How to Recognize a Craigslist Car Scam
Watch Out for These 8 Common Craigslist Scams
Craigslist does not back any transaction on its site. If you receive an email or text trying to sell you purchase protection, you're looking at a scam. There is no such thing as a Craigslist voicemail service. If a contact asks you to access or check your “Craigslist voicemails,” you're dealing with a scammer.
Yes, and you should otherwise the buyer won't have a way to verify the vehicle's history data. It's not the same as giving out sensitive personal information like a social security number. While the VIN is unique for each vehicle, there isn't much anyone can do with a VIN number.
Follow Craigslist's recommendations about safe transactions to avoid scams and secure a payment from an honest buyer.
In fact, some people make a game of getting even with or even getting ahead of the scammers by carrying out what's known as "scambaiting."
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Follow these simple rules:
Case in point, when you're placing an ad or responding to an ad, avoid using your personal phone number to communicate with buyers or sellers. Otherwise you're asking to be bombarded by a number of unwanted spam and scam calls.
Don't accept cashier/certified checks or money orders - banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible. Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a "guarantee". Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
6 Tips That Will Help You Safely Buy Or Sell Your Car On...
Thieves use stolen Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN), for example, in a variety of ways: to register stolen vehicles, when looking for insurance claims on totaled vehicles, and even to make duplicate keys for your car.
That being said, it is perfectly safe to give out your VIN. It's in (essentially) plain sight, just like your license plate. We at Instamotor would argue in favor of sharing your VIN when trying to sell your car, so a buyer can look at the history and know what they are getting into.
Car Seller's Checklist
Receive payment in cash, by cashier's check or, if selling remotely, through an escrow service. Take the license plates off the vehicle (if required by your state).
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