Online caravan scam turns holiday plans into nightmare

A couple is sharing their caravan scam debacle after having the wool pulled over their eyes by a con-artist claiming to be part of the ADF.

SCAM WATCH: Kylie and Mark Bull from Bull Family Funerals in Inglewood are urging others to be vigilant on online fraudsters after they were scammed out of $8,800 dollars by a Facebook user posing as a member of the Australian Defence Force trying to make a quick sale of his 2008 Jayco Caravan. Picture: Kate McCormack

It was supposed to provide them with dream holidays to escape some of the stress of their busy funeral home business.

But an online caravan purchase has become a nightmare for one Inglewood couple.

Kylie and Mark Bull from Bull Family Funerals were scammed out of $8800 by a Facebook user posing as a member of the Australian Defence Force.

“I had been looking at purchasing a second-hand caravan for a little while because I’ve had a number of health complications over the last few years and I wanted to be able to go away on little weekend trips as a way to rest and recover,” Mrs Bull said.

Mrs Bull quickly discovered a 2008 Jayco Discovery caravan listed by a seller on Facebook marketplace who claimed to be based at the RAAF Base in Edinburgh, South Australia for $8000.

“Having very little knowledge of caravan models or prices I thought straight away this seemed like the perfect little starter caravan for us and began negotiating with the seller,” she said.

Kylie and Mark Bull from Bull Family Funerals in Inglewood were scammed out of $8,800 by an online fraudster claiming to be a member of the Australian Defence Force selling his caravan before being deployed to serve overseas.

The seller said he needed to sell the caravan as quickly as possible to support his children during an overseas deployment, and both parties agreed to pay $7000.

“In hindsight I was too naive, my heart went out to him and I agreed to the sale right away,” Mrs Bull said.

Mrs Bull then received fraudulent emails that demanded she pay $1800 to ship the caravan to Brisbane, and send a scanned copy of her driver’s licence.

“I started to suspect something was not right when I didn’t receive a shipping tracking number, despite requesting one several times,” she said.

“When all communication from the buyer and the transportation representative ceased, I began to really panic and contacted my bank to see if they could cease the online transaction, but they told me there wasn’t much that could be done.”

Mrs Bull said months on and after federal and state police investigations, she and her husband were still $8800 out of pocket.

A screenshot from the conversation between Kylie Bull and the scammer displays the scam caravan involved in the fraudulent online sale. Picture: Contributed courtesy of Kylie Bull

Mr Bull said the scam had a severe impact on his wife’s mental and physical health.

“While I do think we should have done more research and physically gone down to see the caravan and buyer before transferring the funds, at the same time I think there should be more done to protect victims and support services in place to help people through these scams,” he said.

“We know we’re not the only ones out there who have had the wool pulled over their eyes.”

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Australians have lost $288,000 to vehicle scams in the first quarter of 2021.

ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said scammers were now commonly pretending to be defence personnel.

“In 97 per cent of reports received this year, the scammer claimed to be in the military (navy, army and air force), or to work for the Department of Defence, and said they wanted to sell their vehicle before deployment,” she said.

“This sought to create a sense of urgency with buyers and explained the unusually low listing price of the vehicles and why buyers could not inspect them prior to payment.”

Ms Rickard also warned email addresses that do not bear the legitimate the defence email format of @defence.gov.au may be an indication of a scam.

But even the correct email format does not guarantee the car ad is not a scam, as scammers are able to spoof email addresses.

“A price that is too good to be true should be a warning sign for potential buyers,” she said.

“If a classified ad offers a vehicle at a very low price, the ad might not be legitimate.”

The Inglewood couple wanted to urge potential buyers out there to be on high alert for scam artists when purchasing anything online.

“Always go and see the item in person with someone else who knows what they are looking at if cars and caravans are not your forte,” Mrs Bull said.

“Never feel bad for asking more questions or for getting another opinion. Don’t let what happened to us happen to you or a loved one.”