Steer Away From Car Wrap Scams
Author: James Greening
The lure of easy money is tough to ignore and Car Wrap Scams are one such kind of scam promising considerable amounts of money for no work. Like most promises of this kind, you are more likely to end up losing money than earning any.
How Do Car Wrap Scams Work?
Take a look at the example below of a fake message pretending to be from Dasani. People randomly received this text message promising them $500 for allowing the company to wrap their car with Dasani branding.
Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? It should come as no surprise that this is the beginning of a Fake Check Scam.
People who respond to the message are then contacted by a ‘company representative’ regarding details of the fake Car Wrap program. Victims of the scam are sent a fake check as an ‘advance payment’ that they need to deposit in their account. In some cases, victims are also sent a payment via PayPal.
Following this, they need to pay part of the amount as an advance payment to the ‘moving company’ or ‘decal agency’ that is going to wrap their car. This is a huge red flag, as the company could easily pay the vendor themselves instead of relying on someone else to do it.
In the below exchange, we can see the scammer demanding that the victim withdraw cash from their account to pay the ‘moving company’. Requests for payments using unsafe payments methods such as wire transfers are also common.
The real reason for this demand is that the fake check sent to the victim will bounce as soon as the bank catches the forgery. The victim is urged to make a cash payment as soon as possible so that the scam is complete before the bank informs them that the check was fake. Ultimately, the victim ends up losing whatever amount they paid the scammers.
When the victim is sent money through PayPal, the catch is that the scammer makes the payment using a stolen credit card. Therefore, the victim ends up losing money when the credit card company realizes the fraud and reverses the payment.
Signs of a Car Wrap Scam
- Unsolicited text messages or emails from unknown numbers/addresses
- Payouts of hundreds or thousands of dollars are promised for little to no work
- Bad spelling and grammar in the communications
- The ‘company’ offers to pay in advance via check or PayPal
- An advance needs to be paid to the ‘moving company’ or ‘decal agent’ using unsafe payment methods that make it difficult or impossible to obtain a refund
Now that you are aware of Car Wrap scams, avoiding them is as easy as not responding to unsolicited text messages or emails promising money for participating in a Car Wrap program.
Report a Scam!
Have you fallen for a hoax, bought a fake product? Report the site and warn others!
Scam Categories
Help & Info
Popular Stories
As the influence of the internet rises, so does the prevalence of online scams. There are fraudsters making all kinds of claims to trap victims online - from fake investment opportunities to online stores - and the internet allows them to operate from any part of the world with anonymity. The ability to spot online scams is an important skill to have as the virtual world is increasingly becoming a part of every facet of our lives. The below tips will help you identify the signs which can indicate that a website could be a scam. Common Sense: Too Good To Be True When looking for goods online, a great deal can be very enticing. A Gucci bag or a new iPhone for half the price? Who wouldn’t want to grab such a deal? Scammers know this too and try to take advantage of the fact. If an online deal looks too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. The easiest way to do this is to simply check out the same product at competing websites (that you trust). If the difference in prices is huge, it might be better to double-check the rest of the website. Check Out the Social Media Links Social media is a core part of ecommerce businesses these days and consumers often expect online shops to have a social media presence. Scammers know this and often insert logos of social media sites on their websites. Scratching beneath the surface often reveals this fu
So the worst has come to pass - you realise you parted with your money too fast, and the site you used was a scam - what now? Well first of all, don’t despair!! If you think you have been scammed, the first port of call when having an issue is to simply ask for a refund. This is the first and easiest step to determine whether you are dealing with a genuine company or scammers. Sadly, getting your money back from a scammer is not as simple as just asking. If you are indeed dealing with scammers, the procedure (and chance) of getting your money back varies depending on the payment method you used. PayPal Debit card/Credit card Bank transfer Wire transfer Google Pay Bitcoin PayPal If you used PayPal, you have a strong chance of getting your money back if you were scammed. On their website, you can file a dispute within 180 calendar days of your purchase. Conditions to file a dispute: The simplest situation is that you ordered from an online store and it has not arrived. In this case this is what PayPal states: "If your order never shows up and the seller can't provide proof of shipment or delivery, you'll get a full refund. It's that simple." The scammer has sent you a completely different item. For example, you ordered a PlayStation 4, but instead received only a Playstation controller. The condition of the item was misrepresented on the product page. This could be the