Recently, a visitor to our site found a listing for a 2009 TOYOTA HILUX RAIDER DOUBLE CAB 3.0 D4D 4X4 AT, going for R60,000.

That kind of price for such a vehicle is likely to attract anyone’s attention. This prospective buyer hurried to contact the seller (this was a classified listing, where seller’s contact details are permitted). She received an invoice that contained a link to what purported to be the bidorbuy live chat. Just to make double-sure that all was in order, she clicked on the link. In the ensuing conversation she was assured that the seller had a R70,000 deposited in the bidorbuy purchase protection account and  that the vehicle will be delivered to her address within three days after she pays a deposit of R30,000 by Western Union.

Luckily, the visitor in question was an alert lady and she informed the bidorbuy customer support about the whole deal. She  was advised not to proceed and the fraudulent seller was blacklisted.

The scenario above closely resembles the one that surfaced on bidorbuy about a year ago and was analysed in this blog post. Alas, the problem with scum is that it keeps re-appearing and has to be flushed out over and over again.

For the benefit of newbies on bidorbuy, who may stumble upon a similar listing before we had a chance to purge it, here are several giveaways that should trigger alarm bells:

• The deal is too good to be true. A 2009 Toyota Hilux 3.0 D-4D Doublecab 4×4 for R60,000? Please. Admittedly, unbelievably good deals do happen sometimes, but more often than not the if it’s too good to be true, it’s not wisdom applies.
• The seller asks for a deposit via Western Union. Asking for a deposit is dodgy in itself. Making any kind of payment via Western Union or any other cash transfer service is a definite no-no.
• The seller claims that bidorbuy has money in trust and that bidorbuy will arrange for the delivery of the vehicle. bidorbuy never holds money in trust and is never involved in deliveries or any other pre-sale, during-sale or post-sale procedure. When you buy on bidorbuy, you buy from a specific seller, not from bidorbuy.

We warmly recommend to all new buyers to read our how-to for new buyers, and follow all the links.

One more thing: when you chat with bidorbuy, your browser address bar should display this URL address, and no other: http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/livehelp/livezilla.php.

And what about our visitor, what made her suspicious? When I asked a couple of questions about the item, they were not helpful at all. That is when I realised it was fake, because bidorbuy consultants are very helpful, say says.

What can we say. Real quality will show. Learn to recognise it and you will always have the most enjoyable shopping experience on bidorbuy.

Also see: the bidorbuy article Beware of Car Scams.