More people are skipping a visit to the car dealership and opting to buy their cars or trailers online, so if you’ve decided to go down this road, it’s good to do it right. Read on to see five tips to follow to make sure that your online purchase is safe and secure.
1. Always Work on Trusted Platforms
The first thing you need to do is to make sure you’re looking for your truck on a trusted platform. It should have been around for a while and be well-known, otherwise, you run the risk of not getting good service, or even getting scammed. Since internet crime involves using the internet to make fraudulent or false representations to customers, it’s important to work on a reputable platform so there’s no risk of falling victim to internet crime. Check the site’s URL to verify that it’s a legitimate site by making sure of the spelling of the URL and doing a Google search to verify the actual age of the site before you proceed.
2. Never Work With Anonymous Payment Forms
If a seller asks you to pay using some form of payment that’s anonymous, such as cryptocurrency, Money Gram, Western Union, or even a reloadable credit card, you should be on high alert. This will be the best thing for a scammer, as it will be practically impossible to trace the payment back to their crime. You also won’t be eligible for a refund from your bank, so your money will be gone. To avoid this risk, verify the seller’s identity in person, and then cross-reference it with their car title, driver’s license, and insurance. While this sounds tedious, it’s the only way to be sure that you’re dealing with an actual person and not a scammer who may have stolen someone’s personal information to commit the crime.
3. Make Sure You Have Specific Information on the Vehicle
After you’ve seen the pictures of the car you want to bring home, verify all of its information. If possible, it’s good to look at the car and even give it a test drive to make sure it’s real and is in good condition. If you cannot do this before paying for the car, ask the seller to send you a copy of the vehicle’s registration as well as its VIN number. This number is unique for each vehicle, so with only 538,1964 models of the Mark II built, for instance, you can see the information of the specific vehicle down to the last detail when you make a search using the VIN number. Use this information to get the car’s vehicle history report, which will give you a lot of important information. This includes pending vehicle recalls if there are any, accidents, and the number of previous owners, among others. This will also become helpful when you go to set up your 99 car insurance.
4. Be Wary of Suspiciously Low Offers
Finally, if the deal seems too good, you need to think twice. No one in their right mind will sell a perfectly good vehicle for a fraction of its price without any ulterior motives. Make sure you know the vehicle’s cost, both new and second-hand, so you don’t fall for a scammer trying to get your money. For instance, the average cost of a refrigerated truck is over $60,000, so any amount below this should raise suspicion. No matter the reason they give you for selling the car at this price, you need to steer clear of them as they’re likely scammers.
Use these tips to ensure your safety when you’re trying to buy a vehicle online so you get value for your money rather than get scammed.
