NOTES ON
ONLINE SCAM ALERT
Be aware of scams/fraud from people that
say they have a client or they represent a potential buyer. They
usually have a email from a free email host such as Yahoo or
Hotmail or the like. The scammers are usually from Western
Europe and Africa but many are right here in the U.S. What to
watch out for:
* Do not buy or sell any vehicles
outside the U.S. Usually anything to do with shipping across
the ocean means a scam.
* Do not accept a cashiers check
without contacting the phone number of the issuing bank. Once
you contact the bank, make sure to validate its authenticity and
have your bank verify it too. It may be a foreign or
out-of-state cashiers check that looks extremely real.
* Then you must wait at least 3-4
weeks for the check to clear the bank and then you may
release the vehicle. In to days world, anyone can print a
cashiers check using a phony bank name, while the banking system
has no way of validating the check quickly or efficiently.
* Do Not Refund an Overpayment.
If a buyer proposes to buy your vehicle, whether it is a car,
motor home, classic car, motorcycle, or boat, and sends you a
check for MORE than the asking price to pay for the shipping of
the vehicle. They request that you refund the balance or extra
amount. There have been cases whereas the seller sent off their
car and lost it and the money for the shipping.
* Do Not Give Out Personal
Information. Identity theft is rampant in today's world
especially when it comes to credit cards.
Please take every precaution to protect
your identity. Never release any of your personal information.
Everyone has heard the old saying, "If it seems to good to
be true, it probably is!"
These scams occur to people that are not
only selling cars, motor homes, classic cars, motorcycles and
boats. The list is much more extensive. If these scammers can
make even a few dollars, it's worth it to them. Especially if
they come from an impoverished country.
