There is this online scam for cars where the victims end up losing thousands of their hard-earned money because the scammers are masters and are hard to catch by the police. The modus operandi of the scammers is to sell a stolen car with a fake VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and the unsuspecting buyer would end up receiving a call from DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and giving their recently bought used car as it will be confiscated.
If you won’t check the car’s VIN then you could be fooled off your hard earned cash so it’s best to do your homework before signing a deal or handing the seller your money. The VIN is found in different location on the car such as the dashboard and even on the titles and insurance policies. You have to double check the VIN to make sure of its validity to see if it’s a fake VIN or not. If it is fake then make sure to call the proper authorities and report the seller so he won’t rip other people off of their money.
Craigslist users should be aware of the different types of techniques used by scammers to get some money out of you. There’s one style that scammers use nowadays that must alarm you because it looks too good to be true. What technique is this? Counterfeit checks.
What the scammer would do is they will look around for ads on Craigslist then they will contact the seller regarding the ad. For example, if you are selling your computer for let’s say, $600, they will tell you that they want to buy it from you and they’ll just send you a cashier’s check. When you receive the check, you see that it’s not worth $600 at all but something more like, let’s say, $1000. Then the scammer would then tell you that they overpaid and would wish for you to send him the extra $400 through wire transfer and by the time you do that, he would instantly receive his money while you wait days for the check to be cleared and you now know what’s going to happen. The check would turn out to be a counterfeit and the bank would be running after you for the money. The worst case scenario here is if you already gave him the goods, gave him the extra money he was asking then the check turned out to be a counterfeit.
This turns out to have gotten many victims but if you can already detect all the warning signs then you can save yourself with such losses.
People get victimized for housing scams and other types of scams where they trust a representative or a company that they just read about from ads on sites such as Craigslist. They depend on them without making any background check and later on they realize that they shouldn’t have trusted them at all. But, it is too late and they suffer the consequence.
Starting this 9th of April, there will be a public service announcement on theaters around the United States most especially on states where there are more foreclosures. It is a 30-second announcement that gives warning to people as well as advice on how to fight such scams that abuse people’s misery.
The ad’s message is actually quite simple. If you are having problem with foreclosures and you need help, go to their website and read their 5 tips for avoiding the foreclosure scams.
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