How to avoid car sale scams in South Africa

There are several ways you can protect yourself against scammers who use car sales as an avenue to steal your money.

These scams can be digital, in-person, or over the phone – and the way they are executed is continuously evolving.

The first red flag you should look out for is a car sale that seems too good to be true.

If the deal you are being offered is significantly lower than the market standard, there is a strong possibility you are being scammed.

This alone should be enough for you to consider shutting down discussions immediately.

However, not all scammers offer drastic discounts – so you must continue to be vigilant even if the price seems fair.

According to insurance company OnePlan, the following are also common signs you should look out for:

• The scammer refuses to give you all of his or her contact details and the phone number attached to the advert diverts to email or is faulty.
• The scammer will sometimes make an excuse for not being able to speak to you on the phone.
• The scammer demands you pay the full price of the car upfront. Then, after you have paid, they will refuse to give you the car or the car will be nothing like the picture and description.
• The scammer says he lives overseas or far away.

If any of these cases happens during the process of buying a new car, be very cautious about handing over your money.

Types of scams

Car sale scammers have many different ways to take your money, and you should be vigilant against all of them.

Perhaps the most obvious example would be fake listings – when the car either does not exist, or is a stolen vehicle that you will not be able to register.

However, there are many more subtle ways that scammers can rip you off.

Payment fraud is a common example, such as when a malicious party hijacks a legitimate sale by intercepting an invoice and changing the details of the bank account into which you will deposit the payment.

Often, neither you nor the seller will be aware that this has happened, leading to a confusing situation where the seller is still waiting for payment, and you are still waiting for confirmation.

The safest way to avoid this is to facilitated the payment process in person – removing the possibility of a middle-man intercepting the communications.

Other scammers will fraudulently change key details about your car – with a common example being the odometer rollback.

In this scenario, a scammer will fiddle with the mileage that is shown on your dashboard – making you think the vehicle has done much less mileage than is actually the case.

To avoid this, work with accredited car sellers with a trusted reputation.

There are many other forms of car sale scams that can be executed, each of which comes with its own nuances.

Therefore, it is important to follow a few key pieces of advice.

• Only work with well-known, trusted sellers.
• Perform as much of the purchasing process in-person as possible to avoid cyber criminals trying to inject themself into the transaction.
• Always verify all websites, documents, and details that are provided to you.
• Be extra vigilant throughout the entire process. If your cautious approach drives a seller away, there is a good chance they had bad intentions to begin with.
• Don’t let anyone emotionally manipulate you into a false sense of security or trust.

When buying a car, you are dealing with large sums of money – so it is always in your best interest to step back and think things through.