Automobile fraud is a serious problem on eBay. People often purchase cars for $10,000, $15,000, or even $25,000 and find the cars are not as they were represented. Some reasons for this fraud:
1) In a standard used car purchase, the buyer inspects, tests, and drives the vehicle. On eBay, buyers may rely only upon the seller's representation of quality.
2) Many transactions are done across state lines giving the seller a false sense of security. The buyer can't do anything when he's 1,500 miles away. In fact, many of the problems result from out-of-state purchasers.
3) A seller can have false reports of quality. For small transactions, that does not make sense. However, a cagey used car dealer could sell 10 items for $20.00 online, provide exemplary service to secure a good rating, and then sell a damaged vehicle for $15,000.
4) While a vehicle history report such as that sold by carfax is standard in regular transactions, many consumers still fail to use it online.
What can you do to prevent automobile fraud? Always inspect and test-drive a vehicle and have it evaluated by a professional mechanic. If that cannot be done, buy a car locally. Do not forward payment until the inspection has occurred. All too often payment is forwarded and then the car is inspected and found deficient. Unfortunately, the inspection has come too late.
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