Avoid online vehicle auction scams
By Greg Collier
Before we get started with today’s topic, I wanted to bring you this article from the New York Times about the ongoing Zelle scams. The article is a good overview about the Zelle scams that we’ve discussed in the past. If you’d like to see stories about the Zelle scam that go into further detail, you can read are posts about it here.
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When you think of online auction sites, you almost assuredly think about eBay. The platform has been an internet stalwart for over 25 years. While eBay has its own issues with scammers, today we’re going to discuss online auctions that are less than reputable. Many of these auctions are for various types of vehicles, from cars to boats to RVs. Others will offer high-priced or hard to get electronic items. However, many of these auctions are just after your money and your information.
For example, you may see an ad on social media for an online car auctions that claims to be associated with a government agency. Very often, these phony auctions claim to represent a county sheriff’s office or possibly a state police barracks. Some will even claim to be run by a federal investigative agency. While some of these agencies do often hold seized car auctions, they don’t happen as often as the ad listings would have you believe.
The scam will set out to rip you off in two ways. The first is, the scammers will ask you for a copy of your driver’s license as part of the registration process. The scammers may even claim they need your license to discourage false bids. The next part of the scam is to take your money. No matter what vehicle you bid on, you’ll receive a message that your bid won. More than likely, you’ll be asked to pay the auctioneer through the usual scammer means, like a cashier’s check or money transfer. Once the scammers get your money, they disappear, and now you’re out of hundreds or thousands of dollars and the car never even existed.
The best way to avoid this scam is to do your research on the auction before giving your information or committing to any bids. If the auction claims to be a government auction, contact that agency to make sure the auction is legitimate. In other cases, research the auction’s history first. You can do a web search with the name of the auction company along with words like review, scam, or complaint. Lastly, if the auction wants bidders to pay in unusual means, like those mentioned above and others like cryptocurrency, walk away.
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