lexstolen

Well after having my car on sale for a month I recently sold my car last week. I had listed my car on ebay,autotrader, cars.com, and craigslist. I had my 06 Lexus I350 with 25K Miles. Finally I began to get alot of calls most buyers that came to look at the car had to get their financing approved. Then I get a call from someone in Newark, NJ that seemed intrested. I didnt take the guy seriously but he said he has his finacing in order and he is ready to purchase. So he says would purchase the car for 28K. I told him I would sell it for that but I was not going to be responsible for shipping charges. He says he would fly into LA and pick up the car. He then asks me if I could write a Bill of Sale and the Title up as a $0 sale and he would have me sign a NJ gift form from his DMV. He says its done like this all the time with private auto sales in NJ. I didnt understand what that meant but he explained that would help him save on NJ Sales taxes at his DMV. I told him I was unaware of this procedure and I must do some research first. I contacted my tax consultant and ask him can I do this. He says that plenty of private party car sales is done this way because it helps both the buyer and the seller in other words I can deduct the sale on my taxes. So I and buyer agreed to do it this way. So last Friday he flew in to LA to pick up the car. I picked him up and we went straight to my bank Bank of America. He gave me a PFCU Auto Loan Check for the total of 28K I had my bank verify funds before I released my car and title. My bank told me the funds are legit. I asked them could this check be bounced they told me no bc its a certified check drawn on PFCU bank account which cannot be stopped or canceled. So I gave the buyer a Bill of Sale, Title, for $0. I also signed his NJ gift form from his DMV he supplied me with. The sale went nice and smooth. I gave him my car and keys and he left. He called me 4 days later stating that my car was great and has been registered with his DMV and passed emissions. So I just happen to go into my bank this week and find out that my money is gone when I check my balance. The bank told me that the check that I deposited had bounced. I asked they why, they did a trace on the check and found out that a stop payment was issued. His CU stated that the check was declared lost bc he reported that to them. Therefore they stoped his check and they issued him a new one and I would need to get in contact with him. So I called this guy to see whats going on but no answer. I left several voicemails but no calls have been returned. Now I am under the impression that I been scammed and my car was basically stolen from me cross country. I have contacted my friends lawyer and he says this is a bad situation and doesnt look good for me. He says this will take alot of work to sort out. I just cannot believe that someone can just scam me out of my car and my money. He basically gave me a check in which he reported it to his CU as lost and they sent him a new one. How can someone get away like this ? If anyone can give me some crucial advice much appreciated.

lexstolen

Can someone help me. My car is on the eastcoast and I am out of 28K which is alot of money. Help

DRivera250

iTrader: (6)

sorry to hear that. i hope that guy gets what he deserves.

sportsfan8

Call the police, perhaps?

DRivera250

iTrader: (6)

did you check any ID to make sure the person purchasing the car is the account holder.

nn432100

damn it not another one! You know I think we should make some kind of sticky with suggestions about how to sell your car privately without getting scammed. Maybe something about common scam tactics that people use. This is happening way to often! From past advice that Ive heard, it made be that your out of luck. Go back to your bank and complain there, sue the guy, file a report with the police. Since you legally gave the guy your car for free, call your bank and see if they can put a hold on your payments until its all sorted out.

TLe2006

i learned from several members that if you wrote $0 on the bill of sales then you can't do much. If the cop catches him and he shows them the bill of sales and it's $0. They'll look at it as a gift from you to him. I'm sorry to say but you lost this one.

i say you get a detective and see if this guy is involved in any other scams. If he does then maybe you might get your car back.

slee18

iTrader: (1)

Contact NJ DA office. Sorry about your lose. see if you can get the LA DA office involed as well. Good Luck

Caoboy

iTrader: (2)

Welps. You have been ****ed. In all reality, you have given the person your car. You signed a bill of sale which said 0 dollars. You have even signed his gift form.

You've been had, and the only thing you can do to get it back is hope that somehow you can either get your money or get your car back. Report the car stolen!

fleadog99

iTrader: (2)

I am sorry to hear that, I too sold a car on ebay but would only accept a certified cashiers check. Then and only once cleared is when I shipped the car for 500 bucks up to Iowa from Texas. Everything wen't pretty smooth, except he claims stuff was stolen from the car but it was the shipping companys fault not mine. So word to the wise, only cashiers check, also You should have gotten the bank tellers name that told you it could not be cancled or stoppped funds. They are responsible for the moving forward after that point. If they would have told you that there was a possibility of a stop funds then you would have never agreed.

kikaida

This sounds very familiar to another thread awhile back, dang i just cant seem to find it.

tw88

Your bank gave you wrong info and they should have also confirmed with PFCU that the check is legit.

z4frosik

Id try to get in contact with FBI and local TV stations. They are cracking down on scammers.

DJKIBBLES

iTrader: (4)

Sorry to hear about your situation. I think there was a case the same as this one on here before, if im not wrong. I remember the case being similar to yours. I been trying to look for the thread, but i cant find it at the moment.

proximal

Nice try.

http://forums.motivemag.com/zerothread?id=3652674