Selling safely: spotting fraud
Most enquiries are honest. The few that are not follow a manageable number of patterns — if you know them you spot them in the first message. This page lists them, without drama and without talking selling down.
What to look at
Buying unseen, with payment in advance and a shipping company the buyer sends: that is the most common scam. Make no exception, however plausible the story sounds.
An offer above the asking price is not luck but a warning sign. It is almost always followed by a request to forward the difference.
Forged payment confirmations look real. Only the credit in your account counts, not a receipt on the buyer's phone.
For cash: meet at the bank and have it counted and checked there. That is not distrust, it is normal practice.
Test drives only with a copy of the licence and with you along. Never hand over the key while you are not in the car.
Deregister the car or hand over the plates only against contract and payment — a car still registered to you brings you every fine the buyer collects.
Common questions
- Is an escrow service worth using?
- Only one you choose and know yourself. An escrow service proposed by the buyer is almost always part of the scam — the website looks real, the money never arrives.