Advise needed

[Chris L.]

Hey folks.. have a person wanting to buy my car and pay by wired funds from S Africa. While I think I am aware of just about all the scams out there, I have not heard of one involving wired funds directly to the bank. He's paying the price and not including anything extra to pay the shipper as most of the scams do. Your thoughts, concerns or warnings appreceiated. THanks
Chris

[Ken A.]

Re: Advise needed

I would think your banker can give you the BEST advice. It may be real.

[Chris L.]

Re: Advise needed

I checked with them and they are not aware of any wired funds scam. Thet know about the other ones and said they get 50 emails a day from customers that fell for the other scams, but did not know of any that invloved wired funds.

[Rob M.]

Re: Advise needed

Chris,

I've bought 4 cars exactly that way in the States and shipped them to the Netherlands. What other way is there to pay for it in a relatively safe manner???

Open a new account just for this transfer at your bank and transfer the money right away into your personal account when it arrives on this new account. That way it is inpossible to redraw it (I think it isn't even possible from the initial account in the first place).

Let's not loose faith in our complete mankind due to a small number of scammers...

greetings,
Rob

[Duke W.]

Re: Advise needed

Wiring is the safest way to send or receive funds. They should show up in your account the day the funds are wired, and once in your account, that's it. A wire cannot be rescinded.

I've used the federal wire to transfer funds between accounts - various banks and my brokerage house, but this is strictly within the US and between my own accounts with known and reputable institutions.

I've never sent or received wires internationally, so as stated, your banker is probably the best guy to talk to. Most banks have a central wire operation, so if yours is a big bank with many branches, get with the branch manager and call the wire operation to get their take, explain the process, and answer any questions and concerns you might have.

Duke

[Jack H.]

Re: Advise needed

Maybe I'm the unluckiest guy going, but EVERY time I've had $$$ wired to me they get 'lost' in transit with the effective xfer time being 4-days to one week. So, I'm not a believer in the statement:

"They should show up in your account the day the funds are wired"

BUT, I've never had funds FAIL to arrive either. And, funds can NOT be withdrawn from your account without permission, so don't worry about giving out your bank's code and your account number.

One associated story I remember well was when my brother (an attorney) handled the sale of Igloo Container (a Texas company) to Coca Cola, New York.... One of the good ole boys who was a founder of Igloo, REFUSED to tender his stock for either a wire transfer or cashier's check (in some States you CAN stop payment on a cashier's check)...he wanted cash-money!

So, my brother arranged with Chemical Bank in NYC to have the funds on-hand at the acquisition closing. He hired a Pinkerton and carried the cash ($3M+) in a brief case cuffed to his wrist from Wall Street to JFK and back to Houston. He said he was 'nervous' all the way with visions of his dead body laying in an alley with his hand cut from his wrist, but all went well and there were no 'episodes'.

On arrival in Houston, he presented the Igloo share holder with his cash money and the brief case. He didn't bother to count it! He simply tossed the brief case in the back of his open bed pickup truck and drove home to West Texas.

Four days later, the other shareholders were questioning what became of their wire transfers and the good ole boy from West Texas simply laughed:

"I told ya, they's got 'glompers' in those banks! That's fella's whose job it is to intentionally lose wire transfers and pump the inter-locking bank's overnight cash flow. That's why I wanted cash money and I've made out nicely on the extra days of float I got by having that Yankee boy lawyer bring my money home in cash!"

[Chuck S.]

Re: Advise needed

Maybe I'm the unluckiest guy going, but EVERY time I've had $$$ wired to me they get 'lost' in transit with the effective xfer time being 4-days to one week. So, I'm not a believer in the statement:

"They should show up in your account the day the funds are wired"

BUT, I've never had funds FAIL to arrive either. And, funds can NOT be withdrawn from your account without permission, so don't worry about giving out your bank's code and your account number.

One associated story I remember well was when my brother (an attorney) handled the sale of Igloo Container (a Texas company) to Coca Cola, New York.... One of the good ole boys who was a founder of Igloo, REFUSED to tender his stock for either a wire transfer or cashier's check (in some States you CAN stop payment on a cashier's check)...he wanted cash-money!

So, my brother arranged with Chemical Bank in NYC to have the funds on-hand at the acquisition closing. He hired a Pinkerton and carried the cash ($3M+) in a brief case cuffed to his wrist from Wall Street to JFK and back to Houston. He said he was 'nervous' all the way with visions of his dead body laying in an alley with his hand cut from his wrist, but all went well and there were no 'episodes'.

On arrival in Houston, he presented the Igloo share holder with his cash money and the brief case. He didn't bother to count it! He simply tossed the brief case in the back of his open bed pickup truck and drove home to West Texas.

Four days later, the other shareholders were questioning what became of their wire transfers and the good ole boy from West Texas simply laughed:

"I told ya, they's got 'glompers' in those banks! That's fella's whose job it is to intentionally lose wire transfers and pump the inter-locking bank's overnight cash flow. That's why I wanted cash money and I've made out nicely on the extra days of float I got by having that Yankee boy lawyer bring my money home in cash!"

HaHaHa...ROFLMBO!

That was a good one, Jack, and sounds about right...those good ole boys may not have much book larnin', but their "mommas didn't raise no fools" either.

Sounds like he must have resided in Midland... he probably put it all into the Permian basin and lost it; you can bet he had his buddies Smith & Wesson riding along with him for company.

PS: Calling your brother a "Yankee boy lawyer" was not intended as an insult...everyone north of the Red River is a "yankee" to Texas good ole boys.

[Duke W.]

Re: Advise needed

"They should show up in your account the day the funds are wired."

This has been the case with the dozen or so wire transfers I've done in the last couple of years.

In each case I maintained close contact with both the sending and receiving institutions - verifying by phone that the sending institution put the transaction into the system and then verifying by phone with the receiving institution that the funds had been received.

In at least one case I knew a check was likely to clear the day of the transfer, and the funds had to be there for it to clear. Sometimes I cut the cash flow pretty tight for a couple of days of float on a big check.

But sometimes recipients and banks screwup - like when the U. of Washington managed to cash my check, dated 1/1/08 for a gift annuity purchase on 12/31/07 for which I gave them a thorough a.. chewing.

Duke

[Don S.]

Re: Advise needed

Talk to your banker. If you are hesitant to give out your account number then just have them transfer the money to your banker. He will receive it and then put it in your account. Or have the guy open up and account of his own across the street, have him wire money to himself and have the banker across the street walk across the street with the cash.
just speculating-- talk to your banker. Our banks are often the culprits as well. they lose the transfer in their beurocracy and it appears 3-4 days later. Dont ship the car until you have the cash in your hands.

[James A.]

Re: Advise needed

Chris,
I have sold several trucks to buyers from South Africa with no problems. I followed the same proceedure that Rob did. I opened a new account to receive their wire transfer, then transferred the money to my existing account before I allowed the buyers to take the vehicles.