Warning of MH scam

[violet]

Just read an item in Guardian money. Seems that a lot of MH ads are being placed to sell non-existent motorhomes while people are in lockdown and can't travel to inspect the vehicles. I would have posted the link but can't work out how to do it. This is the headline of the article,
Fraudsters use Covid lockdown to scam motorhome buyers

 

[Gerby]

Fraudsters use Covid lockdown to scam motorhome buyers

Online auction sites are being flooded with fake adverts as part of ‘sophisticated fraud’

www.theguardian.com

 

[CazPaul]

You have to be a really vulnerable individual to buy a van without a thorough inspection, regardless of the current restrictions.

 

[violet]

Thanks Gerby, Can you tell me how you to posted that?

 

[Gerby]

violet Easiest way is just highlight the web address in your browser, copy it (press ctrl/c on a pc) click in your post and paste it (ctrl/v) when the post is put up the software sorts it out to look like it does.

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[Oldbob]

I have seen quite a few on eBay, I did put a post on earlier under spot the difference.
If you email them to view, you usually get an out of office message and a different email to get them on.
Is good fun insisting you have cash, want to view, and they are wanting to do it via escrow, or similar and deliver, best one was stated as being in wimborne, but upon insisting to view it suddenly made it to Inverness !
I haven't been bored with time on my hands really !!

 

[M-J]

Seriously, who’s falling for the stuff?

Must be stupid or greedy.

 

[Twincam Escort]

They probably make most of their cash by collecting multiple small deposits to reserve the non existent motorhomes.
Surely it must be rare to find people to part with serious cash today but a deposit could be more likely?

 

[Oldbob]

They probably make most of their cash by collecting multiple small deposits to reserve the non existent motorhomes.
Surely it must be rare to find people to part with serious cash today but a deposit could be more likely?

It is why they keep the price low, some people will part with 5k, or even 10k when they offer delivery through a 3rd party, and is amazing how far they will keep things going.
Got offered a delivery through Shipley's, when I said ok they apparently couldn't do it, so his mate down the road could !
When I said I would send a lorry all suddenly went quiet !
It people didn't fall for it, then they wouldn't do it.
There are even some very cheap tractors on at the moment as well, 10-15 k worth trying to be sold for 3700 !
You just got to be rather careful these days am afraid, even more so at the moment.

 

[maison]

The deposit is the thing.

We consider ourselves to be fairly savvy re fraud but we’re almost caught a few years ago.

I think that it was the Caravan Club Magazine, (as it then was), that carried an advertisement in it’s classified section for a new campsite in Spain.

Together with a photograph of a valley scene the script said that planning approval had been obtained for a new site at that location. Prior to proceeding the owners were testing the level of interest. The idea was that for a set figure (several thousand pounds) you could buy a space in perpetuity to use either as a full time base or just to visit. In order to see if there was enough interest to make it viable they requested a £200 deposit, returnable if there wasn’t enough interest.

As it was in a reputable magazine and was “only” £200 we seriously considered paying the deposit but, being people who prefer to travel rather than stay in one place we decided to leave it.

Two months later it turned out to have been a total scam with an undisclosed number of deposits lost.

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[Rolly]

Our neighbours were looking at one which suddenly moved to Inverness and when they said ok that's no problem we can get someone to view it for us who lives in Inverness, were told that it wouldn't be possible as they were in military and were deployed overseas.