If you are trying to sell a horse online you need to be aware of many red flags that would let you know that an Online Horse Buyer is a scammer. Pay particular attention to the following tips to avoid being scammed!
1. The buyer seems too good to be true.
They immediately offer to pay the full amount (or even more than the asking price) and promise a perfect home for your horse.
2. The buyer makes a decision to purchase you horse based on just a few photos or questions
Most honest buyers will ask a LOT of questions and ask for additional photos or video.
3. The buyer is not interested in seeing the horse in person (if they claim to live reasonably close) or having a pre-purchase exam completed.
While buying a horse sight unseen is not uncommon, most buyers will want to at least have a basic pre-purchase exam completed by a local vet.
4. The buyer plans to export you horse to another country.
Scammers will pretend to be an extreme enthusiast of a particular bloodline or breed and share their plans to bring the horse to their home country (which is meant to give the seller a distracting ego boost). Unless your horse is particularity unique or valuable, don’t believe it!
5. If you’re asked to pay for transportation or any other expenses to an outside source do not proceed with the sale!
The buyer may send you a fraudulent cheque to cover the costs, which will then bounce, but only after you’ve already paid the “shipper”.
Bonus Tip: Horses in the lower price range (between $1,000 – $5000) seem to be the most likely targets for buying scams.
Because there’s less money on the line, you might feel more at ease, but in reality you’re more at risk.
The information was taken from here: https://www.savvyhorsewoman.com/2018/10/horse-sale-scams-tips-for-safe-buying-and-selling.html