by Mike –

There are classic car buying scams just as there are classic car selling scams on the Internet.

My Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada is for sale and I recently received this very generous offer below by email.

I expect what’s next is that if I were to reply to this email I would then be told that some money needs to be wired to this person for some reason. They likely need money for shipment expenses.

Any amount would be acceptable I suspect.

Hello Michael,
 
I have just arrived back from raid with my men and i read your message concerning your car and i am very delighted to deal with the owner personally.I have seen the price of the car and i am very comfortable with it and sorry for my late response because i have been on course.Before i proceed let me kindly introduce myself to you,I am Capt Buster Owes commanding 3rd Battalion,3rd Marine Regiment with the United States And Britain Coalition Force in Iraq to a peace keeping mission over the recent War that is going on now in Iraq,on war against terrorism.I will surely buy the car from you and i suggest that you kindly remove it from the advert and park the car in your garage .There is good news i have to let you know about it immediately because there can be no business without confidence and i believe that it is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a good friend having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words. Please my dear, i will like you to keep it to yourself, I mean let it be a secret between both of us. Now listen, We raided the terrorist of Iraq last time and it was a deadly hit as we had collided head on with the terrorist and killed about 36 of them during confrontation while some escaped through the underground tunnel. I lost 3 of my men during the confrontation and as we commenced for further inspection in their hideout with my men, we proceeded to a marked site underground and as i commenced search under close guard by 2 soldiers, I discovered an unusual bulge in a cellar, which I presumed to be storage room and as we forced it open to have a closer look at it, I kicked a metal covering and found a metal box locked with a padlock.
 
On forcing the box open, we discovered a lot of ornaments and old documents at the first layer of the box and to my greatest amazement, the second layer was filled with money in us dollar bills though this is not the first time this kind of occasion is taking place here in Iraq because the terrorist here in Iraq keep most of their money at home for evil activities and purchasing of arms which they use for destroying peoples lives and properties. We quickly counted the money in bundles and it amounted to USD 10.6million. We decided to take it as our share for the stress here in this evil land filled with suicide bombers so as to help establish ourselves when we return from Iraq soon. I quickly sealed the box and at about 0500hrs when we are out from there, i went immediately and deposited the box with the RED CROSS agent here in Iraq informing them that it contains personal security documents of someone which i intend to send to him immediately. So now the Red Cross office is waiting for me to present the owner so that the box can be delivered to him immediately. The Red Cross are not aware of the true contents of the box because i told them it contains only personal security documents.
 
So after several discussion with my men this morning, I told them about you and  your car which you put for sale in a secured site.I told them that i can ask you if you will  help us achieve this objective.so we agreed to inform you about it and also to plead your consent to present you as the owner of the box so that the box will be delivered to you by the Red Cross Diplomatic agent to your country as the owner. There is no risk involved as every document will be on your behalf and you will not have any problem with the government of your country because the Diplomat will deliver the box to your door step.So you will open the box and collect the money for your car and keep the rest until i come to meet you in your country. I will simply inform the Red Cross that you are the owner and it will be delivered to you in your country. This is the greatest opportunity that i have now to start a new and peaceful life. I am in command of the unit here so i have 100% authentic means of moving the funds to you in your country through the Red Cross diplomatic means so there is nothing to worry as it is a straight forward delivery to you in your country. We have agreed to give you 30% of the total money when you receive it under your safe custody while you keep 70% for me and my men.Remember the key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change and how to reach our potential and When two are of one mind, their strength can cut gold. I will detail you on the modalities for the delivery in my next mail when i receive your mail. Trust and honesty is the investment i put in you. I count on your understanding.
Greetings from Iraq
Capt Buster Owes

I added the bold to the text above. I am amazed that a self admitted crook would write “Trust and honesty is the investment i put in you.” This is a consistent theme in these schemes.

I also do not like scammers pretending to be members of the military. They have selected a name (Buster Owes) that is very close to a real person, who is an officer in the Royal Marines according to Wikipedia.

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