Mechanics Hate Us

If you are planning on shopping for a new or used vehicle via online auction, it would make sense to acquaint yourself with the top 10 ways to avoid online scams. This is not to say that all online auction websites like eBay and Yahoo Auctions are going to lead you into a financial quagmire if you try to buy a car at auction. Although these retailers have security in place to protect consumers from fraud, that still doesn’t mean that all security is impregnable. To best protect yourself, you should use common techniques like these. Then all you’ll have to concern yourself with is what auto loan or other kinds of finance option you’ll use.

At an auction, these are ten ways to avoid online scams

Special thanks to the people at Edmunds for bringing these top 10 ways to avoid online scams to light. Here are the highlights you should know:

1. Online there aren’t magic deals. Online auto auctions certainly will present their share of good deals, but it’s important not to let it go to your head. If a brand new BMW auction scrams a steal at for $ 10,000, you should understand that it probably is a steal: the auctioneer wants to steal your money and either not deliver or perform a bait and switch.
2. Call the person selling. You should ask to inspect the car before the purchase is final. You also will need a clean title from them.
3. It is licensed if paying escrow? Do what you need to do to feel comfortable including talking to a representative of the escrow company and checking the website. Don’t settle for a link the seller gives you.
4. Do not give any sensitive financial or personal data (Social security number, bank account info, credit card number, etc.) until you’re certain the escrow company is trustworthy.
5. If the seller insists on using one escrow company, beware. They might be trying to exploit you.
6. Send in e-mail your escrow question. Don’t buy if there is no response.
7. Look very closely at the escrow website. Sloppy grammar could be a red flag. Also, use a duplicate content sniffer like Article Checker to see whether their content is simply copied from a legitimate escrow website.
8. Money should go to a company, not an individual. If you feel pressured to sign up for an escrow account or are being asked to Western Union money right away, chances are something’s wrong.
9. Verify escrow endorsements. Whether it happens to be the Better Business Bureau or something even more inside like the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, if the escrow’s website makes an endorsement claim, follow up.
10. Don’t use online escrow websites listed as .org, .biz, .cc, .info or .us.

Online auction safety

If you think you’ve been scammed and you’re using a large site like eBay or Yahoo, use the resources they have available for both education and assistance. It is always recommended by Car Deal Expert that consumers due diligence before transacting online, whether in the market for a BMW or an auto loan.

Sources for the article

top 10 ways to avoid online scams

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/115910/article.html

Article Checker

http://www.articlechecker.com/

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Tags: auto loan, buying a car online, online auction, top 10 ways to avoid online scams

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 7:22 am and is filed under General Repair. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.