If you saw that I had sold a different Classic land rover before, back in February 2007, then I must tell you the story of the Nigerian Cashier Check scam!

An email arrived offering to buy my car for a woman's husband who lived in england. After a few email exchanges, I agreed to sell the car at the listed price and the client would have the vehicle picked up in Nuevo Arenal by a customs agent and taken away. I was promised a cashiers check to arrive within one week. The check arrived in about six weeks during which time the buyer would send me strange emails apologizing for the delay due to 'sickness' or 'shipping agent error' or 'some other bullshit excuse'. The check looked genuine and was made out to me in the amount of a little over $14,000. That's right! fourteen thousand dollars and change. I told the buyer I had received the check and they said to deposit in the bank and it would clear in 24 hours. They promised to send me instructions as to what to do with the $10,000 extra. A day goes by and I get an email that tells me to Western Union $6000 to someone they owe money too and to put aside $4000 for myself and $4000 for the shipping agent who would be arriving in a few days to take the car away. Fortunately I have a smart bank teller and I suggested to him the check was a forgery we looked into this and found the security features page for the issuing agency and sure enough, 4 of the viewable security features were obviously missing - the check was a forgery! I told the buyer his check was no good and he accused me of being a dishonest person and how could I know the check was no good and please send the $6000 immediately etc. I sent him a copy of the security features document and have not heard another word!

So it is important to understand that when selling a classic land rover, or any used car over the internet to persons that you never see face to face, the chance that the sale is legitimate is almost zero! And the resources behind these scams, many emails, phone calls, the forged cashier's check and more. Just amazing. These scams must work or why else do they persist?