ARRRGGGHHH!! Another is this email a scam? (sorry!!)

Suzie86

Suzie86

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I posted the other day following a ridiculous scam email I got about my pony who is advertised for sale. Now I have another I'm not sure about! GRRRR!! Why do I get all the weird ones!!!! Haha!! This one is different though and I think a lot more genuine, just a bit odd!!!

I responded to the following advert on preloved.

I would like to buy a horse or pony for my daughter and myself to share, 13.3-15.00, looking for a sweet natured horse who wants a life of hacking and fun rides with the odd lesson, we were looking to loan then buy, but if anyone has a nice horse or pony who is willing to let us pay by installments, we would pay up to £2000 with tack, we are experinced as we have had our own horse(idx) but would like a horse who is good in traffic, with out vices, and who is also suitable for an 11 year old to ride, age looks not really important.


She then replied back to me with the following message:

Hi Suzie, thank you very much for the information, he sounds very nice, does he come with any tack? we are rather a long way from you and we dont have a trailer! so I think this is going to lead nowhere! but do you have any pics? also is he in good health and wormed vaccinated and passported? many thanks, HER NAME

I responded with a picture and some more info, and basically said I understand if too far away but you are welcome to come and try him out etc..... all fine so far right?!?! She then said:

Hi Suzie, he is adorable! my one issue is his size, my daughter is about 5ft 3 and maybe 8 stones or so, without seeing him in the flesh its hard to decide if he would find it a struggle going for a good long ride with that sort of weight?, he looks quite stocky and well made, anyway what sort of payment plan would be acceptable to you? I was thinking of £500 down then a monthly payment plus extra payments as I earn (I run my own business so things can be a bit sporadic! he would be kept at a friends private field with stable, out summer in over night winter(is he ok with being in? and will he hack out alone?) many thanks HER NAME

To be honest I was thinking yes I guess that would be fine as with the market as it is if its a good home i would be ok with that sort of arrangement. Still fine.....

THEN I GOT THIS which has now confuuuuused me!!!!FOR GODS SAKE!!!!

Hi Suzie, thanks for all the info! he looks really sweet, I am seriously thinking of buying him, I hope you dont mind me asking so many questions as I would not be coming up there to see him in the flesh.(he would be a big surprise for my daughter) Here are a few more questions. Is he going to travel well? I would be sending a box for him, its a 3.5 hour drive. He must have his passport in order for the transport company to take him. He must wear sweat rug, leg bandages, tail bandage, and have a haynet. I have to ask you if you would consider , reducing his price enough to cover the transport and for a second hand saddle? I would offer you£1200, with £600 up front to clear before he left, also he was going to be a xmas present, how long are you prepared to keep him once we have reached an agreement? many thanks Suzie.


Not coming to see him????!?!!? Want me to keep him til xmas (fine but weird right?) Has to travel with sweat rug travel boots etc?! GAH! I dont know what to do!!!!!

Sorry about long boring post but this pony selling lark is getting stressful :(

ETA i care about this little one and the idea of just sending him off to someone ive never met is not appealing to me at all, but would i be risking turning down a genuine home?!?!
 
It might be genuine, but it does sound weird.
It's up to you really, if you want to risk not getting money and not having the pony...

I couldn't be bothered with arrangements like that, and at £2K (or even worse at £1200) I would certainly not be keeping any horse till Christmas!
 
It doesn't sound as if they are very knowledgeable about horses. And why would they assume from the start that you would accept a payment plan? Then to have the cheek to knock a huge chunk off what seemed to be the agreed price... I'd tell them to forget it.
 
Why don't you ask for her phone number and call her? If she's genuine, surely she'd want to talk to you properly about the arrangements. It seems very odd though as I would NEVER buy a pony untried for my daughter. I don't think you'd ever see your money to be honest!
 
Something tells me you wouldn't see the rest of the money and I don't think this is genuine, so who knows where your horse will end up. I get a bad feeling reading that, but use your own gut feeling. :)
 
Why are they expecting you to pay for travel costs/knock it off the cost of him? Does sound a bit strange. I understand and have my self bought unseen but not sure I would do it for a child. 3.5hrs in a box would suggest a 2.5hr car drive. I would travel that to see a horse - could they not catch train to see and you pick them up at station?
 
ask for the name of the transport company to see if an actual booking has been made!

No transport company demands rugs on, bandages etc! Quite the opposite!

Why should you keep the horse with the costs now until christmas and then get a whole lot less for the price asked! And hope that she pays what ever little amount she can come up with.

Personally I would reply back saying thanks but no thanks as they do not seem to have ANY money to pay you let alone KEEP the horse! How will they feed it, shoe it etc?

Sorry but it sounds very much like a scam completely especially as they won't even come to see the horse!
 
Thanks everyone

Well I said I would be prepared to consider some sort of payment plan as long as we put some sort of legal contract in place. You're right though it just gives me the feeling like I wouldn't see the rest of the money. He was advertised for £1500 ono. Shes saying that if she offers 1200 the 300 would go towards transport and a new saddle as he doesnt come with one, although i dont see why that would be my problem?!?! Also he doesnt HAVE any sweat rug, travel boots tail bandage etc and im not bloody going any buying him any!! I think I will say that I would need to meet her or discuss over the phone in more detail before I would do this as I dont want the pony being passed around from pillar to post if it all went wrong. I mean, i brought him unseen myself, but not for an 11 year old child!! I could be lying - he could be a loony and child could end up badly injured! All very weird. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I just want to find the little man a lovely home - why is is so hard!!! I think (having looked at all the ads out there) that I am asking a perfectly reasonable price, I had advertised him on all the normal websites, horsequest/mart/deals as well as all the free ones. Poops!!!! :)
 
I'd be very surprised if she agrees to talk to you on the phone or meet you. She sounds like she's either a scammer or someone who hasn't a clue!

I hope you get him a really nice home eventually! x
 
Suzie86 said:
Thanks everyone

Well I said I would be prepared to consider some sort of payment plan as long as we put some sort of legal contract in place. You're right though it just gives me the feeling like I wouldn't see the rest of the money. He was advertised for £1500 ono. Shes saying that if she offers 1200 the 300 would go towards transport and a new saddle as he doesnt come with one, although i dont see why that would be my problem?!?! Also he doesnt HAVE any sweat rug, travel boots tail bandage etc and im not bloody going any buying him any!! I think I will say that I would need to meet her or discuss over the phone in more detail before I would do this as I dont want the pony being passed around from pillar to post if it all went wrong. I mean, i brought him unseen myself, but not for an 11 year old child!! I could be lying - he could be a loony and child could end up badly injured! All very weird. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I just want to find the little man a lovely home - why is is so hard!!! I think (having looked at all the ads out there) that I am asking a perfectly reasonable price, I had advertised him on all the normal websites, horsequest/mart/deals as well as all the free ones. Poops!!!! :)
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If it gives you the feeling you won't see the rest of the money, then don't ignore it! That is your instinct telling you to run a mile. There will be other buyers. It would worry me how she could afford to look after the pony properly (money wise) if indeed that is her plans. Something does not sound right with it all.
 
Buying unseen for yourself is one thing but for a young child? without references? Madness.

I would hold out for another offer if I were you. If you were prepared to keep him until Xmas for this buyer, i'm sure a genuine home will snap him up between now and then :)

I know selling is frustrating, but it will be worth holding out in this case I feel for his sake.
 
Tbh I wouldn't mess around with this. It's simple pay the money and they can have the horse if suitable. I feel the £600 paid at time off transporter picking him up is all you will see. STAY CLEAR
 
I know I couldn't sell my pony to anyone that hadn't seen him, even is this is genuine they could be completely incompetent and end up causing problems with your pony. Hold out for a better home that your happy with.
 
I don't know if it's a scam, but I think it will be a massive waste of time for you and you are likely to lose a lot of money.

Anyone serious about finding a pony for a child would view at least once and if you wanted a loan with view to buy to work you would also need to be reasonably certain the child and pony were a good match with each other, you would need to inspect where they intend to keep the pony and get proof of identity and proof of address before letting him go.
 
I have to agree with everyone else, theres no way I would be letitng her have the pony. Even if she is genuine, as she is wanting to pay by instalment she has no room to negotiate price, her ad clearly states she will pay up to £2000 for a pony so if your asking price is £1500 there is her money for transport and saddle.

If she is not willing to at least travel to pick up the pony even if shes willing to take the risk of being unseen, then shes obviously not very committed. I would err on the side of caution and request a phone call from her at least.

Best of luck with finding a fab home for your pony.
 
I am also trying to sell a pony and got an email which is very similar to yours.Here is mine:

What is your last asking price for the horse?

I saw the picture and read a little about it and so far i am very satisfied with what i saw but I would really appreciate it if you could add anything extra that i will need to know.

I will be needing the horse as a gift for my brother who has a big passion for horses. He has a huge barn with a huge field outside and he already has one so i figured getting him another one would be a great gift.

The birthday and 10th year marriage anniversary will be coming up simultaniously on the 25th of November.

I am located in London but due to work I am always on the move so through e-mail is the best way that i can communicate.

I am hoping the process of getting the horse will not be a long one since the birthday and anniversary are just around the corner.

I will pay for the transportation/delivery of the horse myself.

Thank you xxxxxx (name)

I replied saying I will not sell my pony to anyone who I have not met and who hasnt viewed the pony first. Funnily I havent heard anymore....
 
I imagine that in order to 'pay' you they will require your bank details. Then they'll clear your bank account. This is a fairly regular scam targeted at people who are selling their horse or car.
 
my horse wouldnt be leaving my yard till full money was in my hand. also holding till christmas thats nearly 3 months feeding extra, not sure if a scamm but maybe a time waster. be very careful
 
juventino said:
I imagine that in order to 'pay' you they will require your bank details. Then they'll clear your bank account. This is a fairly regular scam targeted at people who are selling their horse or car.
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It might be a scam, I don't disagree there, but I want to raise one point:

Do you really believe that all a scammer needs to clear your bank account is account number, sort code and the account name? Because that's what you need to make a transfer INTO somebody's account...
Just think, if that was the case, would companies print their bank account numbers on their letterheads as a matter of course? Think not.
 
toffeesmarty said:
I am also trying to sell a pony and got an email which is very similar to yours.Here is mine:

What is your last asking price for the horse?

I saw the picture and read a little about it and so far i am very satisfied with what i saw but I would really appreciate it if you could add anything extra that i will need to know.

I will be needing the horse as a gift for my brother who has a big passion for horses. He has a huge barn with a huge field outside and he already has one so i figured getting him another one would be a great gift.

The birthday and 10th year marriage anniversary will be coming up simultaniously on the 25th of November.

I am located in London but due to work I am always on the move so through e-mail is the best way that i can communicate.

I am hoping the process of getting the horse will not be a long one since the birthday and anniversary are just around the corner.

I will pay for the transportation/delivery of the horse myself.

Thank you xxxxxx (name)

I replied saying I will not sell my pony to anyone who I have not met and who hasnt viewed the pony first. Funnily I havent heard anymore....
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haha funnily enough i had that exact same one the other day :)

I think it's made me wary. I've just readvertised on horsequest in the hope someone will come along that wants to buy him in the normal way!haha!
 
martlin said:
It might be a scam, I don't disagree there, but I want to raise one point:

Do you really believe that all a scammer needs to clear your bank account is account number, sort code and the account name? Because that's what you need to make a transfer INTO somebody's account...
Just think, if that was the case, would companies print their bank account numbers on their letterheads as a matter of course? Think not.
Click to expand...

They may be deposit only accounts.

I know with the HSBC etc scams, they only require bank account no, name, sort code etc. Not sure how they do it though! :)
 
It seems to me that as well as a nearly free pony, they are also trying to get a free rug, boots, bandages etc out of you! :eek:

I agree with the comments made, this sounds seriously dodgy - see if you can have a chat on the phone with her, and give us the next installment!
 
Oh god. This sounds really dodgy. Poor you.
What about advertising him on a different website, and only including your phone number and not an email address? This eliminates the scammers.
 
also, putting aside the fact that the horse has not been tried etc etc, the piece of paper you will have will become meaningless. If she defaults on the payments, as she is a private individual, the chances of you getting your money back are not good - you would probably end up having to go through small claims and even then, with a judgement in your favour, you will still struggle to get your money back. Finally, if you have had part payment, given passport over then proving the horse is still yours will be hard.

But the thing that struck me above all (and maybe wonder if she is a dealer feeding you a hard luck story) she claims to be financially strapped, comes across as a little dippy but not dippy enough to not know what the horse should be travelling with.

Leave it.. OR tell her you will do a payment plan but that the horse stays with you till its all paid and its costs are met by her!
 
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