Ex-detective’s four rules when selling used cars | Tech News

A former police officer has suggested that anybody planning to improve their car needs to be conscious of four common methods that scammers might use to take benefit of them when shopping for a used car. Innocent errors can result in severe and even prison penalties.

Rav Whilding, a common presenter on BBC Morning Live and a former British Transport Police detective, suggested anybody contemplating privately selling their car this yr to remember of sure purple flags to guard themselves from turning into a sufferer. It follows a number of incidents involving criminals with no intention of paying for the vehicle on offer.

He mentioned: “If you are trying to sell a car and an individual comes to your home and says they want to pay for the car, going ahead with the deal, it’s how they pay that you have to be careful of. I’d say that, on this occasion, a bank transfer is the best option.

“Don’t trust when scammers say, ‘right here we go, I can show you the cost has been made’, on their telephone.” Rav claimed that there have been cases of people accepting this without checking, and it turns out the ‘proof’ was an easy-to-fake screenshot, and cash never makes its way to the seller’s bank account.

He said: “Make sure you understand it has gone by way of in your machine and don’t half with the vehicle or paperwork till that [money] has positively gone into your account.”

Another red flag that people need to be vigilant for is a potential buyer claims they don’t want to view the car.

Rav mentioned: “If they refuse to come back and examine it, or ship another person out as an alternative to perhaps accumulate the car on their behalf, that is a bit of a purple flag. What has occurred previously is the vehicle has then gone to somebody they usually’ve come back with a load of obvious faults or harm that was by no means current on the time of the transaction.”

The former police officer said that, in this situation, it is often “very tough to disprove”. And, in a third bit of advice, the Morning Live host claimed he was “by no means” let anyone test drive a car without the owner being present.

He referred to a recent news story from Bournemouth where the police had to get involved after two men were said to have purposefully damaged a car during an unsupervised test drive, and then demanded a price cut if the deal was to go ahead.

Rav claimed that the car owner ended up having to pay £500 out of their own pocket to repair damage caused to some of the vehicle’s internal parts. The ex-detective claimed that anyone selling a car privately who is asked about a test drive by potential customers should ask for proof of driving license and insurance as well as the funds to pay for car (be that cash or digital).

Keys may be “swapped” as part of a scam that involves an interested person going for a test drive and handing back a decoy key that looks identical to the car owner. It is suggested that the same person later returns to steal the car, leaving the seller with the vehicle or any payment made.

Car sellers can simply turn out to be a goal of crimes during the sale course of, as pointed oit by the consultants. Typically, people who attempt to sell their own car risk turning into victims of theft and/or cost fraud.

If you are the victim of a crime, contact the police directly. For fraud and cybercrime, report it to Action Fraud. Consumer rights issues can be reported to Citizens Advice or Trading Standards.