Don’t Get Scammed Online – Elf Knows It [ARCHIVED]
I was looking through carzone.ie the other day, and I couldn’t believe the amount of scams being carried out through their site. They really should be doing something about it, but so far they haven’t!
CARZONE SCAMS
Have you ever seen the 05 VW Golf’s going for €4k? Or the 03 BMW down as €2,500? I’m sure you have. Sometimes these can be legit, quick sales because someone is leaving the country, or need the money quick for other reasons. But 90% of the time, a car with a price this low going with it will really give you a burn mark in your pocket if you follow up on it. How they go about these scams on carzone is pretty simple and amateur hustling to be honest. Firstly you will e-mail them asking about the car, then they will give you the same old copy/paste e-mail story of how they are in a foreign country and they bought the car for their brother, who now has died. So they are making a quick sale of the car. What they will want you to do is meet them somewhere in England usually. All sounds legit so far? Here’s where the ball drops….They will want you to make a transfer in YOUR own name for the price of the car using Western Union to a spot in England. They will tell you how this is completely safe, that it’s in your name and only you can withdraw the money, This isn’t true, they have their ways, and before you know it, it’s too late and you realise you have just put a few grand into someone’s pocket you never even knew, and that there was no car to begin with. This is an all to familiar situation, and sadly a lot of people do fall for it.
HOW TO LOOK OUT FOR SCAMS ONLINE
The most simple, yet effective way to prevent being caught in an online scam is to use “the man on the street” rule. If someone ever asks you for details, personal or financial online. Ask yourself: If I where to meet this person on the street would I give them the same details they are looking for now?, You wouldn’t! So simply apply this to the web, and never give out information to someone you don’t know.
TOP 5 TIPS TO PREVENT BEING SCAMMED ONLINE.
Take time before committing anything on an offer. If you are asked to respond immediately to an impossible offer, then take it as an indication that the individual/company is putting pressure on you and counting on you to make a hasty decision. Don’t
Talk about any offers with family or friends before you go for it. They might be aware of it as a scam, or they could spot the scam that you didn’t because they haven’t been dragged into it by how it looks.
Search the web for it. If the offer you have been given is a scam, there will more than likely be talk about it on the web. Do a search using the company name or offer name and see what you can find.
If the product/service you are being offered claims to be from a popular company, make sure it is. A lot of scams will make you think your are committing to a reputable company when you are actually dealing with someone behind a mask. Get in contact with the company using a separate connection. NOT numbers or e-mails associated with the offer. Ask them if they know about the offer, and is it really them who is offering it.
Don’t take the bait! A lot of scammers will show you proof of payments to previous customers etc. In the form of an online (Paypal transfer etc.) or a “scanned” bank statement. Anyone with a bit of know-how can doctor these documents or screen shots up to look like the real deal. NO real company will want to show you proof like that.
Remember the man on the street rule? This is by far the most simple way to prevent scamming/fraud online. Never, and I mean NEVER give out information online that you wouldn’t give to some stranger on the street. It’s the same thing.
And last,but not least. The good ole’ saying everybody loves. “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is”. This saying still matters so heavily on the web. Scams/frauds will use all the fanciest e-mails/web pages/talk to suck you in. They will use everything in their power to get you in that hypnotic state where you think the whole world is your friend, and that you are getting the deal/offer of a lifetime, only to you…..Nope, it’s just another scam.
The annoying thing behind it all is that with the amount of scams and fraud online, it leads us to even look at the most genuine of offers suspiciously, but it’s worth it. Genuine offers will take the pressure of an interrogation from a curious buyer/participant. Scams won’t!
