Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

Car buyers with credit problems probably have enough on their hands but should still be aware of scammers that could potentially sidetrack their plans for credit repair

Online woes

Here at Auto Credit Express we find ourselves reminding car buyers with less than perfect credit that the internet is, at times, not the safest place to be. Like almost any other neighborhood there are thieves hoping to take advantage of the unwary. But instead of ripping off your flat screen TV, these people want to steal your private information so they can assume your identity.

Online Kia hoax

An example of this resulted in this press release from Kia Motors New Zealand not long ago which warned that anyone receiving a text message on their mobile phone bearing the Kia Motors logo and informing them of a lottery win needed to know that the message was a scam:

Kia Motors New Zealand is warning anyone receiving a mobile phone text message telling informing them of a lottery win and asking for banking details that it is a hoax.

The company’s Auckland head office was alerted to the hoax after receiving a number of calls from people who had received the text, asking if it was real.

“It most certainly isn’t – it’s a scam and my advice to anyone who receives such a text is to ignore it, delete it,” says Todd McDonald, General Manager of Kia Motors New Zealand.

The text message uses the Kia Motors “Power To Surprise” logo and is headed Fill In and Return Kia Motor Lottery Verification Form For Approval. The sender is signed Dr Lewis Anderson, purporting to be the Cash Officer for Kia Motors in this Region, but the giveaway is that his email address uses Google mail not the official Kia Motors email addresses.

Recipients are told their lucky mobile number has won them £497,000 (British Pounds Sterling equal to $819,500) and a Kia model and on a second page asks for delivery details, including online banking. “Presumably they want to obtain a bank account number and a password, which is typical of these types of scams,” adds Mr. McDonald.

“This one is a slightly different take on the emails to computers purporting to be from banks. It’s the first I have heard of scams messages to mobile phones. Whoever is behind this has got hold of a mobile phone list – not one of ours, I hasten to add – and they are passing themselves off as representing Kia Motors and using our logo to make people believe that it is a real offer.”

The Bottom Line

A bad credit car loan is a good way to improve your auto credit but maintaining it could be difficult if a scam artist gets hold of your personal information. Remember, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”.

Another thing: at Auto Credit Express we match applicants that have car credit problems with dealers that can give them their best chance at auto loan approvals.

So if you’re ready to reestablish your auto credit, you can begin now by filling out our online auto loans application.

Tags: Bad Credit, identity theft

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