986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

MNBoxster · 02-13-2006, 05:23 AM

Hi,

Just some friendly advise...do NOT post your VIN # on this, or any other Forum. There are a lot of unscrupulous people on the Net and I have seen these VIN #s abused by some Bad people.

Sound Paranoid? Well, after posting his VIN # to a friendly Lotus Forum, a friend had his Lotus Esprit put up for Sale on eBay! We all recognized it right away as possibly being our Friend's Car. We asked him if he was selling his Car. He said he wasn't, checked the eBay listing and then alerted eBay.

By using a proper VIN # and some stock photos, the Seller listed the Car, complete with CarFax, requiring a 15% deposit within 48hrs. of the Auction Close from the Winning Bidder. All the Seller was after was the Deposit money.

An unwitting Buyer would have been out some $3,000 in the form of a Deposit if they had won the Auction. There are other ways to abuse it as well such as getting a Loan on the Car using False ID, etc. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

02-13-2006, 05:23 AM	#1
MNBoxster Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA Posts: 3,308	Keep your Vin# to yourself! Hi, Just some friendly advise...do NOT post your VIN # on this, or any other Forum. There are a lot of unscrupulous people on the Net and I have seen these VIN #s abused by some Bad people. Sound Paranoid? Well, after posting his VIN # to a friendly Lotus Forum, a friend had his Lotus Esprit put up for Sale on eBay! We all recognized it right away as possibly being our Friend's Car. We asked him if he was selling his Car. He said he wasn't, checked the eBay listing and then alerted eBay. By using a proper VIN # and some stock photos, the Seller listed the Car, complete with CarFax, requiring a 15% deposit within 48hrs. of the Auction Close from the Winning Bidder. All the Seller was after was the Deposit money. An unwitting Buyer would have been out some $3,000 in the form of a Deposit if they had won the Auction. There are other ways to abuse it as well such as getting a Loan on the Car using False ID, etc. Hope this helps... Happy Motoring!... Jim'99 Last edited by MNBoxster; 02-13-2006 at 06:01 AM.