Car Marketplace Scams to Watch Out For and How to Avoid Them | GVE London – Blog

Selling a luxury or supercar comes with its fair share of troubles, but the problem is only exaggerated further by the fact that these beautiful metal machines are often magnets for scammers. Thankfully, car enthusiasts are all over the place and pick up on these real quick. So, before you start supercar advertising on your preferred marketplace, be vigilant about the scams we’ll be stating in this blog post.

Common Scams to Watch Out For

1. Vehicle Matching Scams

Scammers these days often pose as middlemen that have a massive network of buyers. They promise to connect you to this network of supercar buyers for a small fee, of course. That is where the scam lies. Once you pay them the fee, they disappear into thin air. In the UK, these scams are extremely common and amount to sellers losing out on nearly £3 million annually.

2. Overpayment Tricks

A buyer who is extremely interested in your car accidentally sends more money than the asking price, via a fake cheque or perhaps a bank transfer. They then request you to refund the excess amount which they, again, sent by mistake. That is where the fraud lies. That money never reached your account. So, always check in with your bank first.

3. Identity Theft

Some buyers might seem more interested in knowing about you rather than about your vehicle. These individuals may seem to be flattering you, but remember, there is malice behind this. The tactic here is to get as much information about you as possible—potentially even getting your personal details, taking a photograph of your documents, and trying to make you spill some sensitive information. What will they do with all of this? Well, first off, data sells—but more importantly, it can lead to identity fraud.

Read Also: What to Check When Buying a Supercar For the First Time?

4. Fake Buyers from Abroad

These fake buyers from abroad are all over your message box when you advertise your luxury car. These individuals pose as businessmen or high-net-worth individuals from another country who are oh-so-eager to buy your car that they don’t even need to view it—they just trust you. Again, whenever someone says they’ll buy a car without physically seeing it, red flags should start going off right there and then.

These scammers often use counterfeit payment methods and involve fake shipping agents to appear legit. Falling for these might just leave you with no money and losing your car. If you sell your luxury car, ensure you’ve received the payment first and only then hand over the keys.

5. Title Washing

In a supercar marketplace, a damaged car sells for quite cheap. Supercars are expensive and not so easy to fix, after all. So, many individuals do this unsportsmanlike practice wherein they do not reveal information about the car. They cover up the damage history of a vehicle, hide obvious issues, and try their best to sell the car to you. In fact, on the even far end of this spectrum, many individuals sell cars that may have a warrant against them, which can potentially get you in legal trouble as well. Imagine breaking something and fixing it just enough so when someone else touches it, it breaks. That is the strategy here—but at a much worse and more dangerous extent.

Conclusion

Scams are all over the place, unfortunately. When you’re dealing with high-value assets like supercars and luxury cars, it was bound to happen. Do not be swayed against entering the luxury car marketplace because of these, however. Stay informed, stay cautious, and you should be able to safely navigate your way around. If you’d like some professional assistance, contact us at GVE London. We are a supercar showroom that deals with the sale and purchase  to repairs and customisations of high-end vehicles specifically. To know more, get in touch today!