A used car can be purchased at a dealership or through a private individual. The first option guarantees the security of the purchase process, while the second requires more active attention from the buyer to avoid scams or fraud. In any case, in one case or another it is always convenient to review the chosen vehicle and the documentation so as not to suffer future problems. This is what happens with what is known as ‘phishing car’, and that is how you can recognize it.
The ‘phishing car’ emerges strongly among scams
The need to get money quickly and easily is causing more and more scammers to try to take advantage of the good faith of many drivers. And it is that, according to those responsible for the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard, “to scam through the Internet, in the sale of a non-existent car, it does not take too many means since it is enough to put a ‘ hook ad'”.
In fact, scams in the sale of cars over the Internet have increased by 20% in the last two years so, according to the authorities, the best way to avoid disappointment is to be wary of implausible sales prices, unknown people who offer us a round business and that, in the end, end up being unreasonable.
One of these techniques is well observed with the ‘phishing car’, which has emerged strongly in recent times, and is causing those interested in buying second-hand cars to end up falling into the trap.
Fake ads using photos of real cars
Thus, there are organized groups that are dedicated to carrying out scams over the Internet, in what is known as ‘phishing car’, where they normally use portals for buying and selling vehicles to publish false advertisements using photos of real cars that are on the market. sale.
This makes it difficult to identify the scam first. However, there are indications that should trigger buyer alerts to avoid falling into the trap. Thus, this is defined as a scam that they carry out over the Internet, which consists of placing decoys on web pages for the sale of vehicles that are really false.
However, and as published by the Association of Internet users, this type of scam has differentiating points:
- Payment is made through companies that send money to other countries (WesternUnion, MoneyGram…).
- The seller offers home delivery.
- In 90% of the vehicle they sell is outside their country, in this way we can only see it in photos .
- They ask us first for 30% or 40% of the price offered as a first signal .
- They capture the victims through advertisements on the web for the sale of cars or second hand and of course the receipt of emails.
- The authorities also dictate how the seller says that he is a Spaniard who lives in Great Britain and for work reasons, he has to urgently change his car because he drives on the left and his car is registered in Spain. For this reason, they sell the car very cheaply and they show a car registered in Spain… that doesn’t exist.
Be clear that bargains do not exist
Anyway, and although this car buying scam is growing quite a bit, it is important to consider something fundamental. And it’s not; bargains do not exist, no matter how much it seems.
For this reason, and when we see a car with a price that is extremely cheap, we must question the announcement, even if it looks very good. Experts recommend that we do a search for several cars that are similar by year, model and kilometers to that of that ad and compare their cost. If it is very low, more than 20% below , it is likely that we are being ripped off.
In addition, many of the ads that are a scam, such as these, hook the buyer when the seller indicates that he wants to get rid of the vehicle quickly because he has to ; that is when it will seem most convincing that the price of the car should drop so much. However, this may be an indicator that something is squeaky in the sale…