Ebay, Gumtree & Autotrader Vehicle / Car Scams

[Tools]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

Boycie, it is no secret that the scammers are hacking genuine accounts via phishing emails, both private sellers and dealers, it has been happening for a long time and is increasing by the day. Look at Busters list of ebay scams and you can see the increase. It isn't a new thing and while yes it is something we can try and get changed, the weakness lies in the fact that the genuine account holder has not spotted a phishing email.

The story of the IT worker is an entirely different matter on this occasion it was discovered and the victims will thankfully be refunded. We have no control over these kind of scams so I leave that to those that do.

The account numbers you report, yes I am aware we send them through the same channels but even so I do not get to see your reports of account numbers only the list of adverts you post on SW.

In the interests of helping each other and helping prevent further victims, please could you give me a list of accounts you have submitted for shuttering. If there is a reason you don't want me to have them then just let me know and I won't ask again, all I am trying to do is help people.

Also I have a guy at ITN productions willing to do a more in depth piece to dealer hacking and their victims, it would help if we could also work together in the making of it, he needs a hacked dealer account and a victim of that hack if you can identify either then please let me know

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

Apologies if my thought process is creating confusion but the problem with the Autotrader UK dealer accounts is that it appears that the phisher is able to use them to post anonymous adverts. Presumably that's a feature of the account but why a dealer would want to do that is inexplicable but the effect is that a phisher can use the dealer log in for a much greater period of time because he can avoid detection completely with his initial fraudulent postings.

I've been terming them 'singletons' but actually they're just the first usage of the dealer account hacks that become apparent later in the day when the hacker inserts his ads in the dealer account itself. Basically the account allows the phisher an exploit that enables him to make the best use of his hack.

I'm fast reaching the conclusion that ad sites are too risky for the larger part of the general population to use. If and when the general population reaches the same conclusion, the business will no longer get paying customers. Advertisers probably don't realise that their phished and hacked colleagues are rendering their own adverts of minimal worth when compared with the ads posted by scammers. At some stage the whole basic purpose and premise of ad sites is imaginary if they become overwhelmed with scams.

I'm dismayed to discover that the 100 or more fraudulent adverts I turn up daily on Autotrader UK may well only be the tip of the iceberg, bearing in mind that I haven't been picking up the clean adverts and I don't look at commercial vehicles, tractors and plant. The scammers and hackers are so ahead of the game that I have sincere doubts that it's going to be possible to combat them. It has itself become a criminal industry that won't be driven away easily simply because it's easy money with little or no risks.

I bring banks in to the equation simply because, if the criminals didn't have easy access to bank accounts to launder the money, their hacks and adverts wouldn't earn them a bean. It's the combined ability to exploit two lax systems that is making this fraud a boom industry.

[Tools]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

And the account numbers?

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

My advice to the general public is to avoid ad sites unless they're aware of the scams taking place and how they work. There appears to be a general belief that if it's on the ad site, it therefore be genuine and above board. Unfortunately if you go on to an ad site looking for the best bargain, you are effectively seeking out and selecting a scam to buy as the scammers always offer the best deals. Of course the search facilities on the sites are designed to help you find the best deal, none of them help you filter out the scams.

The thing is that when scam adverts reach a certain proportion of the total adverts on any ad site, it becomes functionally pointless. After all who would buy from a shop if half the boxed items on sale were empty ? For an ad site to serve its purpose as a sales forum it shouldn't embody any form of gamble where the buyer risks losing all his money. I'm sure that most buyers are aware that when buying a used car they take a risk of being sold a vehicle that's sub-standard, but few people would accept the risk that they never get a car at all.

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

It's easiest to demonstrate a point pictorially.

Which of the following adverts is the best deal - and why ?

If you can't answer the question correctly and know why, you shouldn't go near ad sites.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-car...9915?logcode=p 23 Mar

£8,096Audi A5 2.0 TDI Black Edition 2dr [Start Stop] (2011)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-61-AU...-/301129819652

2011 61 AUDI A5 2.0TDi S-LINE BLACK EDITION COUPE. WHITE. Lytham St Annes
Lancashire £22,500

To help you decide, here's something to assist



Do you know which one is the best deal ? If you make the wrong decision, you lose all your money.

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

In the future I plan to check with vehicle dealers who have had their log ins compromised by phishing to discover if they are charged for these fraudulent adverts posted using their accounts. The charging process must be automated, and reversing charges would be an administrative nightmare.

Another issue that I'm researching is that though fraudulent adverts may be deleted, are the compromised log ins through which those adverts are being posted being blocked ? This matter is crucial because deleting adverts achieves very little if the scammer retains the ability to re-post them, and the criminals behind this have the facility to post fraudulent adverts 24/7.

To my knowledge there are only a handful of people on the planet asking these questions, and none of them are part of law enforcement in spite of this being a major organised international fraud.

Another frightening aspect I have observed is that because some dealers are linking their websites and their postings on various ad sites, when their log ins are compromised, these fraudulent listings are automatically proliferated through multiple platforms.

[Tools]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

I will ask those very questions and more when I speak to a friend of mine next week.

He is one of the Directors in the recent GC Motors hijack on ebay spotted by Buster.

G C Motors Harrogate Ebay Dealer Hack, scammer email mjautos11@gmail.com

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

Best of luck with that Tools and I applaud your efforts. The current situation is appalling. I list daily at SW compromised dealer accounts though I don't post their names as I appreciate that they are victims too. Discovering whether or not they are being charged for fraudulent adverts posted using their compromised accounts will be significant.

If any specific data and/or information will help, let me know. I am going to step up baiting of scammers to get more information from them, but it's a bit like Chinese plate spinning and I have to watch I don't take on one task and drop something else.

From now on I'll take a copy of an example of a page from each hacked dealer account.

They've hacked a large main dealer tonight ! - who, from their website, only appear to sell one make of car - not now.

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

Another main dealer tonight.

Very frustrating.

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

For those who may not comprehend how monstrous this fraud is might like to take a look at this thread at SW where I've listed some spoofed ebay pages I've located. It's by no means a comprehensive list and I'm sure that I'll be adding to it.

http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/vie...hp?f=6&t=83511

Unless people are internet savvy it's not hard to see how easy it would be to be duped.

[Rod Jones]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

Professional Logistics are being "Made Affordable" again. I've not reported these elsewhere apart from on my blog.
http://www.tarantrans.com/about.php
http://hltcons.com/

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

I found a doppelganger Rod (I so love that word) http://www.tarantransp.com/index.php

Both sites offer escrow services and to do that they must be registered with the FCA. They're impersonating a legitimate company and both sites were registered in China, very recently.

I'll post them up at SW. I've included the other site too.

Over the past couple of days Autotrader UK have been very active in deleting fraudulent adverts. Not as quick and thorough as I'd like but we both have the same aim.

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

Another victim has contacted me by PM at SW to tell me they've lost £4k to these criminals. I presume they're using the mule account I got in my last bait but I've asked the victim to confirm this.

[dixie2013]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/ad...n-in-2013.aspx

this needs to be stopped at source, if the combination of ebay inc. /gumtree autotrader screening ads regularly, identifying fraudulant e-mail addresses, taking immediate action when scams are reported and THE BANKS screening foreign uk bank account holders and also if money has gone into a mule bank account the fraudsters would be stopped in there tracks as they need the ads as a platform to phish for victims and banks to pull this off, if the bank transfer wasnt available to mule account holders or foreign uk bank account holders(same thing) the scam would not be viable, ebay inc ./gumtree autotrader give the fraudsters a platform to phish and the banks are helping the fraudsters launder there ill gotten gains, if the frausters are using this method why cant the ad sites and banks join together to stop it???

[Boycie]

Re: Ebay & Gumtree Vehicle / Car Scam. Barclays provide Fraudsters Accounts

Firstly dixie2013 I must state that the figure quoted in that statement is a wildly understated reflection of the true figure lost to online vehicle fraud. The value of fraudulent adverts posted daily on just one vehicle ad site that I focus on is £500,000 and, if you include attempted fraudulent insertions, it would be more like £1m. There is no mention of foreign victims of fraudulent websites purporting to be selling agricultural and construction machinery and some of those frauds are massive on their own. A criminal industry has grown and been able to fund itself from the proceeds of fraud to an extent that their level of organisation and sophistication is close to overrunning many ad sites.

In one example I have uncovered they have even produced promotional videos with a professional narration. I'd post a link but it's something I'm still looking in to, but this just evidences to me that the level of fraud is enabling these criminals to invest in sophisticated techniques even genuine sites can't afford. It is becoming an industry in its own right albeit a criminal one.

On a general note, at the same time that the internet is becoming promoted as the main means to conduct commerce, the checks and security surrounding it, and the security of consumers' accounts is falling apart.

Apart from listing and posting details of fraudulent adverts at SW so that people can pick them up on a Google search I have recently begun making a note of the registrations of cars used in fraudulent adverts, as that's most likely to be what a person searches. If ads sites 'watermarked' their photos this wouldn't be necessary because scammers are just copying and posting photos and it's too easy.

The fundamental method for any buyer to protect themselves is for them NEVER to pay for any vehicle before they've viewed and inspected it.

I have noticed that some cars I have seen being used in fraudulent adverts are being offered for sale on multiple ad sites, which encourage buyers to purchase online without ever viewing the vehicle.

I need to look in to this further but I suspect that some sites are 'scraping' adverts from other sites and then attempting to earn a commission from the sale. As they don't have possession of the car, they would prefer that it is bought without being viewed first. In the current situation, with fraudulent adverts being so prevalent, this is utterly reckless and I'm gobsmacked. How do they know that the original advert isn't fraudulent ?

If I hadn't been noting car registrations I wouldn't have even noticed this.