Buying a Car Safely
In today’s current climate buying a car is a huge investment therefore, when buying that car you should make the process as secure as possible. Road Record has identified potential issues that could arise from buying a used car; our advice will help you buy a car safely and securely.
When buying a used car, it is not only vital to understand the car you want to buy but you are aware of Car Scams. Car Scams are on the increase in the UK and Road Record are here to make sure that you are aware of those scams to enable you buy a car safely.
Clocking
This might not be a familiar term; however this is a common practice amongst car sellers in the UK, in particular used car sales.
Cars that have a high mileage number is unlikely to be appealing to a potential buyer, therefore sellers have the mileage clocks turned back and reduce the number of miles on the car. With new technological developments in cars such as digital odometers, software can obtained that can alter mileage. This can often be difficult to detect as there is no sign of damage to the dashboard. This is where thorough background checks on service history are essential.
In traditional cars, modifications to dashboard is a sign that the clocking has occurred, again a thorough check of the car will easily identify this. If there is no signs of damage, Road Record would still advise thorough checks of service history.
Vehicle Ringing
Vehicle Ringing has become a huge market for black market car dealers. Vehicle Ringing involves stolen cars being given new identity, normally that off a written off vehicle.
In order to prevent becoming a victim of this check the chassis number thoroughly against relevant paperwork and ensure the chassis number has not been tampered with. Evidence of re-spray or major body work is another sign of ringing, where the stolen vehicle has been given a complete makeover.
Unfortunately if you fall victim to ringing then you will be liable for the vehicle. In order to avoid any sort of prosecution you should contact the Police and Trading Standards. The consequences of this scam as severe as you will lose your money and car.
Cut and Shuts
Cut and Shut is the process of taking two written off vehicles and welding the parts of the cars that haven’t been damaged together to create a new looking car. On the surface these cars can look brand new, however, underneath, what they don’t show is that if there is any impact on the car, it will simply break-up. Cut and Shuts are a hazard and a death trap to anyone that buys them.
Often the work carried out on cut and shuts can be so good that it is difficult to identify this point of purchase. In order to identify this, you need to look beneath the seats and look at how the car has been put together, evidence of cut and shut is clear to see. The paintwork can also be identifier with the paint being different colours in sections.
Cloning
Cloning is similar to vehicle ringing, although rather than the car being registered as write off the cloned car is simply given the identity of legal vehicle.
Like in previous scams advice, the chassis number and registration document should ALWAYS match; if they don’t then alarm bells should be ringing. Often these scams will be met by the seller wanting payment in cash.
Escrow Scam
Escrow is an account which allows the buyer to deposit money until the buying transaction has been complete. Using a service like this is to offer added security to both parties.
Sellers will often encourage buyers to use a particular account and encourage the buyer to deposit the money. What the buyer doesn’t know that the seller is about to vanish along with their money.
Often the escrow service will be a fake service, modified to look like a legitimate site; everything on the site will be fake and untraceable, leaving the seller to disappear with no trail. If you fall victim to this scam there is no way of getting your money back.
If you are asked to use such an account for funds then do research on the service prior to moving any funds. Once you have complete thorough checks you can then decided if the service is safe enough to use. If you have fallen victim to this contact Trading Standards and the Police.
Road Record has identified some of the UK’s current most used buying a used car scams. Having identified these scams, you should now feel informed enough to be able to make your purchase. At Road Record we want to give you as much information as possible to enable you buy a car safely. Road Record has thousands of cars to choose from, please check our online car adverts.
"Is it a scam?" Here are the top scam buyer / seller warning signs
Most people you will meet online through roadrecord.co.uk will be are nice, genuine individuals. Everyday hundreds of potential buyers and sellers happily connect to each other through RoadRecord.co.uk. However, there will always be the few ‘rotten egg’s out there, just as in the ‘real’ world of buying and selling cars or bikes.
The most important thing to remember is: RoadRecord.co.uk is all about being Scottish. We’re the “fast and easy way to search for cars in Scotland”. Always meet with whoever you’re dealing with face to face, which is the easiest way to avoid any potential scams.
In addition, here are some key signs to help you spot the few nasty scam artists online.
Requests to use money transfer services like Western Union or MoneyGram or a Bank Draft. These services are not designed for transactions between strangers. In our experience at Roadrecord.co.uk, they’re favoured by fraudsters for this reason. One common trick is to ask you to prove that you have funds by sending money to a friend or relative via these services and show them the receipt. All they need is the tracking number from your receipt and they’ll be able to collect your money. Any requests by strangers to use these services in any way should immediately sound off alarm bells and shouldn’t be followed. We strongly recommend that you always meet face to face when buying or selling your car or bike.
Here’s a real example of a Bank Draft scam recently brought to our attention (note also, the poor use of English, denoting the foreign location of the scammer)
”Thanks for the email,i want you to know that I like to buy your car, I am buying it as a gift for my son who is doing his wedding soon & he likes it also, because he love it & i am interested in buying it from you..I will also like you to know that i am paying you with a certified Bank Draft that will clear into your account before you release the car for my shipper..Please i will like you to let me know the last asking price for it again.”
An email claiming to be from RoadRecord.co.uk (or another company) asking for your personal details - logins/passwords/credit card details. You get an email that claims to be from RoadRecord.co.uk or another company and requests that you reply or follow a link to provide personal information. These are totally fake and are known as ‘spoof’ or ‘phishing’ emails. Any emails which combine urgency with a need for personal details should be treated with caution, no matter whom they appear to be from. All Website pages can be easily faked. Roadrecord.co.uk and most other large companies will never send out such emails. If you get an email alleging to be from Roadrecord.co.uk asking for your personal information, don’t follow any links provided in the email.
Request to use Ukash. Ukash is a payment service for online transactions between customers and merchant sites and not for transactions between private individuals who have connected through a classifieds website. Fraudsters may request that you purchase a Ukash voucher and send the voucher number to them or an alleged "courier" as payment for an item. They may also set-up fake websites and email accounts that appear to be Ukash, or a well known courier company such as UPS or Federal Express as part of the deception to trick you. Our advice is simply don't proceed with transacting with anyone that you have connected with on a classified website, where Ukash is requested as part of the transaction. Again. always meet face to face to exchange cash and items.
Cheque overpayment. A potential car or bike buyer will send you a cheque worth more than the value of the car / bike. They’ll then ask for the surplus money to be returned to them or a third party, for example ‘to pay for shipping’. The cheque will clear into your bank account, only to be refused weeks later. At this point, the bank/building society will take the full cheque amount back out of your account. This would then leave you out of pocket for the amount on the cheque and the amount you passed on as the difference.
Fake escrow sites. A buyer/seller suggests using an escrow service to complete the transaction. These escrow websites often may look official, but are actually run by fraudsters. They’ll take your money and never send you the product.
Payment for brokerage/importing. A seller claims that there are brokerage fees, import duties or similar fees required to get a car / bike into the country. Don’t pay these fees. You’ll most likely never get the car or bike and will lose any money you paid. Always remember, Roadrecord.co.uk is designed for Scottish buyers and sellers meeting up to deal with people in your Scottish local neighbourhood face to face.
419 scams. You get an email saying that your help is needed to take money out of a country and that you’ll be paid a commission for your help. Eventually the fraudsters will ask you for money to help them take the large amount of money out of the country. Once you pay, you’ll never hear from them again.
Car shipping scams. A seller will claim to have a cheap car or bike for sale and will offer to ship it from an overseas location, or even get you to book seats on a plane. The cars or bikes don't exist and the fraudsters are simply trying to get you to pay money upfront. Remember, ALWAYS be wary of overseas sellers. RoadRecord.co.uk is designed to connect buyers and sellers in Scotland.