5 Car Sales Scams You Need To Avoid In NSW 2024

Learn to spot common scams that car buyers with our in-depth guide written from our experience in the car buying industry. According to the ACC $288 000 was lost to car sales scams in 2019 alone. To avoid losing your earned money, here are 3 common scams you should watch out for:

1. Fake Buyer Scam

Scammers posing as buyers will claim to live interstate or out of the country and propose a bank transfer along with transport arrangements that usually involve a so-called ‘family member’ for the vehicle. In reality they are just looking for an excuse to not inspect the car in person and hide their identity.

They will then request that the seller pay a ‘fee’ to validate the payment. They may call it an “insurance” or “payment” fee or some other legitimate sounding name. However, once the ‘fee’ is paid, you never hear back from them and you lose you on the money you’ve paid for the fee.

2. Third-party payment Scam (Pay ID/Paypal Scam)

Scammers will often claim that they want to pay via legitimate third-party payment providers eg: PayPal or PayID. In PayID scams, scam buyers allege that the seller’s PayID account needs ‘upgrading’ through an additional payment for the payment to go through. They will usually ask for an email address to send an email asking for the payment that will appear to be from PayID but is actually from the scammer.

However, once you pay for the upgrade you never hear back from the buyer again and lose your money.

 

3. Overpayment Scam

Scammers may use online payment methods or credit card to overpay for the car. They will then request the seller to refund the excess money. However once the excess is refunded, the initial payment will bounce or be cancelled, leaving the seller out of pocket for the excess amount they paid back.

4. Bogus Cheque Scam

Considering that bank cheques are hardly used anymore, it’s surprising that this scam is still around. In any case, these scammers avoid paying in cash, and will insist on paying via cheque. The scammer will then claim that they are not able to inspect the car and will send a mover to pick it up. They will then claim that there is a ‘moving fee’ that needs to be paid before the cheque can be cashed out.

The only issue is that there is no ‘moving fee’ and once you send them the money, you’ll never hear from them again.

If you try to cash out the cheque your bank will unfortunately tell you that it is fraudulent.

5. Buying Your Car Without Seeing It Scam

This scam involves fraudsters posing as interested buyers who quickly agree to purchase a car online without seeing it in person. usually they’ll have an excuse such as being out of state or buying for a famility member. What ever excuse, they will insist on buying immediately without seeing the car or doing any due diligence.

They often offer to pay via check or bank transfer, but these payments are fake and will eventually bounce. Sometimes, they send a check for more than the asking price and ask the seller to wire the excess amount to a third party. They might also arrange for a fake shipping company, asking the seller to pay shipping costs upfront with the promise of reimbursement. Sellers should be cautious of overly eager buyers, fake payments, overpayment requests, and suspicious shipping arrangements.

 

Signs Of A Car Buying Scam

• The buyer has no verifiable details about themselves or buying history, this is particularly relevant to online marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree.
• The buyer only wants to communicate via email or online, coming up with various excuses as to why they can’t meet in person
• They will often apply a false sense of urgency to the sale, often offering to pay full price for your car and pushing for the sale to be done ASAP
• The buyer insists on moving communication off the car selling platform and onto another medium to avoid accountability.
• The buyer asks for personal details and information that are not necessary to complete transaction

How To Protect Yourself From Car Sale Scams As A Seller

Use Reputable Online Car Marketplaces: Use well-established and reputable online marketplaces such as Carsales.com.au that have built-in measures to protect sellers. However even when using a reputable car marketplace make sure that payment occurs inside the platform to ensure that you’re protected.

Use Secure Payment Methods: Secure payment methods, such as Paypal with buyer and seller protection should be used. Avoid paying using risky payment methods such as crypto or gift cards.

Face-to-Face Meeting: Be careful about selling your car if the buyer refuses to meet in person or engage in phone conversations. Many scammers will only use email or texts to communicate to avoid accountability.

Avoid Quick Sales: Many scam buyers will pressure you to sell your car as quickly as possible, often appearing too eager to buy your car without many questions. However, it’s important for you to properly assess the sale and make sure that the buyer is legitimate.

Payment Verification: When finalising the transaction, wait for the payment to be cleared by your bank before handing over the car to the buyer. Don’t just trust the buyers word or any receipts they send you as these may be fraudulent.

Protect Personal Information: Be careful when sharing personal details that could be misused for identity theft or used as part of the scam, such as your driver’s license or email address. Only give information when it’s necessary and relevant to the sale moving forward.

Avoid Car Buying Scams – Sell To Cash For Car Buyer

Being careful and following the age-old advice: “If it’s too good to be true it probably is” will help you avoid car buying scams. Alternatively, you should consider selling your car to a wrecker such as Cash For Car Buyer. We’re a legit cash for cars service. with over a decade of auto buying experience, Cash For Car Buyer ensures a fair market offer for vehicles in any condition. Experience top cash offers, free car removal and instant payment.

 Call us today at 0487 000 600 or fill out our online form.