We know finding a new or used car for sale is particularly tough in this market, but please be careful as many of our clients are being caught out in fake car scams.
Our National Case Management Centre has dealt with multiple complaints in one day from people lured into buying a car from sites like Facebook Marketplace.
Not only are the clients losing money putting down deposits on cars that don’t exist, they’re also required to provide scanned copies of identity documents to complete the purchase.
These documents, which can include driver licence, passports and utility bills, are often used to open an account on various cryptocurrency trading platforms in the client’s name.
Here’s an easy guide to spot a fake car advertisement from the real deal:
You can always do a reverse image check on the photos listed with advertisements to determine whether they’ve been used elsewhere.
Remember, do your research first and ask to speak to the seller in person.
Mon - Fri: 8am - 5pm AEST
QLD: 07 3555 5900
ACT & NSW: 02 8999 3356
VIC: 03 7018 2366
NT, SA & WA : 08 7078 7741
Mon - Fri: 10am - 7pm NZST
AKL: 09 884 4440
IDCARE as a registered charity does not ask individuals to donate or pay for our front line services. We are not a charity that can receive tax deductible donations.
We rely on organisations that care enough about you to care about us to keep our charitable service going. Proudly these organisations are displayed above and on our Subscriber Organisations page.
If you are asked for payment from someone claiming to be from IDCARE, please report this to us using our Report Phishing email.
IDCARE has access to the Department of Home Affairs Free Interpreting Service, delivered by the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National). Access to the Free Interpreting Service is provided to assist you to communicate with non-English speaking people who hold a Medicare card. Please note that the service does not extend to New Zealand citizens or residents who do not hold an Australian Medicare card, or to tourists, overseas students or people on temporary work visas.
New Zealand Relay provides services to help Deaf, hearing impaired, speech impaired, Deafblind and standard phone users communicate with their peers.
A TTY user connects to New Zealand Relay via a toll-free number and types their conversation to a Relay Assistant (RA) who then reads out the typed message to a standard phone user (hearing person).
The RA relays the hearing person's spoken words by typing them back to the Textphone (TTY) User.
The National Relay Service (NRS) is an Australian government initiative that allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing and/or have a speech impairment to make and receive phone calls.
The NRS is available 24 hours a day, every day and relays more than a million calls each year throughout Australia.
