Vehicle with shipping company

HPI UK one of our partner companies, and exclusive provider of UK vehicle data in the Republic of Ireland to Cartell, posts details of the latest scam impacting on car buyers. This is an online scam so it could easily impact on Irish buyers too. The scam is a sophisticated international scam conning online buyers out of millions of Euros.

It starts with an advert in a motor magazine or website. According to HPI an English seller puts on the market a top-of-the-range car for sale at a knock-down price. The seller is usually in Spain or Portugal and needs to offload the car quickly. The buyer won’t be able to see the car as it is already in the care of a  shipping company.

The real catch with this scam is there is no car and your cash will be long gone by the time you realise that you’ve been had. The usual advice applies – if it is too good to be true then it probably is. Never buy a car or part with your money until you have physically seen the goods.

Unfortunately, these scams continue in operation because innocent buyers have already been duped.