Online purchasing from the construction equipment company has a lot of scams. When you are going to have equipment, be careful of the scammers and do not be a victim.
Some common scams revolve in the industry are mentioned here:
Spam Emails
A spam email is released to your account with a suspicious link in it. When you get such an email, do not click on the link provided in it. Check the URL, if it seems spoofing, ignore it right away. These kinds of links are actually used to steal your personal data and credentials such as passwords and other information. You can check the link before landing on it by simply hovering over the curser.
Scam Phone Ca123lls
Another pricky trick is the scam phone calls. If you get a call saying they have a buyer for the equipment and asking for money as a fees charge, be alert right away and do not fall into the rip-off game. The caller often pressurizes you to follow his instructions. Strictly rebuke them and get out of the trap immediately.
Scheme of overcharging
In this kind of scam, you are asked to send the extra amount other than the agreed price of the construction equipment for sale, in the name of the shipping charge. When you pay the extra shipping charge, they will try to prove that the check has not cleared and will leave you at the loss.
Tips to Protect Your Business Information
- Make sure to have a direct conversation with the seller in every situation.
- Be extra alert on the emails greeting you with “Dear” or “Dear Friend”.
- Look at the quality of photos provided. Poor quality photos are more likely to be copied from another source.
- The email frauds often transpire in Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. If you are using this webmail, keep yourself extra vigilant about these phishing emails.
- Mostly the fonts are not standard and look similar in these emails.
- The email signature and the area codes of phone numbers are very important measures to check. If you are not sure about the area code of the particular region, google it or cross-check the phone directory.
- Everyone knows the heavy equipment is expensive. If you come out with the absurdly low price of equipment, be alert and do not fall into the fraud.
- Keep changing or updating all your passwords timely. Try to set a strong password including upper and lower cases, symbols, numbers along with special characters.
- Do not open the email and attachment labeled as “Docusign”, until or unless you verify the email sender’s credibility.
- Most importantly, deal with the dealer whom you know or trust or referred by your colleagues.
If you want to stay safe from scammers make a 0habit of practicing these safety measures. Without these precautions you might fall prey to a scam that you did not see coming. Safety should be your main concern in any online purchase, but even more so if you are buying heavy equipment.
