Posts by Bryan Morris

Ronald Allen said:First off, I'm not even sure you can do it that way. Second, can you even change the sender's name and info once the money is sent? Third, the fees for using WU to buy a car would be insane, and fourth, he won't be able to touch the cash anyway unless you send him the transfer number after you pay.

Bottom line, don't play games like this. If you both feel pretty much set on the deal, just find a better way to handle the transaction.

CORRECTION: You can't just swap out the recipient's name once the money is gone.
ADDITION: If the car costs more than $3,000, just forget it, because there are limits on sending money via WU outside the US$6.75.

Thanks for the quick reply.
In the meantime, I actually called the post office and another bank, so I managed to dig up some info...
When I started explaining the situation to a woman who got back to me, she cut me off mid-sentence because she had already figured out exactly what was going down...
To try and make this brief...
The guy (the seller) wants me to send part of the payment using someone else's name and address, and then he wants a scanned copy of the receipt. Apparently, he uses those details—allegedly through some kind of "hacking"—to swipe the funds. What immediately set off my alarm bells was how he kept pushing me to list the payment as: "Western Union on Your father or Mother name and Any address of London" even though the specific name or address shouldn't matter (and yeah, theoretically, once you pay, you get a confirmation or tracking number and might be able to change the recipient, provided the cash hasn't been picked up yet).

Anyway, according to the lady I spoke with, Western Union is one of the most secure ways to move money, but it’s designed for people who know each other—not for sending receipts to strangers. She also mentioned they see a massive amount of fraud specifically this way (selling a car way below market value from somewhere like the United Kingdom).

Maybe I went a bit overboard with the long post, but I wanted to clear things up in case anyone else finds themselves in this exact spot...

I really need some advice here!
So, basically, I found a car that I’m seriously considering buying... but there's a catch. The guy is based over in England, and I made it crystal clear right off the bat that there is absolutely no way I'm buying this thing until I see it in person. He suggested he could drive the car over here to the States, but now he's hesitating—he doesn't want to make the trek across the Atlantic unless he's 100% certain I'm actually going to pull the trigger..
He pitched me this idea involving a payment via Western Union, and honestly, I'm staring at my screen wondering just how sketchy this sounds..

Here is exactly what he sent: "You must make the payment through Western Union on your father or mother name and any address of London , and send me the scanned paper from western union ,you change the name and address in my name after meet you in America ,In this way i`ll be sure that you`ll be in America and that you`ll buy the car....
And you`ll be sure that I`LL NOT BE ABLE TO PICK UP THE MONEY FROM WESTERN UNION because the money is not on my name and my address .
i will wait your email"

Can someone who actually knows how this stuff works please weigh in? I'd really appreciate the help.. thanks a million.