Scammed while selling your car? What to do in the first hour

Call your bank first. Use the number on your card or in your banking app, say you’ve been scammed while selling your car, and ask them to stop any payment you made and protect your account.

Then call IDCARE on 1800 595 160 if the scammer has your licence, bank details or passwords. Report it to police and Scamwatch. If the car has gone, sort out the registration before fines arrive in your name. Being caught doesn’t mean you were careless. Car-sale scams are built to rush people who are trying to finish a big sale politely.

What should I do in the first hour?

Here’s the hour at a glance. If the car is being driven away right now, call 000 first.

Who do I call first, and what do I say?

Your bank. Moneysmart’s advice for people who’ve been scammed is to contact your bank or card provider immediately, ask them to stop any transactions and ask what else you should do. Scamwatch also says to contact your bank immediately. WA ScamNet’s car-sale scam page, though written for buyers, gives the same order: your financial institution as soon as possible, then IDCARE if you handed over personal information.

Use the number on the back of your card or inside your banking app. Never use a number from an email or message the buyer sent. Have these ready before you dial:

• the amount, date and time of every payment you made
• the account name, BSB and account number, or PayID, you paid to
• whether you typed your banking login or card details into a page the buyer sent
• whether you read out or forwarded a one-time code from a text message

Then say it plainly: “I’ve been scammed while selling my car. I made a payment I need you to stop, and I may have shared my banking details.” Ask them to stop or freeze the payment and block any card you shared. Ask for a reference number, and write down who you spoke to and when.

Call even if you only typed your login into a buyer’s page, because that’s how scammers get into an account. If money arrived from the buyer and they now want some sent back, don’t touch it. Tell the bank, because it may have been paid with someone else’s money, such as a stolen card. Our guide to the overpayment scam explains why.

Should I keep talking to the buyer?

No. Moneysmart’s advice is to stop sending money and block all contact with the scammer. Before you block them, save what your bank and the police will want:

• screenshots of your ad and the buyer’s profile, including its web address
• the whole chat, with any phone number or email address they used
• every fake email or “payment confirmation”, left in your inbox
• receipts for each payment you made
• any licence or ID photo they sent, which may belong to someone else
• a short timeline of what happened, written while it’s fresh

Keep the car, the keys and the papers. The next message may promise the money will be released after one more fee. Don’t send anything. Our guides to the PayID scam and fake escrow and courier scams show how those follow-up messages usually read.

How do I lock down my accounts?

You need this step if you clicked a buyer’s link, typed details into a page they sent, or installed anything they asked you to. Work in this order:

1. Your email first. Password resets for your other accounts go there, so change it first.
2. Your banking. Change the password inside your bank’s own app or website, never through a link.
3. Listing and social accounts. Change the password on the site where you advertised the car, and on Facebook if you used Marketplace.
4. Sign out everywhere and add a second step. Moneysmart recommends signing out of your accounts, using stronger passwords and turning on multi-factor authentication.
5. If someone accessed your phone or computer, run a virus scan, and tell your phone provider if they got into your phone account. For more help, Moneysmart points to the Australian Cyber Security Hotline on 1300 292 371, open 24 hours, 7 days a week.

For the next few weeks, watch your bank account for anything you don’t recognise.

The scammer has my licence or ID. What now?

Call IDCARE on 1800 595 160. It describes itself as a national identity and cyber support service, and Moneysmart says it can help you make a plan, for free, to limit the damage. Its phone line is open Monday to Friday only, so after hours or on a weekend, do the steps below now and call when it opens.

Two things you can do yourself today:

• Ban your credit report. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner explains how a credit report ban works. A ban lasts 21 days and is free. You can ask one credit reporting body to pass the request to the other two. You can ask to extend it, and the credit reporting body must agree if it believes you’ve been, or are likely to be, a victim of fraud.
• Get a free copy of your credit report and check it for applications you didn’t make.

Tell IDCARE exactly what the scammer saw: one side of your licence, both sides, or a screenshot of a digital licence. Then ask your state or territory licensing authority whether you should replace it. If you shared your bank account details, tell your bank which ones.

Where do I report it: police, Scamwatch or both?

Both, and a couple of others. Each one does a different job.

You can report a scam to Scamwatch online. Wherever you report, keep any event or reference number you’re given, and ask police for one. Your bank, insurer, toll provider and transport authority may all ask for it.

The car is gone. What happens with the rego?

That depends on how it left.

It was taken without your agreement. A buyer drove off on a test drive, or took the keys. Treat it as a stolen car. Call 000 if it’s happening now, otherwise 131 444, and report the car stolen with its plate, colour and VIN. Then call your insurer. A notice of disposal records a sale, and there wasn’t one, so ask the police what they need before you lodge anything. Our safe test drive guide lists what to give police after a drive-off.

You handed it over against a payment that wasn’t real. Treat it as fraud. Report it to police first and get the event number. Then contact your state transport authority, explain the car was obtained by fraud, and ask how to record it, especially if the buyer’s licence may have been fake.

Don’t let this drift. Service NSW says to submit a notice of disposal immediately after you sell, partly so you aren’t held responsible for the buyer’s parking or driving fines. VicRoads warns that without one you may be liable for fines, tolls and other legal issues linked to the car after the sale. If your transport authority tells you to record it as a sale, these are the normal seller deadlines, and they’re short:

If you’d already lodged a notice of disposal, keep your copy and give the police its details. It shows who you recorded as taking the car. If you have a toll account, call the provider too, explain what happened, take the car off your account and ask about any tag left in it. If a fine or toll notice arrives later, contact whoever issued it and quote your police event number.

Sold the car but haven’t been paid: what are my options?

It depends what happened to the money.

• The “payment” was only an email, a screenshot or a link. No money ever moved. If the car is still with you, keep it and follow the steps above. If it’s gone, treat it as fraud.
• Money showed in your account, then was taken back out, or a cheque bounced. Call your bank, ask what happened, and report it to police.
• A buyer you can identify took the car and promised to pay later. WA Consumer Protection warns about scammers who promise to pay after taking the car. Scammer or slow payer, you’re owed the money. Ask for payment in writing by a set date and keep copies. If that fails, send a formal letter of demand, then consider a small claim through your state or territory’s courts or tribunal. Your state’s Legal Aid commission or a community legal centre can give free legal information about which applies. If the buyer gave false details or never meant to pay, it’s a police matter.

How do I spot the second scam?

Watch for someone offering to get your money back. Moneysmart warns about recovery scams that charge a percentage of what’s recovered, or a fee described as a “tax”, “deposit”, “retainer” or “refundable insurance bond”. Some even ask for travel and accommodation costs to find the scammer. Moneysmart’s advice is to hang up on, or block, anyone who contacts you offering to recover your losses. Your bank, the police, IDCARE and Scamwatch don’t charge for their help.

If the scam has left you with debt, Moneysmart suggests talking to a financial counsellor, which is free and confidential. If it’s weighing on you, Lifeline is on 13 11 14, 24 hours a day.

How do I sell the car safely from here?

Still have the car? These rules close the gaps scammers use:

• Money first, then the car. The full price should show in your own banking app, opened the usual way, before the car, keys or signed papers leave you. Consumer Affairs Victoria tells sellers not to sign anything that transfers ownership until they’ve been paid.
• Never send money to a buyer. Not for a fee, an upgrade, a courier or an overpayment.
• Agree the payment method early, and don’t let the buyer change it on the day.
• Check the licence before any test drive, and photograph it.

Would selling to a licensed dealer be simpler now?

After a scam, many people would rather not hand their car to another stranger. With a licensed dealer, you can check exactly who you’re dealing with first. 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 the car is collected only after you confirm the funds have cleared. No fees come out of the offer. As Ray Murray said: “I had tried to sell it privately for some weeks but was only contacted by scammers and ridiculous offers.” Then he sold to us.

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 contact us or call 1800 73 55 73.