Fake escrow, courier pick-ups and 'vehicle report' link scams

No. A buyer who will buy your car sight unseen, wants a courier to collect it and sends an escrow, “secure payment” or “vehicle report” link is following a known scam script. Don’t click the link, don’t pay any fee, and don’t let the car go until the full price shows in your own bank account.

These scams belong to one family. The buyer stays remote, so they never have to show their face, and the “payment” arrives as an email or a web page instead of money. Scamwatch and the NRMA have each described parts of the script. Here’s how each piece works, how to tell it from a genuine remote sale, and a 60-second check to run before you reply.

Why would a buyer want my car without seeing it?

A genuine buyer about to spend tens of thousands of dollars usually wants to see, drive or inspect the car first, or send a mechanic they choose. Scamwatch’s buying and selling scams page lists a buyer who is willing to buy an expensive item without seeing it in person as a warning sign.

The reason they give is usually a story. Scamwatch has warned, in an April 2021 alert, that car-ad scammers were posing as defence personnel who wanted to sell before being deployed. The story explained why the car couldn’t be inspected and made the deal feel urgent. That alert was about fake sellers, but the NRMA describes the buyer’s version. The “buyer” says they’re working away and need a car quickly, says they have to pay through a third-party money transfer service, then tells you that you must send money first to “activate” the transfer.

The NRMA’s guide for people selling on social media flags these signs:

• The buyer is happy to buy the car without looking at it.
• They offer an unsolicited, detailed story about why they need it.
• They agree to buy quickly without negotiating the price at all.
• They dictate the payment method, usually early on.
• They say a courier or someone else will pick the car up.
• They recently joined the platform or don’t live near you.

One flag on its own can be innocent. Interstate buyers are real, and some people simply don’t haggle. Two or more together is the script, and that’s when to slow right down.

What is a fake escrow, and how does it catch sellers?

Escrow is meant to work like this: a third party holds the buyer’s money until the goods arrive, then releases it to the seller. Scamwatch’s 2021 alert said a large number of vehicle-scam reports mentioned escrow agents. In those scams, the fake seller took the buyer’s money and never delivered the car.

For a seller, the fake version arrives as an email or web page saying the buyer’s money has been received, is being held or is confirmed. Then comes the catch. A Scamwatch warning from 2010, aimed at people selling large items such as cars, describes a fake email from what appears to be a reputable payment or money transfer company. It “confirms” the buyer has paid the total, then says you must pay the transport or other charges to receive it. Once you’ve paid, the buyer is often hard or impossible to trace, and no payment ever arrives.

Scamwatch also says scammers copy real logos and can spoof an organisation’s email address. Its advice is to check with the organisation using contact details you’ve found yourself, such as on its official website, never the ones in the email.

In practice you can skip all of that. A private car sale needs no escrow and no middleman. The buyer pays into your account, you check it in your own banking app, and only then does the car go.

Why is “my courier will collect it” a red flag?

The NRMA lists a buyer who says the car will be picked up by a courier or someone else as a red flag. A courier lets the buyer stay remote right to the end, and it opens two ways for you to lose.

The first is a fee. The same 2010 Scamwatch warning describes scam buyers asking sellers to pay “shipping” or transport costs to the buyer’s “agent”, with a promise to repay that never comes good. It adds that scammers may ask for other fees, such as insurance. The second is the car itself. If a truck turns up while the “payment” is still only an email, the car can be gone before you find out the money was never real.

Collection by a transport company isn’t a scam in itself, and dealers and car-buying services often arrange one. What matters is who you’re dealing with and the order things happen in.

If anything in the right-hand column describes your buyer, stop replying.

They say they’ve already paid and sent a “secure payment” link. Is it real?

Almost certainly not. Scamwatch has shared a seller’s story that shows how this runs. The “buyer” wrote “we’ve already purchased your item” and asked for an email address to finish the transaction. The email that followed looked like it came from the marketplace and linked to a look-alike website that asked for bank account details. The scammers then had the seller install a remote-access app and used it to get into their information. However official the page looks, it isn’t a real payment page.

Two facts make this easy to spot:

• No one can buy your car before you’ve agreed a sale. A message saying the purchase is already done, before you’ve agreed a price or given any account details, is made up.
• Receiving a bank transfer needs only your account details. A buyer needs your BSB and account number, or your PayID, and nothing more. A real payment never asks you for a card number, a banking password, a one-time code or to install an app.

The PayID version of this trick, where a fake email says you must pay to “upgrade” before the money is released, has its own guide: the PayID scam aimed at car sellers. If a listing site has its own built-in payment option and you want to use it, open the site or app yourself and find it there. Never reach it through a link from a buyer.

Is it safe to click a buyer’s “vehicle report” link?

No. The NRMA describes scammers who lure you into a false sense of a sure sale, ask for a vehicle report from a provider with an unfamiliar name, then send a link to a fake report site. Its advice is not to click links a buyer sends you to vehicle report sites. It says the same goes for mechanical inspections, sometimes called 100 point checks.

You don’t need to buy a report from a site a buyer chooses. The NRMA points out that a genuine buyer can get their own PPSR report. A PPSR search costs $2 online (as at October 2026). It shows whether money is owed against the car and usually whether it’s recorded as written off or stolen. The buyer needs the car’s VIN to run it, and our guide to what to share in your ad photos covers the VIN, plates and what else to show. Inspections work the same way: the NRMA says genuine buyers can arrange their own pre-purchase inspection.

Why does the buyer want to move to text, WhatsApp or email?

The NRMA lists a buyer who wants to switch the conversation to another channel quickly as a red flag, along with an email address that doesn’t match the name they’ve given you. The reason is practical. Inside the listing site, you keep a record of the conversation and can report the profile. Once a scammer has your email address or phone number, they can send a fake payment confirmation or a link to a look-alike page that seems to come from somewhere official.

Stay in the platform’s own messages until you’ve met the buyer or the money has landed. An old, local profile isn’t proof on its own either, because the NRMA notes that long-standing profiles can be hacked. Scamwatch’s warning signs include an account holder name that doesn’t match the person you think you’re dealing with, so when a payment does arrive, check that the name on it matches your buyer.

A 60-second check before you reply

Run through these questions before you answer a keen buyer you haven’t met. Each takes a few seconds.

1. Are they ready to buy without seeing, driving or inspecting the car?
2. Did they accept your price without a single question about the car?
3. Have they told you a long story you didn’t ask for?
4. Have they named the payment method, or a payment service, before you did?
5. Are they asking you to leave the platform, or for your email address?
6. Is there a courier, agent or “mover” in the plan?
7. Have they sent you a link of any kind?
8. Has the buyer, or anyone acting for them, asked you to pay anything, such as a fee, insurance, shipping or an upgrade?

A yes to question 8 means it’s a scam. Two or more yeses from questions 1 to 7 is a strong sign of one.

A reply that suits genuine buyers and filters out scammers: “Happy to sell. Come and see it, or send someone you trust. Payment is by bank transfer, and I’ll confirm it in my own banking app before the keys or papers leave me.” Genuine buyers usually agree. Scammers tend to go quiet or push harder. If a buyer does come to see the car, read our guide to a safe test drive when selling a car before they arrive.

What if I’ve already clicked, paid or let the car go?

Act straight away. Speed gives you the best chance, although getting money back isn’t certain.

1. Call your bank. Use the number in your banking app or on your card, and tell them what you paid or what details you entered.
2. Stop replying. Don’t pay anything more, whatever the next message says.
3. Save the evidence. Screenshot the ad, the chat, the buyer’s profile, the emails and any links.
4. Call IDCARE on 1800 595 160 if you shared your licence, bank details or passwords. It’s Australia and New Zealand’s free national identity and cyber support service.
5. Report it to Scamwatch, and report the profile to the site where you listed the car.

Our guide on what to do if you’re scammed selling your car covers the next steps in more detail.

Would selling to a licensed dealer avoid all this?

Every scam above relies on a buyer you can’t check and a payment you can’t see. Selling to a licensed dealer that pays into your account before collection deals with both. You can look up exactly who you’re dealing with, and our guide on how to check a car buyer is licensed shows how, using us as the example.

Sell Your Car Australia is run by Autohaus Australia Pty Ltd, NSW licensed motor dealer MD 077404, ABN 54 618 813 737. We make a genuine offer by phone, and a deposit is often paid the same day. The inspection happens after you accept, at a time and place that suits you. The balance is paid into your bank account, and we arrange collection anywhere in Australia only after you confirm the funds have cleared. So by the time anyone comes for your car, the money is already yours. No fees come out of the offer. As Ray Murray put it: “I had tried to sell it privately for some weeks but was only contacted by scammers and ridiculous offers. Dean offered me a fair price.”

We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. If yours is older or has more kilometres, send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help. You can read how it works or call us on 1800 73 55 73.