This guest post was contributed by Carly Grant. She runs MyCarForAGrand, a car classified ad helping people find $1000 cars and others that are even cheaper! If you’re on a budget, this is the place to start your search.

When you’re ready to make a purchase for a new car, there’s a good chance that you’re going to head online to make that purchase. What you’re going to find out is that there are a lot of people out there that want to take advantage of you and scam you out of your hard earned cash.

I’ve been purchasing cars for a few years now, as I help relatives, friends, and more find the best deal possible. I have come across every scam possible and I wanted to give you 6 things to look out for.

#1 Too good to be true: If you’re reading a listing on a website and you find out that the deal sounds amazing, it probably is too good to be true! These scammers are hoping to sucker you in so that you call and from there, the scam process beings.

#2 Fake escrow services: There are a lot of legit people online that sell their car, but if you’re not going to meet in person, make sure you don’t send your money to some escrow company that you have never heard of. Always do your homework on the escrow company before you start the process. Big red flags are domain names that end with .info, .biz, etc.

#3 Bad grammar: Scammers overseas don’t have the best grammar in their emails. If they aren’t making sense or you’re just lost, it may be time to move on. This is a huge red flag.

#4 No contact information: A good seller is going to be able to provide you with a phone number and physical address, if you want to pick the car up. If they are unwilling to give this to you, this is another huge flag to be aware of.

#5 Giving out sensitive data: Never ever give out sensitive data over email or the telephone. There is no reason to send out your social security number, or even your driver’s license number. If you find that someone is asking for this, you will want to run fast.

#6 Just avoid money orders: If you avoid money orders 100%, you will steer clear of a scam 99% of the time. Whenever I read about these scams in the paper, they always have something to do with Western Union and more.

When you follow these 6 tips, I can assure that you will be relatively safe with your online car purchase. Follow these tips, use your head, and you should be able to walk away with a car that is scam free!