Indonesian Car Scams: How Collectors of Classic Cars Can Protect Themselves

There are many kinds of classic vehicles in Indonesia; from exotic cars to muscle cars. But be aware of the fact that some sleazy individuals have decided to take advantage of overseas collectors looking for great deals on restoration projects by setting up car scams. Some of the vehicles are owned by collectors and are in good condition. Other classic cars can be found in many Indonesian car junkyards and are usually in poor condition.

Because I have been contacted by several people from countries such as Australia, Portugal, France, Germany and America after being ripped off, I decided to do some investigating. What I have been able to find so far is that this syndicate is quite well-organized and appears to be 'professional'. Normally, these sleazy sellers put advertisements 'selling' their cars on many different trade websites using various false names. They sometimes use real cars but have also been known to use non-existent cars (provide photos) and fake shipping companies, as well as fake papers such as purchasing contracts from fake lawyers and papers they say have been issued by the police. Furthermore, they use Indonesian CDMA mobile phones which do not appear to be mobile phone numbers, manipulating the potential buyers to believe that the phone number is actually a home or office number.

Below are only a few names and email addresses that you need to be aware of before make a decision on dealing with anybody from Indonesia in relation to classic car purchases:
Syharial Chaniago
Deny Afrizal
Jovi Carla
Maylina Agatha
Alex Saputra
Rahmat S Limbong
Angie Renzi
astoner@telkom.net
denyaston@telkom.net
shipping@bataviacargo
autoclassic@securedtrades.com
motorcup70@yahoo.com