listed AK1's Forester on CL, got a call (yes, an actual call!) from one guy, and a text from another guy. Text guy starts with "hella,Are you still selling the [exact repeat of ad title] .." asking me to send him "the AVR INFO'' which i've never heard of. so he says it's the output report from audit vin records dot com. then it becomes almost sales pitch-y, where the grammar improves significantly and he says "by the way, i am J*** D******, can i get your name?" i tell him i've got the dealer-level CarFax pulled earlier today and he replies "i'm sorry Patrick, but CarFax doesn't provide all the history as you can read on the first page of the Carfax they mention they don't show the history from the DMV, that's why i need from audit vin records dot com
"here's the VIN get it yourself"
Yes scam. He gets commission on driving business to the website. as soon as you give it to him, he will disappear.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
"here's the VIN get it yourself"
Butbutbut if he has to run the VIN himself, he can't go shopping for Christmas presents with your credit card...
LOL pretty obvious reading it this way, not a single question about the rod knock, but total concern over DMV records for a car with a clean title.
The description in the response to "What is AVR" is too rehearsed, too sales-y. It's a scam.
It's a used car, anybody who wants to run the VIN instead of looking at the car is not worth the hassle of dealing with even if they weren't a scammer.
Jay_W
SuperDork
12/15/21 5:39 p.m.
Thx for posting, I hadn't heard this one.
Driven5
UberDork
12/15/21 6:47 p.m.
Google searching Audit VIN Records brings up auditvinrecords.com as not the first, but the second link. This is the 3rd...
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/10/steering-clear-vehicle-history-report-scams
They are not listed as a National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) approved site, and putting quotes around "Audit VIN Records" or searching "auditvinrecords.com" returns extremely few results beyond their own website and some scam detector type stuff... Almost as if they're not a legitimate business.
I like how they never directly claim what exactly this super-awesome site has access to that ALL of the other big-money legit sites somehow can't get.
Geeeez, the endless ways people go to, to scam other people.
https://www.scam-detector.com/validator/auditvinrecords-com-review/
Common inquiry: is auditvinrecords.com legit? Good question and we have a good answer: we DO NOT endorse it as it has a very low trusting rank. The website is suspicious, while genuine reviews don't help it much. We provide a non-biased overview of this business and its Collectibles niche and explore how questionable it is. Let's see what the problems are below.
Our validator used 53 powerful factors to authenticate if auditvinrecords.comis legit.
The Scam Detector’s algorithm gives this business the following rank:
14.1/100
Driven5
UberDork
12/15/21 8:48 p.m.
And of course, this super-legit online company, just created their web domain less than 2 months ago... Never mind the lack of business registration records being tied to them too.
Not that it'll do much good, but consider reporting the contact phone number and web site:
https://www.usa.gov/stop-scams-frauds
dps214
Dork
12/16/21 12:02 a.m.
I mean it was pretty clear that was going to be a scam about three messages in...the question was just which type of scam.
Initial condition: scam bot program doesn't use punctuation.
Proposed Solution: Add random commas and periods to text.
Result:.,.. Perfection!.,,,.
Seems like a lot of work for a referral fee, but I would agree that it reeks of a scam. How much money could this guy earn off of a VIN report? Is it really less effort than getting a regular job?
Duke
MegaDork
12/17/21 9:11 a.m.
Feedyurhed said:
Geeeez, the endless ways people go to, to scam other people.
I know, right? It's more work than just actually having a real job.
In reply to Duke :
But.. heh heh, I pulled one over on someone.
With that gotcha attitude, why not just become a car salesmen? Or a politician?
I give them the VIN and tell them to pull it. And if they buy the car I'll give them their $28 back.
Same thing EXACT conversation, SAME NAME as Juan Draxler, texted me today. Seriouslly!!
dj06482 (Forum Supporter) said:
Seems like a lot of work for a referral fee, but I would agree that it reeks of a scam. How much money could this guy earn off of a VIN report? Is it really less effort than getting a regular job?
I agree, but really the scam is getting you to type your credit card info into a "website" of their choosing.
They're not selling Vin reports.
I like how every time he tries to get you to bite on the scam he follows up with a diversion.
"Please use my scam. Oh...and here's my name, what's yours?"
"Can you please let me scam you? Cash is cool for payment, right?"
**
"Blah, blah, blah. Proper name, place name, back story stuff." --WyldStyle from The Lego Movie
How much you asking for the car?
guys bringing a mechanic and trailer? Uh huh.
In reply to dooscoober :
Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.
Glad to see this thread showing up Among the top results for anybody that actually does a search on them though.
The car "facts" is a scam too, since it's only as good as the info reported and bad info never gets removed or corrected. Someone miskeys the mileage on your Porsche and you go to sell it on BaT and you get screwed for several k. I have found autocheck to be just as good as car "facts" possibly better for less $.