Car Transport Companies Scam: How It Works
Imagine this scenario: You consider buying a car – or a motorcycle – from a different state but you can’t go pick it up. You wonder how much does it cost to ship a car to your city, so you decide to look online for top rated car transport companies or even international car shipping quotes.
You find a great one, half the cost of most of the other offers. This will save you both time and money so you choose to go with it. You check their website and everything looks good. You pay for the service online and wait for the car. It will never arrive. How does the Car Transport Companies Scam work? It has two variations.
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Watch the video below to see the first variation of the Car Transport Company Scam exposed:
As you can see in the video above, a legitimate auto transport company uses deceptive practices to charge a client but not deliver the vehicle.
In the second variation of the scam, what happes is that the website you used was a perfect fake replica of any real company that facilitates the shipment, such as uShip. The scammers use their logo and fabricate emails with invoices, transaction numbers and even shipment information.
You just dealt with someone who claimed to work for the company but in reality the actual company has nothing to do with it.
How To Ship A Car: Pros and Cons
Watch the video below to see how to ship a car – pros and cons:
How To Ship a Car: Pros/Cons Video
Car Transport Service Scam: How To Avoid
When you check out a car transport service quote look carefully at the website. See if the copy has grammatical or spelling errors, it could well be fake (genuine companies get this properly checked). If there is no phone number, they are not legitimate. If there is a phone number, give them a call.
Take a look to see if they have a BBB rating or even a profile. Check them out on forums – don’t ever pay any attention to references on their own website.
The same things apply for your motorcycle shipping options, if you consider purchasing one. Look for bikes or car transport reviews and research the best interstate car transport options. Better safe than sorry.
Best Auto Transport Companies Scam: How To Report
Make your family and friends aware of the Car Transport Company scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the questionable auto transport companies to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:
Report Scammers To The FTC Here
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beware of https://goworldexpresscourier.com/ Scam shipping company!!!
Beware of MN Express Logistics, fake vehicle shipping company. They ask for payments online but they don’t exist.
I have just been involved in a similar thing. The car was really nice! And half price! Except it was clear that I was about 99.9999% improbable. I told the person that I’d have to
1. Receive the car at my location where it would be inspected.
2. Have to have the title here, in the hands of a representative of the seller
3. My bank would verify the documents and then the transaction would be handled through my bank.
So what did they do? An email was sent, in two parts, from a fake "last mile" logistics company. It my be a legitimate company, and they created a duplicate of the website, where you are directed. On the "shipper’s" website it provides phone numbers etc., to where you can WIRE TRANSFER your deposit, which they said is 50% of the total price of the vehicle and it will be held in escrow. Of course their inspection company has fully inspected the car so I won’t need to. (right, right!). So anyway, that’s where I’m at. I have the emails from the "Shipper" and then I got another one from the "seller" who is so sure I’ll be happy with my 2013 BMW M5. This BMW M5 really exists. The VIN lookup found a car matching the description. Then I pulled a car fax. All is good there! But the other thing is that there are several other people who are also selling the same car, same description, same VIN, same pictures. It’s all a big fraud. Please, I beg you, anyone who thinks they are about to get the deal of a lifetime on the car of their dreams. You need to do this through professionals that will come to you and will never ask for a wire transfer. If you wire transfer any money then you just lost it. You cannot recover it!. Now, don’t let this scam keep you from buying a car online from another seller, a real one. Use common sense. If it sounds too good to be true, then it more than likely is just that!! I’m glad I have the sense enough not to just wire $12,000.
So can anyone recommend where I can find the best cheap auto shipping quotes?
While looking for a minivan, I came across an ad on autotrader.ca for Toyota Sienna 2013 listed for sale in Saint Laurent Quebec. The vehicle was significantly under-priced to lure buyers. The communication with the seller raised some doubts as he said that he worked in Quebec but was moving to Boise, Idaho. In the later email, he said that he had already moved to Idaho and would ship the vehicle to Canada through a specific shipping company. The shipping company site (northlogistics.net) was fake. There was no business with that name at the given address or nearby in Idaho. The google map showed the address was that of a vacant lot. When I called the contact number (1800xxx), the call went to India. Upon searching the vehicle description in google, I found that the same vehicle was listed on a few US sites with the same pictures and same description but different location. The ad mentioned that the vehicle had been serviced in Panama City Toyota Dealership. However, there is no such dealer in Quebec Canada. This dealership exists in Florida.
Same vehicle pictures and description listed on these US sites:
http://www.autobia.com/car-detail/sienna/Toyota-Sienna-L-Mini-Passenger-Van-5-Door-2013_281695218138.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Toyota-Sienna-L-Leather-and-DVD-System-/281695218138?rmvSB=true
http://panamacity.craigslist.org/cto/5035388538.html