Car Scam

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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:15 am

Car Scams. We get to see quite a few of these but mostly from a distance. An old friend called on me last night (in country NSW, Australia). He had just extricated his teenage daughter from parting with A$8500. The detail I have is still sketchy, and I'll have more later today.

From: BidPay Customer Support <[email protected]>
>Reply-To: BidPay Customer Support <[email protected]

Congratulations, BidPay Transaction #7704307773 started!
>
>Current status: Payment pending

>Dear customer,
>After verifying the trustworthiness of the seller and the availability of
>the merchandise for immediate shipping, we have approved your buy it now >transaction and offered you, as the buyer, full purchase protection for the >amount you agreed on with the seller.

>Complete your BidPay transaction in 5 easy steps:

>Buyer and seller agree on the transaction terms and a selling price. Seller >contacts BidPay with the transaction details;
>BidPay accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer >(if the transaction is declined, no further action is required from either >the buyer or the seller);
>
>The buyer sends payment to BidPay (BidPay verified agent).After the
>payment was received, BidPay will notify the seller in order to proceed
>with the shipping.The seller has 3 business days to send the buyer and
>BidPay the shipping confirmation. If no shipping confirmation is provided,
>a full refund is immediately sent to the buyer;
>
>Buyer receives the merchandise and has 7 days to inspect it. If it is
>complete and as described, the buyer should accept the merchandise . If he >refuses the merchandise, the seller will get back his merchandise.
>
>After the inspection period is over, the buyer must contact BidPay with the >result of the inspection. If the buyer accept the merchandise BidPay will >release the payment to the seller.If the buyer refuses the merchandise, he >will get a complete refund.
>
>To enjoy the purchase protection, you must send the payment by the insured >payment method below. Sending the payment by any other method of payment >will void this transaction and your right to refund.
>
>Details and instructions of this transaction:
> ****************************************************************
>The following item(s) are involved and protected in this BidPay
>transaction:

>Transaction Title
>Model
>Year
>SUBARU IMPREZA S MY04 WRX STi
>WRX STi
>2004
>Amount
>Down Payment
>Amount Insured
>Total Price
>8,500.00 AUD
>8,500.00 AUD
>8,500.00 AUD
>8,500.00 AUD

>Buyer Information
>First Name:

Xxxxxx

>Last Name:

>Xxxxxxxxxx

>Street:
>
>11 Xxxxxxxxx
>
>City:
>Waramanga
>
>State:
>Zip code:26xx

>Canberra

>Country:
>
>Australia
>
>Seller Information
>
>First Name:
>
>Andrew
Last Name:
>
>Hampton
>
>Street:
>
>Ziegelstrasse 28
>
>City:
>
>Berlin>

>Zip code:
>
>10117
>
>Country:
>
>Germany
>
>BidPay Agent Information

>Copyright Agent:
>
>BidPay �

>Name:
>
>Ryan Stewart
>
>Street:
>
>31 Mount Lawrie Cres,

>City:
>State:
>
>PerthWestern Australia
>
>Zip code:

>6000
>
>Country:
>
>Australia
>
>Payment Instructions :
>********************************

>Payment must by : Western Union Money Transfer
>Next step to be taken : The buyer must send the payment to BidPay
>verified agent

>
>To submit the payment with Western Union Money Transfer, you have 2
>options:
>
>Pay for at a local Western Union agent. Click here to locate the agents in
>your area http://www.westernunion.com/info/agentInquiryIntl.asp. Go to one of them and send the payment in cash to the verified name of the BidPay
>verified agent , available to Australia.
>However, Western Union Money Transfer is designed mainly for sending cash
>to friends and family in need, so telling them you are sending the money >for an auction you will pay a higher fees.When making the payment tell them the you are sending money to a relative so you can get a lower service fee.
>Because the fee to send a Western Union Money Transfer is high, compared to
>other methods of payment, we have arranged with the seller that he will
>refund this fee (i.e. if it costs you $100.00 to send the payment,they
>will be refunded by the seller).
>
>Once the payment was sent, please click here with the bellow requested
>informations and also the Western Union receipt :
>Please do not make any marks on the transfer copy.The following information
>must be readable :
>- MTCN - 10 digits number from the payment receipt
>- Sender Name and Address
>- Receiver Name
>- Amount Then wait for the confirmation the payment was received. Within 3
>business days, you will receive the shipping confirmation for your
>merchandise.
> Purchase protection and refund:
>************************************************
>Currently, this seller has a $10,000.00 deposit in an BidPay managed
>purchase protection account. Transactions with this BidPay seller are
>covered by purchase protection against fraud and description errors. For
>your safety, this account was locked today, for 30 days time period. The
>seller is unable to withdraw any money from it, within this period.
>Should you need a refund for this transaction, the insured amount will be
>taken from the seller's purchase protection account and sent to you. The
>refund is sent to your bank account, by check or money order. The way you
>are refunded is at your choice. You have 30 days from the above
>verification date to request a refund. Refund requests are processed within
>3 days.
>The insurer of this transaction is BidPay Inc.
>The account is managed by BidPay center.
>This transaction is supervised by BidPay SafeHarbor team.
>
>****************** CONDITIONS TO BE MET BEFORE YOU MAY ASK FOR A REFUND
>*****************
>Here are the situations suitable for a refund request:
>1) If the item doesn't arrive and/or the seller stops communications after
>the payment was received;
>2) If the merchandise you receive has different specifications than the
>ones you agreed on;
>3) If your merchandise arrives in a much longer period than the one you
>agreed on (more than 15 days from the payment clearance day);
>For cases 2) and 3) the seller will get back his item, and you will get a
>complete refund. If you did not pay by payment method required by us, your
>refund request will be declined.
>
>The seller was informed about this transaction being started and is
>awaiting for our confirmation in order to start the shipping. It is
>recommended to send the payment as soon as possible, because your purchase
>protection is valid for 30 days only. If you need more details, or if you
>need to send us the payment details, please click here .
>
>
>Contact us for assistance, please click here .
>To ask for a refund, email us this notification and enter in the subject
>line:
>Refund request for BidPay Transaction #7704307773
>

>Sincerely ,
>BidPay� Staff.
>
>
>Home | FAQ | Sign In/Register | Our Services | Contact Us
>Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Consumer Fraud Awareness | Site Map
>�1999-2007. First Data Corporation, All Rights Reserved

The spelling errors give it away. This is not phishing, this was about to happen. Any ideas about appropriate authorities to make a complaint??

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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:12 pm

After working out how to set up a fake Bidpay account, I put the situation to them.
Their reply was not entirely dismissive, but it put the blame on all the other parties. This is the gist of it:

Your support ticket has been updated

Discussion Thread
8/23/2007 9:08:18 PM -- Your question was submitted to BidPay Technical Support

8/24/2007 6:18:57 AM -- BidPay wrote:

Quote:

Dear Walter,

In order to use BidPay both the seller and buyer have to be registered with our service. We will not handle auctions for any amount over 1500.00$ and the seller must have an account in the United States, the payment must be on an approved auction site and the buyer must be listed as the auction winner. If the person you are dealing with does not meet one of any of those criteria we will not process the auction payment. We also have a very strict validation process which both buyers and sellers go through for every transaction. This e-mail is a fraud. Do not respond to it and do not ship any item without first confirming the receipt of funds. BID PAY NEVER USES MONEY ORDERS. Only Visa and Master card. If there is nothing in your account history no payment has been submitted. If you have any further questions please contact the Internet Criminal Complaint Center (IC3) at www.fbi.gov.

Thank you for contacting BidPay Customer Support

.

Well it's nice to know the FBI can pick up the pieces!