careful about emails about parts

rsporsche

rsporsche

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i just received a DM from one of our members that there was somebody trying to sell him headrests claiming it was me. if you get an email from somebody claiming to be me, you can rest assured that it is probably a scam ... unless you are one of the 5 to 10 people i talk to via text or email ... and i have known you for many years. i generally only contact other people via DM on this website. if you are in doubt about somebody, check with the person by DM on this website. be careful out there.
 
Thanks Scott,

Sadly, we have to be careful about everything now. Even "so-called " history on a car.

Erik Keller, when he was alive, called me one day and said, "I am trying to buy your old black E30 M3, anything I should know?" I laughed and said, "Never owned a black E30 M3". He said "are you sure Pete, this guy swears he bought from you and knows you well" again I laughed and said "Erik, I would know if I ever owned a black E30 M3" :-) ........ still never have.
 
funny Pete, i think about that all the time when i write down history on a coupe in the ancestry project - so much of it comes from websites on the internet and we know how accurate so much of that is. that is why i try to get as much information as i can from buyers of cars - to compare to what i have seen / heard.
 
About every month I get an email claiming to be from my internet provider. Sent overnight. Says something about a need to check on something and I should click on link. My spouse and I have learned to NEVER click on a link B4 Coffee ! ;) When we are awake we always notice the email address has replaced the "L" in the link with a "1", and looks so much like the original.
And a response would go to some gmail address, and not what we intended.
I mean, really, what is going on? cannot be too careful, and I appreciate Scott alerting us to this threat as we are always looking for these rare and fast disappearing parts.
 
URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Dearest and Most Esteemed Friend,

Greetings to you in the name of the Almighty God, and I pray this letter meets you and your family in good health, prosperity, and abundant peace, Amen.

I am The Honorable Adebayo Chibuike Zamunda, Esq., Solicitor General and Barrister-at-Law of the Federal Republic, writing to you with a matter of GREAT URGENCY and STRICT CONFIDENTIALITY that has been divinely directed to your attention.

It is with a heavy but hopeful heart that I inform you of the sudden and tragic transition of my dear client and personal friend, a most distinguished collector of rare German automobilia, who was called to glory in a most unfortunate and mysterious incident involving the spontaneous detonation of ceremonial red fans, the details of which remain, even now, under the strictest confidence with the authorities.

Before his passing, ALLAH/GOD rest his soul, this gentleman entrusted to my personal care a considerable estate consisting of original components from the revered BMW E9 motorcar, presently secured in an undisclosed garage location known only to myself and my most trusted associates. As the appointed Executor and Sole Fiduciary Trustee of this Estate, I am under solemn legal obligation to liquidate these assets WITHOUT DELAY, so that the Estate may be properly presented before the Probate Registry of the State High Court before the statutory deadline expires, after which the assets shall be forfeited to persons unknown to me, which I cannot allow, as I am a man of my word and of God.

The inventory, which I am prepared to release to you IMMEDIATELY upon your reply, includes but is not limited to: door seals preserved in nitrogen (untouched by human hands since the collector's passing), a rare private collection of Petri and Nardi steering wheels personally autographed by the makers themselves, complete window seals and felts of unquestionable originality, numerous close-ratio Getrag transmissions and matching differentials, a large and pristine supply of tail lamps, original cloisonné badges of great sentimental and monetary value, a full wooden dashboard personally signed by his dear late friend and racing legend Herr Hans Stuck, a generous quantity of fine linen work cloths embossed by hand in the German tradition, and a rare assortment of red-handled hand tools acquired through a confidential international barter exchange programme, the origins of which I am not at liberty to disclose at this time.

I wish to assure you, in the sight of God, that I am asking NOTHING for these precious items themselves — only the modest sum of US $1,000 per item to cover shipping, handling, and the many complex customs formalities of our country's foreign exchange system (transmissions and differentials, owing to their considerable weight, will additionally require a refundable deposit of US $5,000 each). To facilitate the brokerage of import/export documentation, I will also require your full banking information and government identification numbers, which will be held with the UTMOST CONFIDENTIALITY and used for NO OTHER PURPOSE.

Rest assured, upon safe receipt of the goods at your destination, my staff shall refund your ENTIRE deposit, less only the actual cost of shipping and handling, as God is my witness.

Time is not on our side, my friend. I await your urgent reply so that we may proceed with trust, honor, and the blessing of the Almighty.

Yours in utmost sincerity and confidentiality,

The Honorable Adebayo Chibuike Zamunda
Solicitor General, Barrister & Notary Public
(Please reply only to this email for security reasons)
 
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if you get an email that claims to be rsporsche offering to sell you a part, please examine the email address - both the name and especially the actual sender. not hard to 'spoof' a name ... a lot harder to spoof an actual email address. my email address has my name in it and i generally do not publish it online, only by DM. if you get an email claiming to be me, please send me a DM with the actual return email address ... perhaps we can block them from accessing our site.
 
rsporsche said:
if you get an email that claims to be rsporsche offering to sell you a part, please examine the email address - both the name and especially the actual sender. not hard to 'spoof' a name ... a lot harder to spoof an actual email address. my email address has my name in it and i generally do not publish it online, only by DM. if you get an email claiming to be me, please send me a DM with the actual return email address ... perhaps we can block them from accessing our site.
Click to expand...
I always check the return address when I get a suspicious email. For a while I was getting a lot of "update your credit card information" email from a benign sounding address (secure.net)...But instead of clicking on the suspicious link, I simply went to my credit card site and logged in. Of course whatever the pressing need for me to surrender my CC info was, was not present at the actual site.

Lately it has been un urgent need to update my credit card info or my "cloud account" will be deleted, and I'll lose all of my data (!!!!!), except the email is from [email protected], or some such BS..

So always a good policy to a) check the return address, and b) if in doubt, go check your normal means for interacting with whatever party it is.. (here DM)..

S
 
my recommendation is to not have your e9 alias the same as your email, especially with @gmail.com. if people are getting emails about parts - they aren't coming thru the e9coupe system. they are shooting emails hoping to reach you.
 
Also another scam to be aware is the the Pay Pal scam. You are selling something the person tells you they want to pay in advance before they see it to lock it down. Then you get a fake emial that looks real from paypal saying payment is pending. Then the scammer says somthing like “I have a corporate/business PayPal account, and it won't allow me to send less than $250.” They then ask you to refund the excess money back through pay pal. All the emails from paypal look very real especially if you are in a hurry and using your phone.
 
Here is my latest. Have had an oxalic acid vaporizer (useful in beekeeping) on Varagesale (I use this site because it is SO local) but has sites internationally. Usually see small items that have become redundant that change hands cheaply instead of discarding. After about a year and a half I get this email today, says they really want this item, but cannot collect until the 26th. Can they pay now and pick up then? Oh, and what is your e-transfer info. haha. Won't do it. Went back in the house to access this communication on my desktop, and as I signed in, the sender was labelled "Banned user" by Varagesale. So, good for them, somehow the message on my iPhone looked like it was from "Lauren", but I was only going to tell her no, I will wait for cash. All this for a $75. transaction!
 
Sorry as this is bit long - but might be good to read through....
This is a story is what happened to me about 20 years back....

I was going through my email one evening and saw a note from my mortgage company with a survey asking how a recent 'customer experience' I had with them went....
That struck me as odd as I had not done anything with them (other than paying my mortgage each month)...

So - I called to find out what this was about.
Evidently someone called (pretending to be me) and asked for a copy of my deed faxed to them. I did not request that. And at that - the phone number they gave to send the fax to not mine (or for me).
The customer service person said that they had not sent the fax yet as they were backed up and they would be getting to that the following day (or something like that). I said for the fax not to be sent as I did not make that request. Before I hung up, I confirmed that they would not send it.
It seemed odd to me - but... figured someone was out fishing for info and that was just a part of that kind of thing.
I also thought I had caught whatever had been in process and stopped it.

About a week later - I was balancing my accounts when I noticed a $54k draw on my HELOC. (The HELOC was not at the same place as my mortgage). That draw was NOT something I had done.
Of course - I discovered it just about 5 minutes after their phone lines closed for the day. That night was about as sleepless as one I have ever had....

The bank's phone lines open at 7am that next day (a Friday). That morning at work (each Friday) I give a presentation to our VP/GM at 7:15... I did that every Friday for about 3 years (before I handed that off to someone else). But - that Friday it had to be me. So... I did my presentation in record time and then excused myself.
I then called the bank.
I had all my accounts locked down. They requested that I go down to the bank HQ (45 minute drive). I was happy to....

My wife and I get down there are are shepherded up to their Security Manager. He explains what he has and the process they follow for wire transfers and all.
He shows me the wire transfer form that was used for this.
The signature there was a pixel by pixel match of the one on my mortgage form that evidently had been faxed after all. (I had a feeling this was connected to the 'fax issue' I had before - and brought a copy of the mortgage paperwork I had to compare - I was super glad I did).
The contact phone on the wire transfer form is not one I had knowledge of (and later found out was disconnected by that point).

About 10 minutes after we arrive - the discussion was interrupted by a call from one of the customer service agent managers who said there was another attempt to access my HELOC right then.
Up until then- in the back of my mind I was trying to figure out how the bank would handle this.
I mean - At that point all they have is my saying it wasn't me. Nothing else that I could think of beyond me having no connection to the receipient of the wire transfer or the phone numbers involved.... was 'mine'.
That last attempt to get my money saved me - LOL

In the end - I was made whole and all my $$ returned.

So - to dissect this a bit...

Some background at my HELOC bank -
About 4 weeks before this all happened, a new contact phone number was added to my account (this phone was the one they used on the wire confirmation form).
There was not any additional 'security' on the form.

Changes after -
Any time a new address or phone is added or deleted from an account, they send notice to the old/existing contact points to confirm or make aware.
A 200% enlarged copy of the account holders drivers license or passport or something is required to be included with the wire form.

In the end - all turned out ok for me.

Funny thing - about 2 months after this all happened, I had to do a wire myslef - for real.
During the call, the bank clerk was so apololegetic at all the 'new' security stuff they were having me jump through.
I said that was fine and if I needed to give a pint of blood - that would be ok too. She seemed to be taken back by my willingness to do what was requested.
I told her I was probably the reason for the new procedures (and gave her a description of what happened to me earlier).
She had heard about this and was so suprised to be talking to me. And - yes, my previous issue was the reason they changed processes....

Lessons learned -
I don't ignore emails that are from institutions I deal with that make it sound like I did something I didn't.
I am very aware of all the contact info for each and every one of my banking and credit accounts. I go through them each of them every 6 months or so to make sure they are all as I expect.

To add insult to injury recently -
Not long ago, I received an email from my current mortgage company nearly identical to the one I received 20 years back (asking how a customer experience went - a survey email).
Again - it was after hours when they sent it so I couldn't call in to see what was going on.
20 minutes later - they sent a follow up email apologizing as the earlier one was mistakenly sent to all their customers.

NOT good for my trust with them. If that happens again - I will pay off my mortgage and call it done.

Cheers!
 
I will add something to this, AI related
a common thing to try an verify that the so called seller actually has the part is to ask for photo of the part with your name on it
I did this recently, only I said 'can you send me a photo of the kit, with my name on a piece of paper, taped to the kit'
I was already suspicious
They sent me the requested photo, but it was obvious it was AI, the tape was yellowed and a few other things
but AI gets better every day
 
I had a weird call the other day.

According to the caller ID it was from a well-known bank I have a credit card with.

They said there had been an issue with my Venmo account. I was a bit confused since the bank was a credit card account, not Venmo, but then I thought maybe I had linked my CC with Venmo.

They rattled off a set of venmo payments that were clearly not mine.

Having established me as a bonafide mark, they then said they had to transfer me to an account security manager, and gave an official sounding case number. They then transferred me to this case manager, who asked for the case number. They then proceeded to go down a rather circuitous process where in order to reverse the Venmo charges they would require that I add the security manager as a payee or payer to my Venmo account, so they could then reimburse my account for the fraudulent charges. This seemed rather suspicious, so I started asking questions...

I logged into both the credit card account from the same bank they purported to be from..nothing... no unusual charges, no pending charges...Then I logged into Venmo. Same deal, no record of any charges or attempted payments. I then ask them what bank are you with again? They say the bank name, and I say well, I am looking at my online account, and there are no such charges, and I think i'll call my bank directly to see if there is any suspicious activity. They respond that they are my bank, and I can verify this because the caller ID says it is from XYZ bank.

At this point I told them I was going to call my bank anyway, and hung up... There were never any fraudulent charges on my Venmo account...
 
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Yes, the scams are getting better and better guys, and obviously aimed at us all as we get older, so please watch out for your older friends and family, some horror stories out there.

Now for a funny one. I had a Lotus 69 that Graham Hill drove five times. I was looking to sell an M1 (which I did), as I had found a better one, and the buyer asked if I would sell the Lotus. I had had it for over a decade and thought, "ok, and put a nice price on it" as I wasn't really worried about selling. The next day, the friend in the middle says, " Buyer wants it, but one condition: he wants you to get the local paper of that day and take a picture of you in front of the car with the newspaper". As somebody who had never taken a "selfie" and how low an open-wheel single-seater is, I struggled, but eventually sent the picture.

The next morning I got an email from my friend. The buyer, after seeing the picture, said "oh FFS its Pete Gleeson, why didn't you say?" :-) The buyer in the UK, I have known for many years :-)

1784656573082.jpeg


Graham in the car in 1970
1784656598858.jpeg
 
BMW Pete said:
Yes, the scams are getting better and better guys, and obviously aimed at us all as we get older, so please watch out for your older friends and family, some horror stories out there.

Now for a funny one. I had a Lotus 69 that Graham Hill drove five times. I was looking to sell an M1 (which I did), as I had found a better one, and the buyer asked if I would sell the Lotus. I had had it for over a decade and thought, "ok, and put a nice price on it" as I wasn't really worried about selling. The next day, the friend in the middle says, " Buyer wants it, but one condition: he wants you to get the local paper of that day and take a picture of you in front of the car with the newspaper". As somebody who had never taken a "selfie" and how low an open-wheel single-seater is, I struggled, but eventually sent the picture.

The next morning I got an email from my friend. The buyer, after seeing the picture, said "oh FFS its Pete Gleeson, why didn't you say?" :-) The buyer in the UK, I have known for many years :-)

View attachment 222795

Graham in the car in 1970
View attachment 222796
Click to expand...
this is similar to what I wrote about, the name on the kit, with AI they can create the requested image
 
BMW Pete said:
Yes, the scams are getting better and better guys, and obviously aimed at us all as we get older, so please watch out for your older friends and family, some horror stories out there.

Now for a funny one. I had a Lotus 69 that Graham Hill drove five times. I was looking to sell an M1 (which I did), as I had found a better one, and the buyer asked if I would sell the Lotus. I had had it for over a decade and thought, "ok, and put a nice price on it" as I wasn't really worried about selling. The next day, the friend in the middle says, " Buyer wants it, but one condition: he wants you to get the local paper of that day and take a picture of you in front of the car with the newspaper". As somebody who had never taken a "selfie" and how low an open-wheel single-seater is, I struggled, but eventually sent the picture.

The next morning I got an email from my friend. The buyer, after seeing the picture, said "oh FFS its Pete Gleeson, why didn't you say?" :-) The buyer in the UK, I have known for many years :-)

View attachment 222795

Graham in the car in 1970
View attachment 222796
Click to expand...
now that is a beautiful Lotus ... with some really nice provenance. the Barber Motorsports museum has a nice collection of Lotus race cars. saw a few of them at a car show in Birmingham, AL several years back. they mainly have a motorcycle collection, but Mr. Barber loved Lotus race cars.
 
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