As dealers struggle province-wide to keep sales moving and their employees
working, many have turned to a remote selling model. The Ontario Motor Vehicle
Industry Council (OMVIC) sent a bulletin out earlier about this:
https://www.omvic.on.ca/portal/NewsPublications/DealerBulletins/2020/tabid/5
59/aid/457/Default.aspx
We’d like to remind dealers of the dangers posed when selling remotely. The
chaos caused by Covid-19 presents a golden opportunity for crooks and scam
artists.
At least two dealers have reported being scammed by a fraud involving sales
put together entirely over the phone and concluded off site, in one case at
a McDonald’s restaurant. The ID used to secure bank financing for the
vehicles was nothing more than a Driver’s Licence. It was fake.
Now the bad guys are gone, the cars are gone and the lenders want the
dealers to repay their loan advances.
Remote sales might sound good and may be necessary in order to continue
operating in the current environment, but your due diligence levels should
be even higher than in normal times, because you really do not know who you
are dealing with when doing deals over the phone or on the internet.
Assume the buyer is not who they say they are.
A Driver’s Licence by itself is not enough to establish identity in this day
and age … seek passports, other government photo and non-photo ID, bills,
proof of address and really look carefully at what is being offered.
Compare signatures. Look carefully at spelling and photos and be on your
guard … be suspicious.
It’s not business as usual when you sell vehicles remotely.
