Fake payments and bogus refund requests
When it comes time to pay, they insist on paying through a mobile payment app. They send you a fake payment notification and hope you send the item before you realize it's a scam. Or they say there was an issue with the payment they sent.
Check the body for any loose, misaligned or mismatched panels. Make sure there is no evidence of rust, crash repairs or hail damage. Inspect the exterior for things like paint overspray, dents, ripples or creases. You'll want to make sure that there are no signs of extreme off-road use.
Contact your bank immediately to let them know what's happened and ask if you can get a refund. Most banks should reimburse you if you've transferred money to someone because of a scam.
Be on the lookout for these red flags: Being asked to pay money in order to receive a prize or get a job. Pressure to act immediately. Use of scare tactics, e.g. telling you a loved one is in danger, that your computer has been hacked or threatening arrest if you don't act now.
Fraudsters usually hide their identities to evade detection. However, in the same way as transaction records create a path to track stolen funds, the electronic communication methods used to commit the fraud also leave a trail that can be used to identify the perpetrator.
Let your mobile carrier know right away if you think that your phone number may be hacked or compromised. Your provider can help you regain access to your phone or hacked SIM card, if that's the case. Most major carriers also offer spam and scam call blocking tools to reduce the amount of scam calls that you receive.
Fraudsters can get ahold of your card details in a few different ways—one of them being through an ATM card skimming device. Nefarious parties can also gain access to old bank statements or debit cards, or direct you to make a payment on a fraudulent website that collects your details.
But if scammers gain access to your bank account number, they can use it for fraudulent ACH transfers or payments. For example, scammers could use your bank account details to buy products online. Or worse, they could trick you into sending them money that you'll never be able to get back.
Meaning of a Bogus Buyer
Some examples of bogus buyer activities include ordering an item, usually via cash-on-delivery (COD), or other post-delivery payment options, and either denying they ordered the product, or inputting an invalid address, making successful delivery impossible.
Younger adults reported losses to online shopping fraud – which often started with an ad on social media – far more often than any other fraud type, and most said they simply did not get the items they ordered. Younger adults were over four times more likely than older adults to report a loss on an investment scam.
Shopping online is another gateway for scammers to gain access to your financial information. One of the reasons that 18 to 24 are more vulnerable to scams is due to the fact that this group is more likely to make a purchase or do other business digitally or online.
On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) is a system that monitors a car's computer system and reports diagnostic trouble codes. Devices like an OBD-II code reader can read diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) that the system stores when something goes wrong.
Listen for any rattling and squeaking and push the car through all its gears - manual cars that are hard to shift should be considered suspect.
Once hackers have your number, they can use it to gain access to your most sensitive and valuable data, such as your: Email accounts and contact lists. Financial assets and bank accounts. Current and previous home addresses.
No—unless you hit a link included in the text. To avoid getting hacked, do not hit any link that comes with a text or email—unless you are absolutely sure of the sender's identity.