A Wanaka man targeted by internet scammers has a message for other online users to beware of dodgy transaction deals.
Tom O'Donnell smelt a rat when he was received a text message from overseas about a car he was trying to sell on an internet auction site.
The man obtained Mr O'Donnell's details from the site and contacted him to inquire about buying his $10,000 Volkswagen Beetle.
"I was keen to sell my car, but the payment deal he wanted to do was just too dodgy," Mr O'Donnell said.
The scammer wanted a sum of money advanced to an overseas bank account, after he initially used false details through an internet payment scheme to try to convince Mr O'Donnell that he had paid for the car.
Mr O'Donnell said he had been suspicious of the fraudulent buyer from the beginning, after he was unable to ring his cellphone.
"He tried to conduct everything by email. He supplied me with a Western Union overseas bank account number and used a dodgy Paypal statement to try and prove he had paid ... The money was supposedly there and waiting for me to access it. All I had to do was advance the transfer payment money to Western Union to get it."
Instead, Mr O'Donnell contacted internet payment scheme provider Paypal directly and was told he was being targeted by a scammer.
Wanaka CIB detective Dave Evans said Mr O'Donnell had done the right thing by alerting authorities.
"You are better to conduct the deal face-to-face. Any suggestion of advancing sums to overseas bank accounts is dangerous. As soon as that money goes overseas, there is nothing we can do."
Trade Me trust and safety manager Chris Budge said while "preventive methodologies" were in place to try to protect people online, a commonsense approach was best.
