Don't Be a Victim of an Online Car Scam

It's a simple fact. People are using the internet more and more to buy cars.

As the popularity of the internet grows, car buyers are just not going to dealerships as often. But this trend of looking for cars on the internet has led to an entirely new type of scam. To try and save you the hassle, headache and money, we will look at a few red flags of a car buying scam and the easiest way to avoid these scams.

Too good to be true? Yes.

There is intense competition between car dealers and scam artists have learned that offering a very underpriced car earns the traffic of many internet car buyers. If you find a vehicle on the internet that seems to be the most amazing deal you've found yet, remember that it might be a scam. We aren't suggesting that you need to automatically discard what might be a legitimate offer from a seller, but always look at these ads with caution. Make sure you have a conversation with the seller as to why the vehicle is priced so low and get a vehicle history report every time.

Misspelled, unintelligable ads

More than likely, if you are looking at a listing from a legitimate seller it will be worded correctly, have pertinent information and contain few, if any, errors. Text poorly written, misspellings, broken english and missing details are a major sign that the seller is, at best, not a professional. At worst, you are looking at a scam. Even though a scam may be listed anywhere, most people and companies putting the time into creating a scam online are from overseas.

Unusual Payment Methods

Buying something from someone you have not met in person, a private seller, is always a much higher risk than working with a dealer. But when buying a car online, sellers requesting a payment through a wire transfer, money order, Paypal or a bank transfer raises huge red flags. If the seller requests an unusual form of payment, always move slowly with caution and protect yourself. Some professionals recommend using an escrow or other secure payment method, unfortunately, this has not become very popular with private party buyers and sellers to date.

Remote Buying and Selling

The term "remote buying" applies to purchases from a location other than that of the vehicle or seller. There are real sellers that live in places other than where the vehicle is being sold out, but here is the question you need to ask yourself: How do they know the condition, value, and situation of the vehicle? I personally want a private party seller to intimately know about the vehicle and to know its good and not so great features. Without a reputable person that backs the buying decision, purchasing a vehicle from a seller not at your location usually adds a layer of risk.

Shop With Common Sense

As we talk, there are more and more scams being created every day. The easiest way to protect your money and yourself is to shop with common sense and trust your gut feeling. Does the seller refuse to talk to you on the phone, are they offering more than the asking price, do they want you to refund money for the overpayment, do they refuse or are they unable to meet in person? Even if you don't know what the issue is but the transaction seems "off", it's better to not take the risk and to buy elsewhere than become another victim.

#scam #usedcar #fraud