It was a major purchase for his company, and a little treat too. A few months ago, Stéphane* wanted to buy the new BMW 7 Series, a very high-end vehicle with all the comforts, listed at almost 120,000 euros. The delivery times for a new car at a dealership, “nine to ten months”, encouraged him to look into second-hand cars. The man is used to this type of operation and regularly deals with garages in Belgium or even the Netherlands. This time, he came across an advert in Leipzig, Germany.
The BMW for sale has 6,300 km on the clock, the first telephone and email exchanges go very well and Stéphane and the seller agree on a price of 100,000 euros. Still wary despite his long professional experience, the Luxembourg resident makes sure that this German garage is serious, his VAT number is active, his bank account is domiciled with Targobank in Germany. “They sent me the registration document, the certificate of conformity and about fifty photos,” says the victim.
So far, so good. Stéphane’s account manager, who later wants to put this company car on bank lease, is even at his side for several days to check and “avoid any scams”. But everything will change one Friday afternoon, when, “in confidence”, Stéphane makes the transfer of 100,000 euros, inevitable to seal the purchase. “I contact them to tell them that I will come and pick it up at the weekend, but they ask me to wait four days. They talk to me about plates, VAT…”. Strange.
The following Wednesday, Stéphane took advantage of a business trip to Germany to go to Leipzig. The salesman had promised to pick him up at the station, but no one was there when he arrived. The taxi that took him to the address indicated came across an empty lot “on the edge of the railway line”. This time, Stéphane realized he had been tricked. The advert had been hijacked, the chassis number of the car had been stolen. The street of the garage in Leipzig was in fact that of another garage, this one real, in Alicante in Spain.
Stéphane is now awaiting the results of a long investigation, followed by a lawyer in Germany. The scammers, two Polish men in their fifties living in Munich, have been identified, as have other victims in Europe for similar sums. The Luxembourg resident believes he was vigilant, however, and regrets having been “put at ease. They made no mistake”. He also denounces failings in the banking chain, unthinkable for such high amounts, especially since the account in question was clearly blocked at the time of the transaction.
Today, he could recover 40,000 euros of the 100,000 paid, because 60,000 “were withdrawn from the account within a few hours of the transfer.” But no date for a possible trial has yet been announced.
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