Let's face it, the world of classic muscle cars has become a much smaller place along with the rest of the planet since the invention of the Internet. I remember first surfing the net 1995 when is more like a pond than an ocean, just a few BBS boards, list serves, and Shelbys. The first web site I could find on cars was the "AC Cobra Page" (http://www.xs4all.nl/~luukb/index.html) run by Luuk de Boer of the Netherlands, and it is still up today.
The Internet has become a much larger and more anonymous place since then. Imagine parking your favorite Yenko, Shelby, or Hemi Cuda in the middle of a crowd of 1 billion people. A dozen guys from Nigeria would try to turn around and sell your own car to you right there. Others might even kick-in the quarter panel and then point to the damage saying "Number one condition my eye!".
The point is, owning a highly prized automobile makes you a target. Scammers and trolls are a fact of life on the Internet. This part of the blog, our Scam Alert page, and our business practices will all help you avoid personal exposure while you gain more free time, actually enjoying the hobby.
There are three things we can all do to make the web a safer, more enjoyable place the buy, sell, and enjoy our hobby.
-
First, learn what to look for when you think you are being scammed, recognize red flags.
-
Second, make it hard for the scammers to steal your information, photos, and money.
-
Third, make it easy to report scammers to authorities and the "powers that be" on the web.
I will share common scam profiles, how to detect them, and how to stimey their activity along with some interesting stories on how we have. It'll be worth the read. We've cooperated with the Secret Service, the FBI, New York Police Department's Fraud Division, and reported over 70 email scammers to foil direct attempts by con men and scammers alike. Stay tuned for more...
