How to Spot Automobile Shipping Scams

Buying or selling a automobile online has become commonplace for buyers and sellers. Unfortunately, the growth in popularity of this method increases potential scams. Automobile shipping scams are showing up on the web wherever cars listed to buy or sell. Do your research to avoid these costly and sophisticated scams.

Instructions

1. List your car for sale with resealable online classified ad sites. When someone clicks on your ad they're able to contact you via email or phone, depending on your set preference(s).

2. Watch for an email from a potential buyer offering a price over and above the advertised set price. The potential scam tends to include as a reason for a higher price a sale that requires you to ship the car to the buyer.

3. Read the email carefully. Another scenario of this scam is finding a car that the price seems too good to be true. Contact the seller directly, asking questions is imperative to avoiding automobile shipping scams.

4. Know the method of payment as a general rule for the scam is to use wire-transfers, Western Union, MoneyGram or escrow payments. These are common payments associated with the scam. Consider refusing to negotiate with these forms of payment or proceed with extreme caution.

5. Deal locally when making a major purchase or sale of an automobile. Many websites focus on car search availability in your zip code. Websites that focus entirely on buying and selling cars via online classified ads are associated as a set up to bait people for an automobile shipping scam.

Tips & Warnings

• Watch for common misspellings and improper use of English in contact email. This is one of the basic ways to thwart an automobile shipping scam.

• Don't accept overpayment for the vehicle, it's usually the first step in a scam. Honest vendors or merchants want to negotiate around the fair market value of the car.

• Avoid any buyer who wants to use an escrow service and refuse any shipping of the vehicle.