BEWARE!! Don't Fall Victim to a Car Buyer Scam
As an independent car dealer in California, I use Social Media (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, others) as part of my advertising and I expect to receive lots of "junk" mail. But last week, something happened that raised the bar so-to-speak and I thought I would share my story with you.....
I received an email for one of my cars. Simple enough, she said that her Uncle was interested in my car and if it was still available, she would have him contact me. Sure enough, a day later I get an email from a guy named "Nick" who asked me questions about the car like its ownership, pictures, last service, etc. After answering his questions, his next email caught me by surprise. Here is the email:
The email looks harmless enough, but a couple of things should raise the alarm. First, I have never heard of Title Check Car. The national service to check a car's title is NMVTIS. Second, when I did a Google search for Title Check Car, the website did not appear. Next, I searched "Title Check Car Scams" and I found an article that identified this as a new scam, coming out of Great Britain. The link takes you to a page where it asks for a credit card to pay for the title report. The amount is $24.95. The scam is that they collect your credit card number and they never send you a report.
I received an email for one of my cars. Simple enough, she said that her Uncle was interested in my car and if it was still available, she would have him contact me. Sure enough, a day later I get an email from a guy named "Nick" who asked me questions about the car like its ownership, pictures, last service, etc. After answering his questions, his next email caught me by surprise. Here is the email:
Thanks for the answer! I will buy for sure your vehicle if everything is as you said! I am taking a personal loan and to get the money I need to share with my loan officer the vehicle history report from https://www.titlecheckcar.com . I don't want to get it by myself because if it's bad then I just wasted my money, but you can still use it however it turns out to be. Before closing the deal with cash in hands I will be there for a test drive. I will appreciate if we can go further. I hope to hear from you soon.
The email looks harmless enough, but a couple of things should raise the alarm. First, I have never heard of Title Check Car. The national service to check a car's title is NMVTIS. Second, when I did a Google search for Title Check Car, the website did not appear. Next, I searched "Title Check Car Scams" and I found an article that identified this as a new scam, coming out of Great Britain. The link takes you to a page where it asks for a credit card to pay for the title report. The amount is $24.95. The scam is that they collect your credit card number and they never send you a report.
In the car business, we are always on the lookout for scams. This is the first time I have heard of this scam and I hope by posting this blog, other car sellers will not be caught.
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