A former police officer has advised that anyone planning to upgrade their car should be aware of four common tricks that scammers may use to take advantage of them when buying a used car. Innocent mistakes can lead to serious and even criminal consequences.
Rav Whilding, a regular presenter on BBC Morning Live and a former British Transport Police detective, advised anyone considering privately selling their car this year to be aware of certain red flags to protect themselves from becoming a victim. It follows several incidents involving criminals with no intention of paying for the vehicle on offer.
He said: "If you are trying to sell a car and an individual comes to your home and says they want to pay for the car, going ahead with the deal, it's how they pay that you have to be careful of. I'd say that, on this occasion, a bank transfer is the best option.
"Don't trust when scammers say, 'here we go, I can show you the payment has been made', on their phone." Rav claimed that there have been cases of people accepting this without checking, and it turns out the 'proof' was an easy-to-fake screenshot, and cash never makes its way to the seller's bank account.
He said: "Make sure you know it has gone through on your device and do not part with the vehicle or paperwork until that [money] has definitely gone into your account."
Another red flag that people need to be vigilant for is a potential buyer claims they don't want to view the car.
Rav said: "If they refuse to come and view it, or send someone else out instead to maybe collect the car on their behalf, that's a bit of a red flag. What has happened in the past is the vehicle has then gone to someone and they've come back with a load of apparent faults or damage that was never present at the time of the transaction."
The former police officer said that, in this situation, it is often "very difficult to disprove". And, in a third bit of advice, the Morning Live host claimed he was "never" let anyone test drive a car without the owner being present.
He referred to a recent news story from Bournemouth where the police had to get involved after two men were said to have purposefully damaged a car during an unsupervised test drive, and then demanded a price cut if the deal was to go ahead.
Rav claimed that the car owner ended up having to pay £500 out of their own pocket to repair damage caused to some of the vehicle's internal parts. The ex-detective claimed that anyone selling a car privately who is asked about a test drive by potential customers should ask for proof of driving license and insurance as well as the funds to pay for car (be that cash or digital).
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Keys may also be "swapped" as part of a scam that involves an interested person going for a test drive and handing back a decoy key that looks identical to the car owner. It is suggested that the same person later returns to steal the car, leaving the seller with the vehicle or any payment made.
Car sellers can easily become a target of crimes during the sale process, as pointed oit by the experts. Typically, people who try to sell their own car risk becoming victims of theft and/or payment fraud.
If you are the victim of a crime, contact the police directly. For fraud and cybercrime, report it to Action Fraud. Consumer rights issues can be reported to Citizens Advice or Trading Standards.