There’s no let-up to the ingenious ways cybercriminals think of parting innocent people from their money and a new twist has been spotted by ex-pats buying cars in France and Spain.

The theory behind this scam is straightforward. The UK is blessed with a second car market that has lots of vehicles washing about. In France and Spain there is a slower turn-over of cars, so the purchase of a second hand car in these two countries can be an expensive business. So, some ex-pats who live on mainland Europe, but fancy getting themselves a left hand drive bargain, look back to the UK for good examples at more competitive prices.

The trouble is that unscrupulous individuals, some car dealers who are trying to cope with the credit crunch in the UK, egged by those scammers who think emails are a modern day Dick Turpin, have spotted an opening.

And it works like this. A buyer looking for a good left hand drive car deal in France, scans the main second hand car websites in the UK. They spot what looks like a good example – right sort of mileage, really good price and a fine example of the type – and tries to telephone the seller. The mobile number – it’s usually always a mobile – goes straight to answer machine so the prospective buyer, keen to hammer down a deal on the car, sends an email instead.

Okay so far? Right, back comes an email reply with a simple message that says very sorry, the car happens to be kept in London (plausible) and the seller, who says he’s currently say in Portugal (again very plausible), will gladly come back and show the prospective buyer the car, but he’s been stood up so many other times by buyers not bothering to show, that he’s reluctant to do it again (what’s more plausible than that).

So that’s the scene set and the hook baited. Now is the clever bit. The seller says he would come back, if the prospective buyer gave a sign of his intentions. And, suggests the accommodating seller, why doesn’t the buyer deposit a sum of money in his name (the buyer’s name), say by MoneyGram, and then send the seller a copy of the MoneyGram receipt by email, to show the seller he is serious. And, says the seller, there’s no risk because the money is in the buyer’s name. What could be more innocent?

The sum might be a token amount, a percentage of the car price, or even, if the seller was audacious, the price of the car. And many buyers have gladly done this, thinking there can’t be a con here, because as the seller points out, the money remains in the buyers name.

Not so of course. For those that use and understand such systems as MoneyGram, and Western Union, these are money transfer services. You send them your money and they in return provide you with a receipt with a reference number. And there’s the crux of the scam. Anyone with the reference can ask for the money – that’s how the system works.

And that’s why the bogus seller is asking for the buyer to send the number. Buyer thinks its just a matter of good faith, whereas seller thinks it’s payday. With the number, he withdraws the funds and of course the car, supposedly for sale, never existed in the first place.

As always, simple and clever. The key rule is of course, don’t ever get into a convoluted arrangement over buying something. If, as in this case the guy doesn’t want to go back to the UK to sell his car, then tough.

Remember, if it sounds a bit odd, then it most probably is.

Guest Article by Neil Camp