Free preview · from the dealership side of the desk
The moment your car goes online, you’ll hear from two kinds of people: local buyers who want to see it, and people who never will. The second group is often friendlier. They don’t haggle. They’ll pay full price, sometimes more. They just need one small thing first: send a code, accept a check, use their escrow site, or refund a little extra to their shipper. That’s how a $14,000 car becomes a $14,000 loss.
Here’s the insider truth that stops most of it: “the money is in my account” doesn’t mean the payment has cleared. Banks can make deposited funds available before a check is confirmed good, and if it bounces, you owe it back. A dealer never releases a car until payment is verified. Below: how the overpayment, fake escrow, payment-email and verification-code scams work, a worked example of what one costs, in-person scams, the payment methods that are actually safe, and what to say.
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In the full guide
- The overpayment check
- Worked example: what the overpayment scam costs
- Fake escrow, fake payment emails and app tricks
- The verification-code scam
- In-person scams
- The payment methods that are actually safe
- Red flags, in one list
- What to say
- Your game plan
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