Many people buy and sell items on-line, either through adverts on our Forum, or via other internet market places.

Please be aware that, as with all forms of trading, there are always people around who will try to get your money without supplying the goods or get your goods without paying.

There are various types of scam around, but fortunately they can be fairly easily recognised if you are vigilant and take sensible precautions.

One of the most common ways is for someone to offer you payment way in excess of the value of the goods you are selling, without even looking at them or finding out more about them. Often these may involve the payment of extra cash into you bank account, payment to shipping or import agents etc. PLEASE BE WEARY OF THESE OFFERS. Almost all these come from abroad and we strongly recommend that you only buy or sell to people in the UK.

Here are some straight forward guidelines to follow:

• Only deal with people based in the UK.
• If you must buy or sell abroad, make sure you deal with someone you know.
• Contact the person by email or preferably by telephone, not just through a website.
• Get to know them and ensure they are genuinely interested in buying or selling.
• Try to find a mutual acquaintance, who can vouch for their integrity.
• Do not make any deals through third parties - e.g. agents, shipping or finance dealers etc.
• Make sure all payments have cleared and, if possible, transfer them to another account for safety.
• Keep a full record of your dealings and transactions.

Be suspicious of any offers that seem "too good to be true". No-one can resist a bargain and if you follow our guidelines and are vigilant at all times, you are very unlikely to fall for any of these scams.

BHDTA website reference section

The reference section on our website contains much valuable information, not just about carriage driving.

• COMPUTER VIRUSES - find out how to easily avoid viruses and virus hoaxes
• EMAIL and SPAM - Make your emails more reliable, protect your email address and reduce the amount of junk
• ON-LINE SALES SCAM - make sure you don't lose your money or goods to fraudulent dealers
• DOWNLOADING FILES - how to download and print out files and forms.