Audi A5 Forum & Audi S5 Forum banner

Attempted theft by people posing as buyers

1K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  x3me 
#1 ·
Word of warning, almost got conned.

two guys, seemed genuine but during the viewing switched my spare key for an alternative and I didn’t notice. They had insisted on seeing that I had both keys.

agreed a price then left but asked for my bank details and address in order to be comfortable sending a deposit.

I then parked the car securely in a location unknown to them and went out for dinner with my family.

I got a call saying - my wife wants to see the car, happy to look around the outside, no need for you to be there, can we see it??

“sorry, it’s locked away, no chance!”

only when I got home and noticed the key swap that I realised the plan - very lucky that the car is safe only due to circumstances and nothing else.

going to change the locks and order new key tomorrow.

just want to warn others as now people like this have a genuine S5 key to swap out. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

my approach to selling a car will never be the same again - I’ve been far too trusting for too long. Painful lesson but could have been much worse.
 
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: J0n35yy
#2 ·
Wow, what bastards! Glad you managed to thwart them. Trust no one!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#3 ·
This happened to a friend of mine.
Exactly the same thing. Some newish Peugeot gti, key swapped he realised and called the police only to be told they couldn't do anything unless the car actually got stolen.
He waited with a cricket bat and sure enough they came back at 2.am.
He gave chase and luckily they failed to steal it.
Be very very vigilant when selling a car and watch people like a hawk.
You can't trust anyone these days.
Glad to hear the car is safe Adam.
 
#4 ·
Heard of this crap before. These scum will try anything to take other peoples property without a concern.
Make sure you have CCTV fitted and make them aware of it. No need to physically hand them spare keys.
Fit a tight ass key cover on the single key you have so its not easy to swap them in a blink of an eye
Have an extra person or more with you

Always sucks selling a car privately
 
#6 ·
thats a bit harsh thing to say... Like there's not a criminal in uk who isnt from around the block born and bread on the same street as you live in :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: paradyne
#9 ·
Glad they didn't get away with it this time.
 
#10 ·
i bet they were Asian or eastern European....

UK govt figures don't split down to Eastern European, but overall theft convictions per total ethnic population are approx. 0.057% for Asians and 0.115% for White.
 
#11 ·
Adam, sorry to hear this! It's a risk when selling high value or powered vehicles privately. When selling my bike, I was worried about the 'test drive' as you can't go with them. Luckily they saw how good it was and bought it on the spot and put it in the back of a van - I did get paid before sticking it in the van! :)

How/where have you advertised the car? Autotrader go some way to protecting the seller by not giving the potential buyer any of the seller's contact details. The buyer has to go through 'Autotrader's' contact process.
 
#12 ·
Was advertised through Autotrader. They didn't get my direct details until I texted my bank details for them to transfer the agreed deposit.

Autotrader have been informed of their contact details, and been given cctv footage of them and the crime reference number from the police. The police however were not interested in operting a sting.

I've now had the locks changed, deleted the key and ordered a new one.
 
#13 ·
I really don't know why the Police aren't interested!!?? I bet it is not the only attempt or even successful theft by them!

Glad they didn't achieve their goal, but it has put you out of pocket of hundreds of pounds though!
 
#14 ·
police response is just pathetic... Instead of preventing the crime they just want you to wait for it to happen... I suppose even if they would get caught it would be just a slap on the wrist and nothing more...
but i can bet this is not the first attempt and they have been lucky with so many gullible people around
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top