What can I do to avoid a scam?

Here at constructionsales, we pride ourselves on offering a safe place to buy or sell earthmoving equipment.

It’s in our interests to protect your interests, starting with our dedicated customer care team there to help you with any concern that someone’s trying to take you for a ride.

There’s also plenty of online help available to ensure you don’t get ripped off by scammers, in all their various nefarious guises.

As a tip, confine your communications with buyers or sellers to the member messaging function.

Another tip is to avoid providing any personal details that could be used for identity theft – so don’t supply your licence details, for instance.

And don’t release either the item or a ‘refund’ into the hands of the buyer until you’ve seen the full payment in your account – from evidence supplied by your financial institution, not the buyer’s.

If you suspect that someone is trying to scam you, bear in mind that they often sound like the world’s about to end unless you respond immediately. This is specifically intended to build your stress levels and affect your thinking.

You’re more likely to do something rash if you’re presented with a “one time only” offer, or some similar inducement. It may go even further, however, with ‘buyers’ threatening legal action against you if you don’t comply with their demands.

So consider the wise words of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Don’t panic”.

Scams are directed at buyers and sellers alike. In the car industry, for example, the ACCC reported back in April that scammers had ripped off $288,000 for the year to date from unsuspecting buyers in the market for high-demand cars.

A common theme with this type of con is a false listing and an asking price that’s below the market value.

According to the ACCC, this type of scammer often claims to be a member of the Australian Defence Force, due to go overseas in the next few days. They further claim to be in a rush to sell, and the buyer won’t be permitted to inspect the item in person (or deal with the scammer by phone).

Variations on this scam include the seller working on an oil rig or in another remote location – a FIFO miner for instance.

The ‘remote location’ excuse also works in reverse – in scams aimed at an owner selling an equipment.

A scammer tells the owner that they will pay the price for the item directly into the owner’s bank or PayPal account. They then email the owner a fake receipt for the funds allegedly transferred, in order to convince the owner to repay part of the ‘transfer’ that has been overpaid – either ‘by mistake’ or to cover the cost of shipping. This overpayment shows up on the fake receipt.

The scammer tells the owner that the funds won’t clear – they won’t show up in the owner’s bank or PayPal account – until the courier is paid or the overpayment is refunded. This is when the ‘buyer’ will become insistent and press the owner to ‘refund’ the money.

In a similar vein, an ‘overseas buyer’ convinces an owner to open a PayPal account to receive the money transferred online for the item. The scammer emails a fake receipt to the owner and then instructs the owner to pay a fictitious freight company for the shipping.

Phishing

Identity theft or loading malware using a telecommunications device is also known as ‘Phishing’. Scammers have used carsales branding to lure customers to a site where the customer is required to leave personal details that can be used to withdraw money from a bank account or set up another account to defraud a financial institution.

Suspicious SMS

If you receive a text (SMS) from a buyer who claims they can’t speak with you by phone or in person, that’s a sign right there that they’re not legit. They may try to limit you to communication by email.

As another reason to suspect that this ‘buyer’ is not above board, they will make demands of you – there will be no ‘pleases’ and ‘thank-yous’ with this scammer. The more they can fluster you, possibly by making you feel like you’ll miss out on a sale or you’ll be hounded through the courts somehow, the more they’re likely to pressure you into making a mistake.

Some scammers have resorted to asking for four-digit codes in exchange for more information on an item or a job at a dealership, for example.

If you have not requested any seller details, you should never provide a code to anyone, especially if you don't know them. 

PayProtect

PayProtect was a secure payment service that is no longer offered by the carsales network, but scammers still tell prospective buyers searching for a vehicle or equipment on sites outside the carsales network that the buyer can pay for the item using PayProtect.

This is a very obvious way to relieve the buyer of the money they would spend on a real vehicle, but you won’t see this scam in a carsales advertisement.

Other means of transferring money – PayPal and Skrill – are also favourites of scammers.

In addition to letting the constructionsales customer care team know of someone you suspect to be a scammer (include screen captures, where appropriate), you should also report this activity to the Australian government:

Australian Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (ACCC) on 1300 302 502

Scam Watch

ReportCyber

And it’s a great idea to keep up to date with scams (not just those that specifically focus on buying or selling equipment) with Stay Smart Online email alerts.

Look up more online safety tips in constructionsales' Help Centre