Seller beware

We would like to draw our members’ attention to a scam which very nearly lost a member a large amount of money when trying to sell his expensive bike.
A person (calling himself Chris Turner, allegedly based in France)) contacted the seller to say he wished to buy the bike he had for sale. He was happy to pay the full price. He asked a favour. He would send a cheque for more than the amount for the bike, the surplus to be forwarded to his courier. The surplus was quite large but the buyer explained this was because the courier was going to do a large amount of work for him. The courier was based in Ireland.
The cheque arrived for the purchase of the bike and was paid into the seller’s bank. However, the seller’s bank wouldn’t accept it as it was in euros! A stroke of luck!

The seller of the bike then learnt through a friend, that the same person (Chris Turner) had bought a tandem from a member of the ‘Tandem Bicycle Club.’ This person had been scammed out of nearly £6,000.00!!!

‘Chris Turner’ is not a member of the MBC, so how did he get the information re the sale? It transpires that the seller also put the bike on another organisation’s website with no log-in requirements. The likelihood is that the scammer saw it advertised there. Our sales can only be accessed by members who need to sign in. 

Without going into complex details, the scam revolves around the buyer’s cheque bouncing!

Please be mindful when selling a bike.