It happens to all of us RV lovers at some point: The time to sell the old and upgrade to the new! But Seller Beware...
Any time large amounts of money are involved in a private transaction, there's room for scammers to make their move. There are legit buyers out there, but there are also people quite willing to steal your money (and possibly the vehicle too).
You could avoid the scams altogether and do an RV trade-in with a participating dealership, but if you're planning to DIY, we've gathered some tricks you might need to beware of before you start down that road:
Common Scam Tactics Of Fake RV Buyers
Unsecured websites/forms of payment: A potential scammer may try to get you to use an unsecured website to make payments. Be wary if they try to convince you to use a money transfer app or website that you’ve never heard of. Sometimes these are fake websites they've created to steal your money and information.
Avoid The Scam: Stick to secure, traceable payment methods you are familiar with.
Offers from third-party sellers: To avoid the frustrating process of selling online—weeding out the time-wasters, haggling, changes, and deals that fall through—some RV sellers will use a third party to sell their vehicle for them. A potential scammer may try to pose as a third-party salesperson, intentionally misrepresent their percentages/fees, or worse, steal the vehicle themselves. get you to use an unsecured website to make payments. Be wary if they try to convince you to use a money transfer app or website that you’ve never heard of. Sometimes these are fake websites they've created to steal your money and information.
Avoid The Scam: Call the brokers yourself to ensure you are working with the real company, not an impersonator, or stick with a legitimate top-rated RV consignment company.
Bouncing a personal check: Paper checks are less common nowadays, but a potential scammer could send you a check to purchase the vehicle. You give them the RV and take the check to the bank while they drive off into the sunset. But you discover that they gave you a bad check. So now you’re left with no RV and no money from the sale—one of the oldest scams in the book!
Avoid The Scam: Don't accept a personal check. Ever. Let them know you prefer cash or wire transfer.
Giving a fake cashier’s check: If the buyer wants to give you a cashier's check, it must still be handled with care. First, deposit the check in your bank account and give it a couple of days to see if it goes through. If it clears, you can move forward with the sale and hand over the keys.
Avoid The Scam: Don't let scammers pressure you into moving so fast that a check doesn't have time to clear. Avoid those unwilling to wait for a few days.
Phishing RV-buying scams: This type of scam won't take your RV but could steal your identity (and potentially a lot of money). Designed to steal your personal information, these scams target private RV sellers because they often need to share contact and location information. For instance, these scammers might pose as police officers who are demanding fines be paid to avoid a bench warrant or send you to a website that grabs your private information.
Avoid The Scam: Always look before clicking links! Look for typos, poor or broken English, and any other oddities. They almost always involve PRESSURE, so, when in doubt, pause, and don't click!
Also: Don’t be afraid to do an online search for proof that the sender’s phone number matches who they say they are. Do not call the phone number, research it.
Last note: If you receive a direct message from someone sending a code to “prove you are human”, run! It’s likely a Google Voice Verification Scam.
Phishing RV-buying scams: This type of scam won't take your RV but could steal your identity (and potentially a lot of money). Designed to steal your personal information, these scams target private RV sellers because they often need to share contact and location information. For instance, these scammers might pose as police officers who are demanding fines be paid to avoid a bench warrant or send you to a website that grabs your private information.
Avoid The Scam: Always look before clicking links! Look for typos, poor or broken English, and any other oddities. They almost always involve PRESSURE, so, when in doubt, pause, and don't click!
The best thing to remember: Do it all in person and take your time.
- From the Service Team at RV Paradise.com