Security Advice for Buyers and Sellers
No money in advance!
A request for payment in advance generally always turns out to be attempted fraud. Never transfer money in advance! This applies to both cash transfer payments (e.g. via Western Union, MoneyGram, Escrow) and bank transfers. In both cases it is possible to cash the money with a false ID, and you have no recourse for getting your money back!
You are taking a large risk with this type of transaction as you do not know the recipient. Therefore, cash payment transfers or bank transfers are generally not the appropriate form of payment when buying a vehicle!
Even if you intend to make the payment to an acquaintance or relative, this does not necessarily mean that it doesn’t involve attempted fraud! A supposed seller with intent to deceive only needs to know a few details in order to cash your money using a false ID. Never pay any transaction in advance.
Safe Pay: The escrow service at mobile.de
With Safe Pay, buyers and sellers can process the payment for a vehicle digitally. There is no other escrow service at mobile.de!If you are asked to use an escrow service other than Safe Pay to pay for a vehicle, this is an attempt at fraud! If you have any doubts about the authenticity of an advertisement, please inform us on 030 81097-590.
Be careful sending paperwork over the Internet!
Paperwork sent by electronic means (registration certificates and logbooks etc. sent by email) can be easily forged and does not offer any guarantee about the identity of the person selling the vehicle or that the documents are valid proof of ownership of a vehicle.
Cheque fraud on a sale
As a seller, take precautions against fraud. Sellers are often paid by cheque for a vehicle transaction, which turns out to not have sufficient funds. We strongly advise you not to accept cheques as a means of payment!
If you as the seller receive a cheque (generally sent from abroad), where the amount is more than the agreed purchase price, it is more than likely to be attempted fraud. Do not under any circumstances transfer back the overpaid amount to the buyer. The cheque is most likely stolen or a forgery, even if initially there is no cause for any concern.
Security risks with false emails ('Phishing')
Unfortunately, it is possible nowadays to falsify the sender's address of an email. Scammers use these so-called phishing emails to obtain confidential data (credit card number, passwords etc.) or to represent false facts to a prospective buyer ("use our trusted payment service" etc.).mobile.de will only contact private customers in connection with an advertisement or a request. As an advertiser/seller, you have provided us either with your credit card number or your account number and sort code to pay for an ad. This data is used solely for the payment of your advertisement! mobile.de would never at any stage request this data again – neither by email nor by any other means! As a prospective buyer, you will not receive any emails from mobile.de without you first initiating the contact (e.g. email search request, specific request). If, however, you do receive any unsolicited email that appears to be from mobile.de, it is undoubtedly a false email.
How is the purchase/sale transacted?
mobile.de is not involved at any stage in the purchase of the vehicle and does not track who buys which car from whom. mobile.de does make any recommendations on payment methods – all agreements concerning the sale are undertaken between the buyer and seller.In this respect, mobile.de is not able to provide any information concerning the creditworthiness of a buyer; we do not have access to such information. If, however, you receive an email that appears to be from mobile.de and contains statements concerning the creditworthiness of a buyer, this is undoubtedly a false email.