With used cars now so expensive and online car sales scams increasing as a result, a vehicle valuation tool has been developed that advises buyers when an advertised price is too good to be true.
Brego Advert Check enables a buyer to compare the price of the vehicle they are interested in with its estimated dealer price and auction value. If the price is too low, the user is advised to be cautious and to visit the dealer before proceeding further.
The online tool, which is free to use at check.brego.io, was developed in response to the growing incidence of a type of online fraud where people are tempted into paying a deposit or even the full purchase price for a car that has been deliberately underpriced, usually by thousands of pounds.
In fact, the vehicle doesn’t exist and, unless they have paid by credit card, which the seller is unlikely to accept anyway, the buyer never sees their money again.
Simon Hunt, co-founder of Brego, the vehicle data and valuation company that developed the tool, was inspired to create it by the increasing number of reports of people being scammed by fraudsters this way. “I checked out some of the scammers’ online ads,” he said.
“They were quite sophisticated and I thought they could only be so if the scams were proving worthwhile. I knew we must try to stop it.”
Within a few days, Hunt and his colleagues had designed Advert Check. To use it, the buyer enters the registration number, mileage and price of the vehicle they have seen.
They are also asked to enter the website address of the organisation claiming to offer it. This is optional but, if supplied, it helps Brego track scam websites. The tool compares the selling price with Brego’s dealer price and auction value data and tells the buyer how much cheaper the vehicle is.
Join the debate
Add your comment
I think anyone buying on Facebook Marketplace is taking a huge risk whatever they are buying. We all know that virtually no policing is undertaken by the social media sites and there is no recourse. At least buying from a private seller on AutoTrader means that they have had to stump up a good sum up front and will have had to pass some screening checks. It is always sensible to follow the old adage that if the price seems too good to be true it probably (more than likely) is. Unfortunately scammers exploit people's naivety and belief that all that is published on Facebook is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the true ...... god help them!