A friendly reminder to always be on your guard against scammers.

[mtull]

A friendly reminder to always be on your guard when posting a wanted ad or buying parts.  I've been approached on this site and another E Body site by members suggesting I contact a non forum member via email for the parts I need.

Just like fake fender tags, scammers usually have easily identifiable traits if you know what to look for.  Lets not mention said traits in an open forum, no sense in further educating the corrupt!

Experiences like these remind me of the importance and joy of interacting with forum members I've met in person and/or communicated with often.  I was hoping to go to MCACN for the very first time this year but won't be able to make it so hopefully I'll see you all in 259 days at Carlisle.

[JH27N0B]

Sorry you aren't going to be able to make it MCACN this year, it should be great!
But mark next year on your calendar as a "can't miss".  Every year the main display when you first walk in the show is something special from one of the big 3 and rotates between Ford, GM and Mopar.  Last year was Ford, Boss Mustangs.  This year's GM, I believe it's prime GTOs, so that means next year is Mopar.  I've heard through the grapevine the feature display next year will be hemi B body convertibles! So make sure you're there to see that!
Scamming is so bad these days I'm wary of buying and even warier of trying to sell stuff for fear of getting ripped off.
The "my friend has the part you seek" responses to wanted ads are well known guaranteed scams.  But there's many others.  Sadly even eBay seems a scam now, at least for sellers.  Stories of crooked buyers saying they never received their purchase even though you have a delivery confirmation, or saying their purchase is bad, and returning a different junk part, then eBay taking the crooks word and still refunding their money.
Other than at swap meets or within car clubs, I don't trust much these days in selling or sometimes even buying  now.

[mtull]

Sorry you aren't going to be able to make it MCACN this year, it should be great!

Thank you for the heads up!  I'll do my best to be there next year. 
Instead of WTB posts I may try to send known trustworthy members my wanted list. 
People are losing more money to scammers than ever before

[70_440-6Cuda]

Just got a request today from a "guest" on here.  It is exhausting!

I am selling a motorcycle and listed it in the usual places - look out for this newer scam if you are selling a vehicle:

I received several text messages from "buyers" that are "extremely interested" in my motorcycle for sale, but only IF I am willing to get a vehicle report using the link they sent me.  As soon as you tell them to pay for the report themselves and you will deduct the cost if they buy, they go into a long diatribe about how they just want to be safe and only trust this special report etc etc.  Its just a scam to get your credit card info. 

World is crazy with all the technology and everyone investing so much time and effort into trying not to make a living the good old fashioned way - by working

[mtull]

vehicle report using the link they sent me

Thank you for the info, I assume the website referenced in their link is a clone of a valid site?

[JH27N0B]

When I was selling my 09 Challenger a few years ago, I got a call from a guy claiming interest in my car but telling me he needed a vehicle report from some scam carfax type company.  I didn't do it, but surprised they'd go so far as to have people making calls trying to sucker people into going to their scam site to buy a report.
It seems like every day I read another article about someone getting scammed getting calls from supposed law enforcement or bank officials saying their bank account is being hit with unauthorized charges and they need to move the money to other accounts or to crypto using their instructions to keep it safe or help catch the thieves.  Then they end up losing 10s of thousands of dollars.  Some of the victims are pretty successful and educated people so it seems everyone is vulnerable to being robbed.

[70_440-6Cuda]

vehicle report using the link they sent me

Thank you for the info, I assume the website referenced in their link is a clone of a valid site?

Actually not a clone, they are asking for vehicle reports from sites I have never heard of.  I had at least 6 different people contact me, all with generic websites similar to Carfax. The sites look fine, but as someone around the car industry / hobby for many years I knew right away it was all wrong.

I have found the best way to shut the scam down is to tell them to pull the report and you will reimburse when they come to collect the car.  If I ever get a call from my bank or law enforcement I always say I will call back and use a number or a website I know is legit. 

Clone websites are some of the hardest to catch -

[mtull]

Actually not a clone, they are asking for vehicle reports from sites I have never heard of.  I had at least 6 different people contact me, all with generic websites similar to Carfax

If you still have those sites would there be any harm in posting them on this thread?

[mtull]

sucker people into going to their scam site to buy a report

Just so I understand, you're charged for a fake report thus you loose the cost of the report.  You've entered your payment and possibly address information into a scammers webpage to get said report so now they have enough of your info to make additional charges and/or open new accounts?

[torredcuda]

Never click on any link sent thru e-mail or message unless you absolutely trust the sender, even then it is better to Google the page yourself and go from there.

[mtull]

Never click on any link sent thru e-mail or message unless you absolutely trust the sender, even then it is better to Google the page yourself and go from there.

that's assumed but still a good reminder. Hopefully we can continue to keep our forum scammer free.

[Jay Bee]

If you know the URL places you deal with use (like mostly financial institutions) check that too. I say this because I was almost scammed once. The page they sent looked identical to what my bank would send but the URL was something like td-com, rather than td.com

[70_440-6Cuda]

unfortunately I deleted the links - it all came through text message, starting with "i am interested in buying you bike", followed by some legit questions of condition, mileage etc.  Then the text comes with "do you have a vehicles history report from XXXX site?  I only trust reports from this specific site"

The point is to get you to fill in your personal information and get your credit card details and address info etc.