Just sold your car
Don’t get conned by the buyer!

Congratulations – you just sold your used car to a very nice couple!  Fast forward three days – you are sick to your stomach; you lost ALL the money from the used car sale, an additional $1,000 in cash,  and you lost legal ownership of your car too – you got screwed big time by that very nice couple.  (Couple of crooks as it turns out).  Learn how to avoid all these problems – don’t let this happen to you.  Here are the methods of payments:

Personal Checks.  You know that personal checks bounce all the time – don’t even think about taking a personal check.  Of course if this is a sale to someone you trust, like a relative, you can do this.  But no one else!

Cashier’s Checks.  Cashier’s Checks are the crooks preferred way of paying.  In fact many “buyers” come over with a Cashier’s Check made out to you for a lot more than the sales price.  In my example above a nice couple showed up with a check for $1,000 more than the sale price and told you that they were afraid of a “bidding war” between them and another buyer.  They added $1,000 just to be sure.  They want you to pay them in cash, since you don’t have a Cashier’s Check.  Of course the check bounces about one week later and you are out $1,000 and you signed the title over to them.  They sold your car the next day and now it’s in someone else’s name – try to get it back now.

Cashier’s Checks are no more protection than personal checks.  Crooks print them on their computer printers and they look real – they can easily bounce.

Wire Transfer Transactions.  You have a buyer drop by to look at your car for sale.  You strike a deal for $4,000 and the buyer whips out his cell phone and brings up a web browser and wire transfers $14,000 into your bank account – oops he overpaid you by $10,000 and wants you to wire transfer $10,000 back into his account.  Well you’re no dummy and call the bank and sure enough your checking account has $14,000 more in it and so you instruct the bank to wire transfer $10,000 into the buyer’s account.

You sign over the Title and the Bill of Sale and the buyer drives your car away!  Hooray!

Five days later the bank calls and demands you to deposit $10,000 into your checking account or  the police will arrest you in two hours.  You run to your bank and find that the wire-transfer from the buyer bounced.  How the hell did that happen?

Simple: A few days before the crook called you he opened a checking account and then deposited a phony Cashier’s Check for $100,000 which he then used to wire-transfer funds to you and of course it’s way too much and the crook wants your car and for you to wire-transfer money back to his account.

The crook spent a few days doing this and made $100,000 and cashed out his checking account and moves on to the next city; $100,000 in cash in a duffle bag.

PayPal.  Payment can be made with PayPal IF an escrow company is involved.  PayPal has a built in three day hold on all transactions.  The buyer can pay you with PayPal and your account will instantly show the deposit but three days later PayPal can yank that money out of your account if the buyer fraudulently deposited money into their PayPal account.  An escrow company will hold the money for at least three days and then turn over the title to the buyer.  But this takes about one week and costs hundreds of dollars.

Cash.  There is but ONE way to safely get paid – CASH!  Instruct the buyer to bring cash or that the sale will conclude at his bank with you receiving CASH on the spot!  If the used car sells for less than $3,000 tell the buyer to bring 30 $100 bills – they easily fit in a wallet.

If the sale was for more than $3,000 then instruct the buyer that the paperwork will be signed at their bank after you receive cash for the sale.  The buyer simply writes a check from their account to CASH and endorses the check.  The bank teller will then count out your money to the buyer who will then hand it over to you.  You either put the money in your pocket or hand the money to the teller and ask for a Cashier’s Check be made out to your name.  Deposit this check in your bank.

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