[Scam] Car Côte d'Ivoire Kouassi

Just a question:

Is the car junk? If not, why try to sell it abroad?

If it's only worth €10,000 and they're offering you €21,500, it's definitely a scam!

Even if the guy comes with cash, it's definitely counterfeit bills.

To sell your car: first - don't take out any money, only cash in

second - payment by bank check during banking hours and only give the keys when your banker assures you that the payment has been made!

They can even falsify bank checks, so be careful!

These people have a lot of imagination. They impersonate identities (the names and surnames actually exist, and they managed, through classified ads, to obtain their identity papers), but additionally, they commonly pose as lawyers, transporters, police officers, victims, bankers, notaries, customs officers... For more credibility, they create fake websites or even reproduce the layout of "official" emails (bank, transporters, etc.).

SOME SCENARIOS OF SCAMS (Adaptable to all significant sales/purchases)

YOU ARE THE SELLER:
Scenario 1:
The buyer (scammer) pays for their purchase with a fake certified check from the bank, but for an amount higher than the transaction. They invite the seller to deposit the check at the bank anyway and then wait for the amount to be credited to the account in order to refund the difference.
This scam relies on the fact that the bank credits the check's amount before verifying its authenticity. However, 10 or 15 days later, when the banking services detect that this check is fake, the amount is withdrawn from the account... but too late! The seller has already refunded the excess amount! In this case, they are doubly penalized because they will not receive the sale amount, but also fall victim to the excess they refunded in the meantime.

Scenario 2:
The buyer claims they just made a transfer and you receive a fake email from a bank confirming this transfer.
Then, two "star" options:
- either the transfer is too large, and they ask you, as in scenario 1, to refund.
- or the bank (or another fake official organization) asks you to send money to pay fees to unlock the sum.

YOU ARE THE BUYER:

1) They identify a real ad and contact the (real) seller pretending to be a buyer.

2) They request copies of documents (registration certificate, photo, identity of the sellers... in short, anything that will serve them in operation 3).

3) They post an identical ad, impersonating the identity of a real seller. Generally, they choose a very attractive sale price for this item, of which they only have photos.

4a) They agree to sell to everyone who contacts them, usually asking for payment via Western Union -> They just need to withdraw the money. There is little verification to cash a Western Union money order (see warnings here)

4b) Merchandise blocked in customs (or another misadventure): They assure you that you will only pay upon receipt of the item to gain your trust. You receive an email/call from a (fake) transporter, (fake) customs service asking you to make a money transfer to unblock the merchandise.

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Bourreaucat in service

Hello, here is my story!
It all started when I put my caravan up for sale not long ago because my partner, my daughter, and I found a nice little apartment, but we won't be able to move in until early June 2008! So I listed my caravan for sale, stating that it would only be available at the end of May. I posted many ads to sell it, including on Paru Vendu! Shortly after, I received an email from Paru Vendu saying that someone was interested in the ad, and I had their email address! They told me they were very interested in the vehicle and wanted more photos than those included with the ad. So I sent more photos, and apparently, they absolutely wanted it. That’s when they told me they were in Ivory Coast! I admit I'm not very good at spotting scams, but anyway, they were really interested and asked for the firm price of the vehicle, which was initially €15,000 negotiable, and I couldn't go below €13,500. They immediately agreed and asked how I wanted to proceed with the transaction. I replied by bank check to ensure that the check was properly funded since it was a bank check! They accepted, but in the meantime, my sister-in-law and I discussed it, and she suggested that I ask if they would rather send a transfer for half the amount right away to ensure they wouldn’t back out later, in case I was left high and dry, and that I would give them a document stating that the caravan was sold to Mr. PLOUM BERNARDUSSE so they could also have a guarantee that I wouldn’t sell it to someone else! They refused because supposedly their banker preferred to make a bank transfer. I accepted, and I was supposed to provide them with my bank details that same evening as they absolutely wanted to make the transfer the next day. But in the afternoon, I went to my bank to see with my banker how it worked between a French bank and an African bank. I was told that it worked the same way; the only issue was that I shouldn’t do the transaction on the same day as the transfer because the money would show up in the accounts, but it would take several days to verify if the funds were really there. This wouldn’t have been a problem for me as I would have had time to verify since they wouldn't have gotten my caravan for two months! That evening, I sent them my bank details! The next day, my mom looked online to see if she could find anything about the tax amount to pay to bring the caravan to Ivory Coast. That’s why they wanted to transfer €15,000 to me, saying that included the money for the tax so I wouldn’t have to pay out of my own pocket! It turned out that while they were searching, she stumbled upon this forum and others where many people like me had been scammed, and coincidentally, they all said exactly what this so-called PLOUM BERNARDUSSE told me! I then called the Ivorian embassy in Paris, and they confirmed all these scams that happen every day, telling me that they made the transfers and that the accounts were credited, but it was false, and the purchasing individuals would demand the difference on the amount paid and say to pay the tax immediately when the money had barely arrived in the account! My father then contacted this famous gentleman, telling him to cancel everything and that he should no longer think he would have the caravan, and without flinching, he said if you are afraid this is a scam, I won't send the money! That’s the story! NEVER TRUST ANYONE IN IVORY COAST!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sharing this gentleman's details in case you ever have to deal with him!!

PLOUM BERNARDUSSE
45 AVENUE CROSSON DUPLESSIS
01 BOULEVARD 4530 ABIDJAN
+225 6617 5665

Thank you, and please share this information about what is happening in Ivory Coast with anyone who might be in the same situation we have faced!!

Some contributions to this discussion lack precision: if you do not post a minimum of information, your contributions are useless to others and thus hinder the activity of these small "businesses" :/

So for better prevention, please provide a copy of the emails (taking care to remove your personal information) or, alternatively, specify as many details as possible:
- Are you a seller or a buyer?
- Advertisement: name of the site and advertisement references
- Brand, Type, registration, and price of the vehicle (or other item) for sale:
- Sales conditions: mode of payment, delivery method.
- Email addresses, phone numbers, and name provided by the scammer during email exchanges.
- Documents provided by the scammer:
- Documents sent to the scammer:
- Have you sent money?
- Countries mentioned by the scammer:
- Other significant details?

Thank you for your cooperation :)

Ongoing CCM file: I am a moderator on this site and we are currently trying to compile a file. To contribute, you can send the same information using the private messaging (anonymity) to contact the Investigator.
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Bourreaucat at your service

No, the car is not junk, it's in perfect condition and it's worth the €20,000. It's a recent Subaru; selling it abroad wasn't an option, but the opportunity came up.
I heard from my buyer, and he's the one giving me the money in cash to pay the tax, and anyway, I'm not completely stupid; the car won't leave without me having the amount in my account, and it's not at my place; it's in a garage for safety, just in case the guy comes to scout it out, you never know.

Hello,
I am exactly in the same situation, and I refuse to pay the tax, I find it very shady
I called my bank, no knowledge of the UEMOA => BE CAREFUL of the Scam??!!

Good evening, it's definitely a beautiful scam!
I experienced the same thing: a request for payment, etc.
I gave all the details to my bank, which verified internationally
everything is fake, nothing exists!!!!! Beware...

ah!!!! the kouassi family (robert)

Hello,

We certainly have the same very determined "buyer friend" ...... regarding the house we have for sale in Senegal and we have exactly the same scenario as you.

Our "buyer friend" is called "Kouakou" and the supposed beneficiary of the UEMOA to collect the so-called taxes is named Jean-Louis DEBEDIE.

For now, we will "play" a bit with this Mr. Kouakou and think about how to start the right procedure to trap him.

Best regards.

Hello,

I confirm that this must be a new scam, as there are plenty of them, coming from Côte d'Ivoire...
NB: the recipient's address is not even mine! I don't understand why this email ended up in my inbox (??)
Here's a copy of an email I received today:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: KOUASSI
First Name: Jean Rolland
Profession: Accountant / Côte d'Ivoire

My sincere greetings and my apologies to you. First of all, I would like to apologize for intruding into your private life. In short, my name is Mr. KOUASSI Jean Rolland, a senior officer in the Accounting Department of a banking institution in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. An account was opened within our bank in 2002, and since 2005, no transactions have been made. This account currently shows a credit balance of 7 million US dollars in our records. After meticulously reviewing all the archives and files related to this account, I realized that I could easily dispose of this money if I managed to transfer it to an account abroad, so I am looking for a discreet and honest partner.
The holder of this account was the late Roger LAFONTAINE, an expatriate, director of Pretroci S.A., who passed away in a traffic accident. To this day, no one knows about the existence of this account. This account has no other beneficiary either in his family or in his former company.
I would like to transfer this money to a safe account abroad, but I do not know anyone outside. I found your address on the internet, and I would like you to help me transfer this money to invest in your field of activity or others, that's how the idea came to me to contact you and propose to transfer this sum to your bank account for sharing, which means 40% for you.
I am aware that this message may surprise you since we do not know each other previously, but rest assured that this is a genuine opportunity that I am offering you.
Awaiting a favorable reply, I send you my distinguished greetings.

Best regards,
Mr. KOUASSI Jean Rolland

Hello,

I recently put my 206 up for sale and posted ads online. I received a response from a certain Mr. Alain Boulet residing in Ivory Coast who was interested in my car for his wife. He sent me his ID as well as his wife's by email and asked for a bank account statement because supposedly his manager advised him to do a bank transfer for the purchase. To me, it seemed honest, so I sent him a sales agreement and a bank statement by email. A few days later, this gentleman told me that for transfers from his country there are taxes to pay and said that I would be contacted by the ORT (Office of Tax Regulations), and indeed I received an email from BCEAO ORT and even a call from a certain Mr. Ange Koussi. Again, to me, being young, all of this seemed credible, so I paid €417 via Western Union, knowing that the buyer would add this amount to the vehicle price to reimburse me. Then once the transaction was completed, this famous Mr. Koussi told me that I needed to pay €250 for the fiscal stamp. I found that suspicious; why ask me to pay things in small amounts?? I then called my bank to see if this was a common practice, but my advisor said he didn’t know anything about this topic, but that he hadn’t heard of such things for transfers abroad and told me to research online. And here I am, stumbling upon this forum!! I was foolish, I should have checked all this earlier! I got scammed out of €417 and I wanted to know if it was possible to tell the post office to cancel the transaction and now I think I’m part of all these scams too!! Grrrrrr, it makes me angry!!!!! If anyone has dealt with these gentlemen, please let me know....
Thank you.

Hello,

It is advisable to avoid any transactions via the Internet, as a precautionary principle, with solicitors from Côte d'Ivoire.
There are often discussions about scams (see the program "Sans Aucun Doute" on TF1) given that many pseudonyms are used and to my knowledge, there are no cooperation agreements between this country and the EU in case of disputes...
Best regards

Hello,

I also put my car up for sale online and was contacted by the same Alain Boulet as the person who wrote response 11.

To add to chat-teigne's information:
- Are you a seller or a buyer? I am a seller
- Ad: website name and ad references: I posted the ad on lacentrale.fr, marche.fr, vivastreet.fr, leboncoin.fr, and on www.zone-annonces.net, where the contact with Alain Boulet was made
- Make, Type, registration and price of the vehicle (or other item) for sale: BMW 525i from 1988, for 3000 euros (if there are any interested parties along the way ;) )
- Terms of sale: payment method, delivery. : I have not specified, but it is customary for the buyer to come in person...
- Email addresses, phone number and name provided by the scammer during email exchanges. : Alain Boulet, alainboulet@live.fr, 00 225 030 65 059
- Documents provided by the scammer: copies of the front sides of the *French* identity cards of him and his wife, a wire transfer order of 3347 euros (the 347 euros being the tax required by the ORT) on which many things can be seen (address and account number of Alain Boulet, if they are authentic)
- Documents sent to the scammer: a bank account statement with the addresses of the bank and mine
- Did you send any money? no
- Countries announced by the scammer: none, thanks to his phone number I found out it was Ivory Coast
- Any other significant details? I have all the email correspondence, and also the number of the ORT: 00 225 027 52 186, in the background there was a chicken coop with hens (only during the first call)... strange for a tax regulation office, so the first red flag.
Second red flag: the Western Union mandate I was supposed to send from the post office had as beneficiary a certain François AGBO N'ZI, and not the public treasury or the ORT or anything official like that.

I will also communicate this information to the Ministry of Finance or the fraud prevention agency, or any competent authority in this matter, and it would be good for everyone to do the same...

Thank you ++

I forgot to mention that at his request, I also took some photos (which I had planned to take anyway for potential buyers) and I sent them to him...

Hello everyone,
I received a message from a man who wanted to buy my car without seeing it, for his wife, he being (supposedly) abroad, working at the WHO in epidemiology... his email address was alainboulet@live.fr
But when in the second email he told me he wanted to buy it (after seeing 2 or 3 photos), paying by bank transfer, that's when I had doubts.
That same evening, I did well to search online for the name "alain boulet," as I came across similar cases to yours.
So, I sent him a harsh email and dropped it in time.
In good faith, goodbye!!

Bonjour, je voulais dire un petit merci à tous ceux qui ont laissé des messages sur ce site, ça m'a, moi aussi, évité de tomber dans le panneau juste avant de partir à la poste pour effectuer le mandat pour une caravane Palace année 2002 à 1800€. Je suis désolée, mais je ne peux pas vous donner beaucoup d'infos car j'ai tout effacé. Je me souviens que de son adresse e-mail : frerecontrefrere@yayahoo.fr et qu'il venait du Bénin. J'ai commencé à prendre contact avec lui en trouvant sur le Bon Coin.fr cette caravane. Il n'y avait pas de numéro de téléphone ni de nom, juste l'adresse, donc j'ai envoyé un courrier, puis le lendemain un autre car il n'avait toujours pas répondu. Ensuite, j'ai eu une réponse en m'envoyant plus de photos et en m'expliquant sa situation : qu'il était en vacances au Bénin et que c'était son ami qui avait la caravane chez lui. Il me demandait aussi de lui donner mes coordonnées afin qu'il puisse faire les démarches. Il me donna son numéro de téléphone : 00229 939 29 66. Mon ami s'est entretenu avec lui, puis mon ami m'explique brièvement la situation : qu'il fallait aller à la poste pour faire un mandat. C'est là que j'ai regardé sur Internet et que je suis tombée sur ce site. Je voulais savoir, comme il avait mon numéro de téléphone, mon adresse et mon nom, si je ne risquais rien. Merci encore, Ophélie.

I put my house up for sale on a website and I received an email from a certain Kouassi Egene, an email full of spelling mistakes informing me that he was interested in my house and that I should send him a bank account number so he could transfer half the value of the house to block the purchase (transfer or transaction through the intermediary of Western Union (a bank that really exists). I sent him an email asking where he lived and why he was interested in buying a house without having seen it. His response was: "I live in Ivory Coast where I am responsible for the cocoa sector, I have discussed with my notary and I give you his phone number and email, and he advises me to make a transfer.
Notary's name: Melvine Julien
Phone: 225 47 00 53 52
Email: notaire.consultant@yahoo.fr
This Mr. Kouassi has apparently scammed others online (Alliance France but doesn’t have the same first name).
It is still a scam and I wonder what can be done to punish these methods.

Hello,

- I am a seller.

- Ad:
- website: www.autoscout.fr
- Sale of a Chrysler PT Cruiser valued at 8300 Euros
- Sale conditions: attached in the correspondence email.

- Buyer's email addresses: n.delivry@gmail.com

- Phone: 0022566049665

- Name provided by the scammer during email exchanges: Mr. Delivry Nicolas.

- Papers provided by the scammer: None.

- Papers sent to the scammer: Only photos of the car (without the license plate in case he wanted to make fakes)

- Have you transferred any money? NO

- Countries announced by the scammer: None

- Any other significant details? Very good French writing.

- Excerpt from the first email:

"Hello
I would like to know in what condition the vehicle is?
The reasons for sale?
The final price?
May I have some photos?

Thank you

Mr DELIVRY"

- My response:

"Hello Mr. Delivry,

Here are the photos of my vehicle.

The vehicle is in very good condition (inside and out), the rear bumper was changed last week (it was scratched quite deeply in each corner) for an amount of 800€. No modifications have been made (tuning or otherwise).

It has not been in an accident (to my knowledge).

I purchased it from a Volkswagen garage on July 21, 2007.

The reasons for sale are simple, my family is growing, and my wife (who doesn’t drive) wants a higher vehicle, that’s why I am looking to buy an SUV.

Otherwise, it sleeps in a closed box permanently. No automatic washing; only by jet.

As for the price, it is the one you have displayed in the ad.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely, Mr. Delivry, I express my best regards.

Mr. Vulliez.

- Buyer’s response:

" Hello
The vehicle is perfect

Since I am not in Europe, I will not be able to come to try the vehicle.

I intend to buy it because I really like it. Please note that my transporter will come after receiving the payment by bank transfer or certified check to your account to take the vehicle to send it to me here.

I want to point out that my transporter, namely the company SAGA www.saga.fr, will only come to pick up the vehicle once you have definitively received the money in your account.

I would ask you to write a sales agreement confirming that you will allow my transporter to come to take the vehicle after receiving the transfer in your account and you will sign it guaranteeing your good faith.

After receiving the sales agreement and your IBAN for a bank transfer or your full name and address for a certified check payment, I will give my bank the order to transfer money to your bank account, and upon receipt of the money in your account, my transporter will come to pick up the vehicle.

You can reach me at 0022566049665

I look forward to hearing from you "

Being naturally cautious, I checked online via Google and I was pleasantly surprised to come across this forum (thanks for the previous posts) that tells a few similar stories.

So I’m taking the time to explain my story to share with other internet users so that no one else gets scammed. The more we talk about it, the more effective it will be.

I will therefore tell this Mr. Delivry off properly.

Talk to everyone you know so that this scourge doesn't work here.

Best regards.

Good evening,
I am pinguin24, you wrote to me about my scam in Côte d'Ivoire regarding Mr. FEVRE.
How do you know who is in prison, because the so-called Mr. AKA LAMDRY of Interpol put them in prison and he released them, because there were no witnesses last Saturday when they went to trial.
So it seems they released them for a period of 30 days under surveillance, but I don't really believe it.
So I sent a registered letter to the criminal police of Côte d'Ivoire to Mr. DIRECTOR to file a complaint and in the meantime, let him conduct the investigation himself to catch these scammers.

If you have more information as you say, then let me know.

By the way, how could you get involved with guys from Côte d'Ivoire, since your phone number is from Côte d'Ivoire.

Best regards.

Good evening, just to give you the "identity" of a new scammer from Côte d'Ivoire, who just contacted us to buy our car for sale on the internet (autoscout)
Mr. Joel Colin
phone: 0022509921514,
with all the usual nonsense from scammers...
if this can help someone, the web saved us from a big mistake!