> He recently received an e-mail message from a person in Africa who
> wanted to buy the car, and then have it transported to himself in Africa.
This scam has been propagating through numerous collector car lists. I was
most recently (today) made aware of it through a friend who checks in from
time to time on the Unimog list. Some poor soul there is out the price of a
"67 loader", whatever that is, through a transaction made with a scammer from
Nigeria.
Nigeria is already famous for the "send us your account number" scam wherein
one is persuaded by promises of foreign contraband gold to allow the proceeds
to be "parked" in the mark's bank account... which is promptly cleaned out.
IMHO any transaction done with anyone whose residence or nationality is
Nigeria had best be done with cash on the spot. NOT cashier's checks, which
can be revoked (just like personal checks) any time up to sixty days from
presentation, as the fellow on the Unimog list, who thought he was doing a
legitimate transaction (that of selling his "67 Loader" or whatever) found
out to his sorrow.
Nigerian authorities do not, as a rule, co-operate with the U.S. Secret
Service (the agency that investigates scams like this) and as a result there
is no recourse for an American who's lost money to a Nigerian through scams
of any sort.
FWIW
Wendell Hall
'72 B
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