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Selling on Cycle Trader, anyone know the latest scams & things to watch out for?

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Scorch

Scorch

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As it says, I posted my bike for sale on Cycle Trader. I have 4 messages, two of which I replied to and got a further response. Is there any danger of telling a buyer (or scammer) the VIN ? How about the last 6 of the VIN? Anything else I need to be on guard for?

They are both asking for the "VV number" or "TVV report" What is a TVV report?

Sounds perfect let set up for tomorrow at 2pm. Forget to ask can you
provide me the TVV report??"

I know there's a form I have to sign, right, in addition to the title? I plan to meet at the Title office nearby, so it will have to be Monday.
 
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Most dealer post vin numbers so you can lookup insurance costs and carfax reports and talk to their bank about a possible loan for it. For now, I can't think of anything someone can do if they saw your vin besides that. Unless they were to take your vin number and apply for a lost title. Surely nobody would do that.
 
There is an online form you can pre fill out and have ready for title transfer as well as another form notifying the state that you are no longer the owner. Also I will not let anyone take any vehicle that has my plate on it. No exceptions. If the buyer goes through a toll booth before the transfer is final, you get the bill and just have to eat it, along with any parking tickets. Meeting the buyer at the DMV office and having them pay cash and do the transfer is the best way. They will give him a new plate to go on it that is not associated toy u in any way.
 
Scorch said:
Well, I think two of the four "buyers" are scams, trying to get me to use their VIN
Click to expand...

Yep. That’s it. I remember now when I sold a bike years ago that I got that same crap.
 
Yep, scam. They ask for a vin report and usually provide you the url for the one they consider reliable. Of course the report cost you money.
 
Just like on other sale platforms you get scammers. The ones that have asked for these reports have been scammers in my experiences. I always remove the plates as recommended by DMV. Then I promptly submit the form online that states you sold it and to whom, that releases the liability for tolls etc.
 
Here's a thread I started that lists some things not to do. I will add that I would not give them my vin #. The biggest thing I would say is not to accept any kind of online payment. I also would reiterate not to post a picture of your plate!!! See thread.

www.twtex.com

DO NOT get SCAMMED

I recently ran into a situation on another forum where I had items for sale. A new member with one post, posted on my thread, asking if my items were still for sale and asked me to text them and posted their phone number in the thread. I noticed the person was new to the forum and only had one...
www.twtex.com www.twtex.com
 
I'm currently selling a bike on CT, CL & FB and have sold many in the past. In the ad I state that if the bikes up, it's for sale, and I will not respond to any inquires that aren't bike specific. I ignore 80% of all responses. Once I do get a more serious inquiry I ask for a phone call. If they're hesitant, or come up with a lame excuse why they can't, I terminate the discussion. If they're too quick to say they'll take it, then that's a huge red flag. I accept nothing but real cash. If that means meeting at their bank, that's fine, but no cashiers checks or other payment methods. DEFINITELY not paypal or similar.

Once you get your routine down it's quite easy.
 
Scorch said:
As it says, I posted my bike for sale on Cycle Trader. I have 4 messages, two of which I replied to and got a further response. Is there any danger of telling a buyer (or scammer) the VIN ? How about the last 6 of the VIN? Anything else I need to be on guard for?

They are both asking for the "VV number" or "TVV report" What is a TVV report?

Sounds perfect let set up for tomorrow at 2pm. Forget to ask can you
provide me the TVV report??"

I know there's a form I have to sign, right, in addition to the title? I plan to meet at the Title office nearby, so it will have to be Monday.
Click to expand...

Scorch said:
Well, I think two of the four "buyers" are scams, trying to get me to use their VIN service
Click to expand...
Hey Scorch - just sold a bike on CycleTrader last month.

Yes that's the latest scam. I've read that they own a bogus VIN service so they are phishing for your personal and CC number - along with the charge they get for running your VIN, they will then use your information to further rob you.

I told a couple that were insistent - "the VIN is on the listing, if you want a report, YOU run it and pay for it". That always shut them down.
 
Here’s another common scam - they agree to take the bike right away after a couple of meaningless questions - then want to se d a cashiers check and have someone pick up the bike.

Screen shots of one conversation - I even tripled my price and said the bike wasn’t running and they still wanted to proceed 😸
 

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Scorch said:
Well so far, no legit buyers.
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People are broke in this crappy Biden economy.

Took 2 months to sell my bike, for about $1k less than I had expected - and I've always been spot on with my pricing the last 4 bikes I sold since 2020.
 
Fake cashiers checks have been around a pretty long time. If cold hard cash isn't an option, the a wire transfer is preferred. If that's not an option and a cashier's check is given then my policy is the title and vehicle aren't turned over until the funds are cleared into my bank.
 
While we’re on selling stuff scams a couple years ago I thought someone was trying to get me: I listed a car on bring a trailer, it’s a long story but here’s the cliffs notes version. Auction ends after 20+ minutes of extensions as 2 guys are fighting over it. I’m thrilled at the end, thought I’d have to take a loss but wound up what nice profit . Transactions on BAT are directly seller to buyer. Within 15 minutes of the end, get a call from a -0000 phone number. Don’t answer, get a what’s app text from the buyer, call him back. He’s in the Dominican Republic and is going to wire the $, over $30K. Needs my bank account number and routing. Alarms are going off as I ask him questions and google whether there is risk if someone has these numbers. (There isn’t). Give him the info, the next morning my money is in my account. While I had him on the phone he sent me pictures of his car dealership and collection. That helped me decide. He was actually the Porsche dealer in DR and wanted the third of the 3 models of 944s, he had the other two.
 
My experiences:
1 - if the buyer starts giving you some long winded *** story........ move on
2 - if the buyer wants the VIN...... move on
3 - if the buyer says "what is your best price?" and only talks about price ........ move on
4 - if you have many to and fro texts/emails ...... move on
5 - (new one to me) - they ask for your Tel # and then ask for a Google phone # ????
(not sure of how this works).

I sold 2 bikes last year it was really easy to weed out the serious buyer from the scammer/tire kicker
with in 2 emails/texts. Both transactions went really well.

BTW - If a buyer shows up - TAKE THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION. I had a "buyer" sit on my Africa Twin
to "see how it felt". Next thing I know he starts the engine and takes off (he left his car with the keys as a "deposit"
although I did not give him permission to ride the bike).

I found out later that this guy was "test driving" various bikes but he was just messing people around. This was
from a guy who saw my advert on ADVRider.
 
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