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Possible Scam?

Andrew Ray2026-03-24 12:17:06

For iinformation of those selling a tandem, I recently put our tandem up for sale and soon afterwards had an email from MARK ATTWELL (attwell2@hotmail.com) offering to buy it unseen, and no haggling over price. He said he lived in Pembrokeshire and so would have to send courier, pay by BACS or cheque etc.  I asked him to first send evidence of address and ID, but after a few emails to and fro  (all very polite and  very well written) he still hadn't done this, but was offering to book a courier.  When I insisted on documents first he then replied that he had had an offer of a tandem nearer home and thus was no longer interested.

There is someone in Pembrokeshire called Mark Attwell, so I may be doing him an injustice, or it may be that someone is using his name.  

Take care, Andrew

Jonathan Stone2026-03-24 13:21:14
Hi Andrew. Yes this looks like a scam. My advert attracted 7 similar replies mostly from people promising a banker's draft and their 'agent' would collect the tandem. Red flags are the person has no questions, knows nothing about tandems and immediately agrees to pay whatever amount. Take care! 
Giles Orton2026-03-24 18:31:40
Can anyone enlighten me as to how this scam works? I assume the payment turns out to be somehow dud (even if it initially appears in the bank account) but is the scammer going to go to all that effort just to get his hands on a second hand tandem? There must be something more to it? Is he after the bank account details so as to be able to extract  more?
Chris Carter2026-03-24 20:16:12

'Badly' because it is so rubbish.  Google 'Tandem Club and Fraud' for a full explanation. In summary, Scammer offers to buy at full price. Claim to send a cheque or transfer. 'Ooh sorry I have sent too much'. 'Could you send me the difference?'.

its hard to believe that they would ever convince anyone. (Hopefully they never do).

Chris Carter2026-03-24 20:16:12

'Badly' because it is so rubbish.  Google 'Tandem Club and Fraud' for a full explanation. In summary, Scammer offers to buy at full price. Claim to send a cheque or transfer. 'Ooh sorry I have sent too much'. 'Could you send me the difference?'.

its hard to believe that they would ever convince anyone. (Hopefully they never do).

Jonathan Stone2026-03-24 20:48:55
What Chris says reflects my experience. The scammer says they will add a sum to the banker's draft and that the seller should hand this sum in cash to the agent for their work. By that means the scammer aims to get more than the tandem. I believe banks initially show the banker's draft amount as cleared and then claw it back once they find out it's dud. I agree this is a rubbish scam but if it works 1% of the time that's a win as far as the scammer is concerned.