Scams to Look Out for When Buying a Car Online

I am pretty embarrassed to admit that I once fell victim to an online car purchase. But that prompted me to research all the possible kinds of online frauds and I want to share them with the masses so they are always careful. I was looking for wrecked trucks for sale in salvage vehicle auctions when I saw an online ad for a used truck that interested me. The seller asked me to pay with a gift card and I saw no harm in it and obliged. I never saw my gift card again and the truck turned out to be nothing that he had made it seem like.

Fake Ads

There are ads that look completely legitimate, having pictures of vehicles that match the given descriptions and email addresses and phone numbers for contacting the seller. However, the purported sellers do not own the car. What you need to do if you are interested in wrecked trucks for sale or used cars displayed on online ads is to always ask for the vehicle identification number and ask the seller to let you physically inspect the car. If they refuse to do so or do not agree on meeting in person, do not proceed with a transaction and report the ad to the authorities.

Title Washing

Fraudsters, in this case, wash away the history of a vehicle so that you do not get to know critical information about the car. If you want to buy salvage cars, go for salvage car auctions and a fair dealer would provide you with the complete history of the salvage car you want to buy. But if you are looking for a clean-title used car, a purported seller might have rinsed away its title and history to hide its previous damages or salvage.

Curb Stoning

In this case, car sellers do not have a license or permit to sell cars and they seek to make deals at curbs in front of homes, streets sides, and vacant parking lots. The prices are often low so as to lure a buyer into making a quick decision but the fraudulent sellers disappear after the deal after providing false contact information and you keep discovering major problems in the vehicle afterwards.

Never pay for a car with gift cards and never pay through wire transfers. I buy 3 or 4 wrecked trucks for sale every year from salvage vehicle auctions but only from registered and credible dealers.

<< Back