(ANS) Changing my email address on ad but not for the site?
Discussion
I've just listed my car for sale and it's showing an email address I don't want made visible. When I uploaded the ad there was no option to deselect email or change it to something alternative. What's weird is that when viewing in Incognito the email doesn't appear to be shown in the ad; can people see it or not?
If required, can I use a different (throwaway) email on the ad without changing the one I use to login to PH? Apologies if these seem like obvious questions but this is the first time I've sold a car through PH.
If required, can I use a different (throwaway) email on the ad without changing the one I use to login to PH? Apologies if these seem like obvious questions but this is the first time I've sold a car through PH.
Edited by Funk on Monday 2nd January 00:19
Just to clarify this, people cannot see your email address on classified adverts but they can if you reply to an enquiry about the car you have for sale. This is why the scammers tend to start off by sending an innocent sounding question about your car. Once you've replied and they have your email, they then send you a fake email a few days later that appears to be from PistonHeads that asks you to log in. To really get you on the hook they will make it about the car you have for sale (e.g. "you have an enquiry about your Vauxhal Nova"). When you click the link they provide to do this, it directs you to a very convincing copy of our site (usually with a URL that has a letter missing, like pistnheads.com) and once you've logged in they have your email address and password... which is obviously bad!
Sadly there isn't much we can do about this other than raise awareness - so make sure that you always check who the emails are coming from, that you are logging in to our actual website and that you are suspicious about any enquiries that either ask obvious questions or seem to good to be true. I should also add, this phenomenon is not unique to PH and is sadly common in this industry.
As ever, if you have any questions always just ask!
Cheers
JD
Sadly there isn't much we can do about this other than raise awareness - so make sure that you always check who the emails are coming from, that you are logging in to our actual website and that you are suspicious about any enquiries that either ask obvious questions or seem to good to be true. I should also add, this phenomenon is not unique to PH and is sadly common in this industry.
As ever, if you have any questions always just ask!
Cheers
JD
Funk said:
The first response I've had was a scam one... <sigh>
Grrrr... As I say, it is sadly commonplace. Another trick that they like to play is - once they have your log in details - to log in and subtly modify your advert by changing the contact details and dropping the price in order to try and scam a buyer out of the value of a car. They do this by playing the whole " send me the money and I'll deliver the car" trick. Because the price is "too good to miss" (or too good to be true) people sadly fall for this. In fact, just this morning we've been contacted by someone who sent the money for a car that they have bought but unsurprisingly they haven't subsequently received the car or heard from the seller, who now seems to have vanished.As I say, awareness is the key and as ever if something seems to good to be true, then it usually is!
JD
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