Yahoo Autos Scammers Are Impersonating Car Leasing Companies On Social Media
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A scam that’s cropped up in the UIK is likely to spread elsewhere as scammers continue to scheme how to separate you from your money. This latest move involves impersonating legitimate car leasing companies on social media, taking people’s money, then never delivering a vehicle.
Watch a beater Ford Taurus outrun Arkansas State Police.
Like always, we recommend doing some homework and researching a company offering a deal, especially if it’s through social media. In a Chronicle Live report, it details out how scammers have posed as Which? and other legitimate car leasing firms on Instagram, only for Meta to allegedly do nothing to stop them.
In fact, the report claims after enough people had been duped by one scammer on Instagram, that account was rebranded to impersonate a different leasing company. In the meantime, Meta has let the profile continue posing as a legitimate service.
Some of the people lost thousands of pounds after they put money down on a vehicle which was never delivered. These people thought they were dealing with the company, with the scammers using the actual listings on the legitimate website, taking their cash and running.
As a tip to help avoid future problems, Which? counseled customers to “ensure (they’re) in contact with the genuine firm and not a copycat.” The best way we can think of to do that is to contact the company directly after working out a deal on social media.
These types of scams tend to spread from one country to another and often quickly, so our readers in North America and other regions of the world need to take caution instead of thinking this is just a UK problem.
Since vehicle transactions are the second largest most people will ever make, everyone should ask plenty of questions and do additional research before handing over any money. The scammers will continue to innovate, with more creative plans undoubtedly coming later.
Image via Brett Jordan/Pexels
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