Exercise Caution When Buying Equipment Online

If you need to buy construction equipment and you are thinking of searching for the equipment you need in online classifieds or on auction websites, there are some precautions you need to take to avoid scams. Sometimes, even reputable trade publications feature a few sales from fraudulent equipment dealers. It is impossible for these publications to vouch for the legitimacy of every seller and the equipment that is listed on their website, so you need to be cautious in your dealings with them. 

If you do not know the seller and you have not seen the equipment in person, it is quite risky to spend thousands of dollars on it. Some fraudulent dealers even have bogus websites set up to make their business seem more legit. Therefore, when you are looking for heavy equipment like a CAT 928G online, be on the lookout for any red flags so you do not end up getting scammed. 

Typos

If you come across an advertisement that is full of typos and grammatical errors, you need to be cautious. Such an ad may have been set up by a scammer, or the seller may simply not be serious about the sale. No matter what the case may be, you should try to find a more reliable seller.

Promotional Pictures

If the seller actually has the equipment in their possession, why would they use photos from the internet for the advertisement? Avoid any ads with these types of promotional photos. Instead, look for machinery ads with actual authentic images. 

Check Other Cities

One way to identify scams is to look and see whether the seller is advertising the same piece of equipment using the same kind of language in other cities as well. Try to search on Google with the ads wording to see if it shows up anywhere else. If so, it raises some red flags and should prompt a more thorough examination and further questions or be avoided altogether.

Vet the Seller

If the equipment advertisement seems legit, you still need to do some research on the seller and the equipment. The seller should be able to provide you with product specifications such as its serial number, manufacturing year, and other machine identification. You should also take a moment to look up the seller on Google and verify their identity. Exercising extreme caution is necessary when you are investing in something as big as heavy machinery.