It starts as a cold email from an unknown car dealer in the United States, appearing repeatedly in the inbox until the enticing offers hook the recipient. These emails advertise secondhand cars with deals that seem impossible to ignore. Clicking on the links in the emails directs the recipient to websites like Old Merchant’s, Salvage King and Quality Auto Assurance, where the seemingly legitimate interaction soon becomes a scam.
After engaging with the site operator and paying for a preferred car, buyers realise too late that the cars they paid for will never arrive. This fraudulent scheme, which has ensnared many Nigerians and West Africans over the past decade, has been linked to Alexander Rudsky, a Florida-based man.
Rudsky’s fraud is straightforward, according to many victims. He identifies desperate car buyers in Africa, communicates with them professionally and answers all their questions precisely. He promises delivery of the purchased cars within two weeks but cuts off communication once payment is made.
Back in 2014, a Ghanaian reported on the Complaints Board website that Rudsky scammed him out of $11,200. After his friend paid on his behalf, Rudsky stopped responding to their queries. Another victim, Zakaria Abukari from Ghana, recounted how his initial successful transaction with Rudsky turned sour in December 2014, when he paid $10,500 for a car that never arrived.
Narrating a different dimension of Rudsky’s alleged scam, a Lagos-based man identified as Victor said that he bid for and won a vehicle worth $16,808, which he paid for but regretted buying.
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He said that after he paid for the vehicle and was waiting for Rudsky to ship it to Lagos, he got an email saying the vehicle had refused to start and that he needed to pay for towing if he wanted it.
“I rejected the vehicle quoting the status of the vehicle auction export previously presented before I purchased the car. They replied that their inspector made a mistake at the inspection site and got that result,” Victor said.
“In conclusion, Auction Export removed $1,600 extra for inland freight and ocean freight because the vehicle could not start and then shipped the vehicle to me.
“Then, when I received the vehicle, I saw the engine block and top cylinder were completely broken. I had to spend up to $10,000 to buy another engine. Please stay away from them, they have so much politics in their business and aren’t truthful and open.”
The experience of Olatunde Alabi, a resident of Lagos, shows that although Rudsky is the arrowhead of the fraudulent operations, he acts with other people who make the process of swindling people smooth.
Alabi said that he paid for a 2016 Highlander from Rudsky’s Quality Assurance Auction in June 2021 and a Toyota Camry the following month for a total fee of $43,000.
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“After about two weeks of the first purchase, Jennifer sent me a Dock Receipt, which I used to try to track the car which they claimed was delivered to Sallaum Lines. And I found out that the car was never delivered to the port. I sent both of them a message and they refused to respond. They have collected a total of $43, 000.00 and disappeared into thin air. These guys are a bunch of Scammers,” he said.
Femi Alabi, an Abeokuta resident who paid $19,950 to Rudsky, had no reason to suspect any foul play as he paid directly into a US bank account. But when the cars purchased would not get to him, he realised he had been scammed.
FIJ has found that although Rudsky lists various addresses for his scam companies in states like Texas and New Jersey, he resides in Florida. Attorneys with the US Department of Justice in Florida, such as Jonathan Stratton, have assisted some of Rudsky’s victims in recovering their funds. The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, as suggested by the Complaints Board, can also help victims seek justice.
On Sunday, FIJ reported on Old Merchants, one of Rudsky’s companies, which he used in defrauding a Nigerian of $12,720. When FIJ investigated the New Jersey address on the invoice Rudsky sent, it turned out to be a restaurant.
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