Car Buyer Guide and www.cbg.ie would like to alert all our customers to the continued scams in play by unscrupulous individuals relating to matching used cars for sale and trying to extort money from genuine buyers.

It has been reported that individuals based in a few companies (some from the UK) are attempting to defraud members of the public by offering to match them with parties interested in buying their used car.

Please be advised that Car Buyers Guide and www.cbg.ie do not offer this service to their advertisers and do not forward the information of their customers to any third party companies who do. We do not condone the above activities and advise our customers to be extra cautious when dealing with potential buyers and sellers for cars whether it is online or by telephone.

We have recently become aware of a scam involving a person stating that we at Car Buyers Guide offer a facility for users to deposit funds into a third party account which are held until the vehicle is delivered. Car Buyers Guide do not offer a facility for buyers or sellers of vehicles on our sites to hold or transfer payments. We have no agreements with any third parties to hold or transfer payments on our clients behalf. Here at Car Buyers Guide we do not oversee or manage any transfers of monetary funds between buyers and sellers whatsoever. We provide a research and information facility for potential buyers and a shop window for sellers. We aim to protect our users and as Irelands number 1 motoring website we are extremely cautious and vigilant when it comes to scams and we always aim to protect our buyers and sellers.

There are many different variations of these scams going on, but there are some easy steps to ensure you are not a victim of any of them.

CBG advice:

• The general rule of thumb dictates, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!
• If you are in any doubt about a caller - hang up (if you are in doubt about an email do not reply)
• Do not give out personal financial details - if you already have, you should contact your bank for advice on what to do next; if you have sent money don't send any more!
• You should report these fraudulent calls to the European Consumer Centre (ECC) Dublin (contact details below). They have centres in 25 European countries and can liaise with Irish and UK consumer enforcers and the Garda fraud squad regarding this problem.

Who to contact

European Consumer Centre, 13A Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin 1.
Tel: +353 1 8090600
Fax: +353 1 8090601
Email: info@eccdublin.ie
Web: www.eccdublin.ie.