. When I was looking to buy a camper can a few years ago I came across similar. The prices were all to good to be true and like others, I wouldn't but a vehicle without seeing it but you did everything possible to check it out and these scammers have set up a very sophisticated operation. Only recently I was targeted by 'HMRC' telling me that my company return was wrong and I owed thousands. It was plausible for a number of reasons but the penny dropped when they quote an address that I haven't lived at for 6 years. As they hung up they told me to expect a visit from the police which was laughable but I can see how people would fall for it. I hope you get your money back

So it's possible that the guy in the FB link has had his identity stolen and used for this scam. I mean, if he is legit as per PPs then he would not use his easily traceable details to scam someone, surely?

I cant thank you all enough. I hope if anyone ever googles devsale again this thread will come up

Something else that the OP or anyone else who has been scammed should be aware of

Ruthless scammers, once they have scammed you, sometimes pose as police to scam you further.

This really happens and was beautifully portrayed in the film Matchstick Men

I cant thank you all enough. I hope if anyone ever googles devsale again this thread will come up

It already comes up above their website when you google Devsales!

That 'Devsale Ltd' that a PP found was dissolved in 2018. I think you will find it's a different company which just happens to have had the same name a few years ago.

It comes under Matthew Parson's name because he was head of FPS Group at the time which used to administer companies. When I registered a business years ago, my accountant did all the paperwork and registered the company, a service I paid for, so their name is on thousands of company directorships. It's how it works. It doesn't make him the scammer. If you looked at the filing history of that Devsale, he was taken off as "person with significant control" in August 2017, which is around when FPS Group stopped administering companies as far as I can see.

I don't really think dragging actual people through the mud is really a very nice thing to do.

A quick google of devsale makes me hugely suspicious.

Please see

www.bmwccgb-forum.co.uk/forum/bussines/reccent/view/Is-DevSale-Trading-Group-safe-to-buy-cars-through-BMW-Car-Club-Forum-Forum-bmwccgbforums.co.uk.html#/new_reply_form.asp?PID=79021&PN=1&TR=5

They are still at it I'm afraid !

Phone the police and send them the link, maybe they can find them ?

So it's possible that the guy in the FB link has had his identity stolen and used for this scam. I mean, if he is legit as per PPs then he would not use his easily traceable details to scam someone, surely? assuming that the poster claiming to know him is real and not part of the scamming network. It’s not unusual for scammers to keep an eye on the net to see where and if they’re being discussed.

I would give the profile etc to the police, if he’s genuinely who PP says he is they can contact him, but I certainly wouldn’t be doing so.

You should never, ever do bank transfer. It's what scammers always ask for.

Sorry, I posted the 2017 and not the 2020 !

Absolute bastards

^assuming that the poster claiming to know him is real and not part of the scamming network. It’s not unusual for scammers to keep an eye on the net to see where and if they’re being discussed.

I would give the profile etc to the police, if he’s genuinely who PP says he is they can contact him, but I certainly wouldn’t be doing so.^

Good point.

@AlternativePerspective I can assure you I'm not, but thank you so much. I'm simply a mother of a 3 year old (who hasn't had anywhere near enough sleep in the past week to have the energy to be involved in any complicated scams) who happens to have a mutual friend with someone being unfairly associated with this and if it were me I'd hope someone would stick up for me.