sosh

Even if the insurance co paid the loss its still the same crime and the money to pay the loss had to come from somewhere. I do not know if in this case the insurance company would pay as he signed the title over and the crime is actually fraud and not really car theft as far as the policy is concerned.

AndrewAZ

true which is sad.. I know on my cell phone plan for $5 a phone I can pay and log onto to the internet and see the location of all the people on the account.

zam2000

So the old saying still valid: if it sounds too good to be true, there probably some $#@% in it.

You should have suspect something when they offer more than your asking price. Heck, even when they agree to pay your asking price right away, there's something wrong.

Hope everything get resolved nicely for you.

1985mb

Not sure why the PD is giving you false hopes....or are they just trying to relieve the pressure on themselves by trying to make you believe that another agency is investigating this crime?

I can't imagine any reason for the SS to be involved here.

There are federal agencies which will investigate crimes such as currency counterfeit, wire fraud, etc. but they would be more interested in larger amounts, serious organized crime and suspected links to drugs/terror/etc.

luxury1

Maybe a private detective could locate the person with the limited information you have.

X72

jimbo1mcm said "At any age past puberty it should be well known accepting checks of any kind from a stanger is a no no"

Unfortunately, many people will blindly accept a Cashier's Check as if it were cash. They only see "Cashier's" and don't see that it is a "Check" that is suspect by definition.

This is one of those frauds that will not be easily eradicated because the mythologic goodness of a cashier's check is deeply engrained in the society.

That is why it is honorable for desibaba to share what happened to him because there are many others who are susceptible to this type of fraud.

What is interesting is if you let down your guard, the people around you tend to lower their guard and will tell you about the times that they have been fooled, swindled, hoodwinked, etc.

We are all fools at one time or another. You may be a financial king, but have played the fool in personal relationships. The biggest fool is the one that fools himself into believing that he never plays the fool.

edspider

I once posted something for sale on "Craig's List". They listed much info about exercising caution with cashier's checks. Sure enough, I got 2 responses, both in very poor English and both loving my item and wanting to buy it sight unseen.

They had a little twist, though. They both said they could only produce cashier checks in a larger amount. And would I be so kind to include a check for the excess. They said they were prepared to trust me and a personal check would be ok.

Thanks to the warning posted on the web site, I knew to ignore these fraudulent claims. Otherwise, I would have given my item away as well as paying the thief to steal it!

jimbo1mcm

Didn't say what was quoted.

Long Islander

Actually, I think he did many of us a big favor. I think many of us would readily accept a bank check drawn on a well-known bank like Chase. I found the post and the replies quite useful.

MARK CUMMINS

-No I don’t' have Teleaid activated on the car

Just call MBUSA and have it activated with a Credit Card Then Have Mb Trace it..With proof of a Police report...Do IT!

Talbot

I would think that the first thing the crooks did was disable Teleaid....but then again, I'd certainly give it a try.

AndrewAZ

Thats the main points of the SS is to investigate currency fraud along with check fraud.. Its the US government they will go after anyone from $20. I would not consider $30k+++ a small amount of money.

I used to go to school with a kid whos dad was a SS agent(he only did currency not presidential detail), each state has a field office and they investigate just about any currency fraud including people copying $1 bills. I think we have around 70-80 agents in Arizona working for the SS, and I would assume the same for other citys.

X72

[QUOTE=HELL ONA HARLEY;1816165]... At any age past puberty it should be well known accepting checks of any kind from a stanger is a no no... Well, at least is was where I grew-up.... [QUOTE]

Sorry jimbo1mcm. My mistake.

WEBSRFR

I'm just amazed at the lack of any work done by the police to ressolve this matter. Especially after they were able to reach these *******s over the phone.

Kind of reminds me on the Seinfeld Episode where Jerry's car gets stolen and he calls his carphone only to speak to the guy who stole the car. Jerry asks politely for the guy to return the car and the guy says no. Seems like that is what the police have done here.

Police: "Yes, hi this is the police. Aparently you stole a car with a fradulent money order."

Crook: "No that was a real money order given by my cousin. I have to go now"

Police: "Oh okay. Sorry for bothgering you. Enjoy your stolen car."

Desi: So sorry to hear about your loss but you should try to get the police to ressolve this matter for you. Get some service back for all those taxes that you pay!

tashakes

Sorry to hear, last timeI sold a car on eBay, the guy flew from Utah with a cashier's check, I picked him up at the airport and drove straight to my bank, where I had the manager call the isuing bank and verify they had issued that check. No problems. I did tell the buyer what the process was going to be, and he had no problem with it, of course, cause he was not a crook.

You ALWAYS need to do this kind of transactions directly at the bank, and during business hours.

I wonder if your insurance would cover it as theft, but since you signed the title, I guess not.

Good luck and I hope you get the mf's

Cheers

Edward

2K6E55

Man, sorry to hear about your mishap and I hope they will catch those guys soon.

DesiBaba

Well I want everyone here to understand one thing, I haven't reached where I am today in my career by being a fool. Yes I made a mistake, but then again who doesn't. If any of us think that they're perfect, then there isn't a bigger fool then them. Actually why am I wasting my breath on this person. Like I need any more aggravation right now.

[PHP]They had a little twist, though. They both said they could only produce cashier checks in a larger amount. And would I be so kind to include a check for the excess. They said they were prepared to trust a personal check and me would be ok.[/PHP]

I have gotten those types of emails too, but I stayed back from responding to them. My sixth sense was working then. I happen to believe everything happens for a reason, whatever that maybe.

Latest News Update:
I thought police in U.S. was better then police back home, but I guess not. The investigator finally went to look for the guy yesterday (after 4 days). Turns out there's no one home (surprise surprise). So what does Mr. Investigator do, turns around comes back to his desk and has a chocolate donut becuz it was a bit too much of work for one day. To this day, there's no police warrant for the guy yet. I'm sorry, am I missing something here. Freaking guy owns 3 other cars, put a bulletin out for those cars, track him thru cell ph, get the tapes from the gas station or the kinks we used to make copies. Hello get on it. But all he tells me he's working on it. Yeah right my butt he's working on it.

My insurance co. gives me $20 a day towards a rental, what can you get for $20 bucks huh... Well lucky me, I can get a all new Kia Reo instead of my Mercedes, and still pay another .49 cents plus tax for it. Who can I kill here?

Lets see how this thing panes out. Maybe I shouldn't have my story out to you guys, but then again this is my way of blowing steam. So you guys just have to deal with this

egxpimp

Ouch....sorry to hear about this man

Jakarta Expat

Hey, do not beat yourself up over this, as you said, everyone makes mistakes, live and learn. Personally, if you have helped 1 person from making the same mistake by posting what happened to you then I applaude you for being big enough to admit what happened and inform others. Personally I thought the insurance would tell you to get screwed but if they are paying for a rental then they seem like the are going to cover the loss. Good Luck in catching the ***.

unclebenz

Didnt you say that he had an ID which you made a copy of? what kind of an ID was it, im hoping it was a legit license. Cant you track him through that? And last, if the cops went to his house and did nothin aboout it, why dont YOU go to his house wait for him with some of your friends and handle it yourself, here in NY that's how we handle our business, F*CK the police they're not gonna do **** about it until it's too late. If your a mild mannered person then I suggest you see a lawyer and gets some info on what to do, im sure he or she will guide you in the right direction, but if it was me, I would find the guy and beat his *** till he cant move again.

barrafp

Yes, What he said. Just park your Kia Reo near his house, since he doesn't know that it is your car, once he's home call Mr. Investigator to put his donut down and get his *** over there. Bring a weapon just in case you have to do things yourself. Flatten his (or your mb) tires so he cannot get away or just park the Kia in front of the car so he cannot escape. Do everything yourself.

mike10980

First of all, Desibaba, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Your story is going to help other people; personally, I thought that cashier's checks are as good as money. I hope the police come through for you, and you are able to reclaim your loss, it actually may help to hire a private investigator.


Good idea, but I just had to laugh at the Kia Reo stuff...



Don't mess with a Reo...

amgmark

When I sold my 330 I made the same mistake.. I took a cashiers check after hours from a guy I really didn't like at all.. (He acted like a jerk and had to negotiate like mad to get him to meet me half way) I was lucky because the cashiers check was valid, but I was really sweating my *** off until the next morning.

My car was listed for months with hardly any bites.. This guy was below my asking price, but I was desperate to unload the car..

whew..

john89011

Desibaba,

Don't count on the cops cuz they won't do s*** I was carjacked at shotgun point. The dudes took the car and I called the cops (I did not have teleaid active). I went to the station and filled out a report. Then I called MB to activate the teleaid system. They faxed me an application which I filled out with the credit card # of course and faxed it back. Teleaid was able to pick up the signal after 2 days and found the car parked on the side of the road with nothing missing, not a scratch. I wanted to have the cops go after the guys but they told me that as long as I got my car back that's all it matters. But the problem is that you still have these guys running around who are going to the same thing to someone else. The thing that sucks about teleaid is that the key has to be in the ignition and in the on position. If it's not they'll never be able to track it down. In another words, if there's no power to the teleaid sys it won't work which means just disconnecting the battery and put it in a garage and it'll never be found. Also, you can't ship a vehicle oversees if it's more then three years old. What they could do though is strip your car and sell the parts on the black market and get like 2x more then what your car is worth but it's hard cuz pretty much any MB OEM part is serialized so if they are being watched, they'll eventually get caught.

Good Luck!

albanianbenz

Not true, unless this just came into effect a month or so ago.
My cousin sent his 2000 Cobra this summer to Europe and I know of a few others that have done the same thing with cars over 3yrs old. As far as registering the car over there that mey present a problem but in most European countries "money talks"