Warning when doing a REVS or PPRS Search

[aussiblue]

When doing a PPRS check ,make sure it is the genuine Government site here: https://www.ppsr.gov.au/start-your-q...vehicle-search not the numerous and much more expensive Veda operated sites posing as the Government site with similar names you'll find with first a Google search on "REVS" or PPRS" (e.g. http://www.ppsr.com.au/revs-check?gc...FYGavAoduGMFLg and http://www.ppsr.com.au/?gclid=CM2Yv4...FVMAvAodjnkFcw and http://www.revs.com.au/?gclid=CPmkxZ...FVgmvQodwn0NkA) Although there is no Government Coat of Arms on these sites, the only place you'll actually find Veda mentioned is in the fine print in the "Terms and Conditions" that appear at the foot of the page and you won't know about them until a sometimes reoccurring Veda "subscription" charge pops up on your credit card. I am usually very cautious and aware of such things and I still got caught. But Amex reversed the charges when I questioned what they were for.

[aussiblue]

And you can see why Veda are one star rated http://www.productreview.com.au/p/veda-advantage.html

[FERG_51]

I got caught out last year, trap for young players.

[something wrong]

Good tip thanks

I am about to used it for buying a new (2nd) Boat.

[FGX-351]

Damnit I used the revs.com.au site recently.
I feel quite silly, didn't even think about it.

[aussiblue]

And more importantly Veda reports don't come with the same Government warranty regarding ownerships and encumbrances as provided by the Government site albeit they are copied from the Government site.

[aussiblue]

Veda are so notorious with credit card companies that simply questioning a charge from them will get an immediate refund. Watch also you don't get subsequent unauthorized (well it was apparently in the very fine print somewhere) annual or monthly subscription charge from them.

[Morexbs]

Yes,it's very misleading.When you google PPSR search the VEDA site is the first one that comes up and it's very easy to think it's the official PPSR website if you don't read it carefully.

[falcon_bandit]

Originally Posted by Morexbs

When you google PPSR search the VEDA site is the first one that comes up

first one that comes up is the actual site

you might be talking about the paid ads, which i never rely on

[EB#]

Not to mention that the government PPSR search costs only about $3.50 and the others charge $30 or so?
Refer also, for the start page:
https://www.ppsr.gov.au/

[Joshmcmillan]

I have also paid the $25-30 odd for the REVS check years ago when they first started charging.

Recently found the $3.50 option. Most people I mention it to have used the 'REVS' checks as well and didn't know about PPSR. Bit of a scam.

[malazn mafia]

How do we eliminate Veda once and for all ?

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

How do we eliminate Veda once and for all ?

When you find out, let me know.

I lost out on a house auction when Veda had the wrong info on my file. They had me down with having a bad debt and my finance wasn't approved till the error was cleared.

Calling Veda was a joke "We don't make mistakes".. The only way to clear my name was to buy my report from them.

Guess what - it WAS their mistake.... and I lost out on a house I could have got at auction.

Then the person told me they don't issue refunds on reports - even though the report was used to clear my name of THEIR mistake... they just didn't see the logic in it till I took it further

A year later I had more money debited from my CC for another report I didn't ask for. That took a while to refund as well but got it eventually.

They are a shameful bunch of mongrels IMO...

[aussiblue]

first one that comes up is the actual site

No; that first one is not the right site. The second one is (note no "gov" in the web address of the 1st one). It may even look like the official site with the blue tick at the top like the official site, but go the terms and conditions at the foot of the opening page and its Veda. See how easy it is to get sucked in?

[falcon_bandit]

Again, that is the paid advertisements.

Have a look below where the actual results from the search start. But yes i can understand how alot of people get fooled into clicking into the wrong site for alot of things. My wife has been using the internet for years, but still has no idea what she's doing

[aussiblue]

Again, that is the paid advertisements.

Interestingly that yellow Ad box does not always appear to the left when I do a Google search on PPSR; I wonder how they organized that? It comes and goes at random; I'll have to investigate my IE11, Google and Norton Settings.

[aussiblue]

How do we eliminate Veda once and for all ?

Don't know I contacted Consumer Affairs/Commerce in WA and while they said they would get back to me, part of the title of their email reply being "Competitive Sites" probably tells me what their ultimate response will be.

[blueoval]

wow, what a scam. Thanks for the heads up.

[aussiblue]

Seems Google is stilling running it out (the yellow Ad boxes) and testing so they still come and go occasionally.
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-...med-21668.html But perhaps I have some other issues; Like many I have this unresolved issue with Spybot http://elingnotah.appspot.com/forums...sn-t-End/page4 and have reverted to using Lavasoft's Ad-Aware with reluctance since it has been acquired by the "Dark Side" :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavasoft

The company [Lavasoft] was acquired in January 2011 by the Solaria Fund, a private equity fund.[3] It was soon discovered that the fund was actually a front for the entrepreneurs (Daniel Assouline and Michael Dadoun) behind UpClick and Interactive Brands.[4] SC Magazine discovered that Lavasoft had been acquired by the same entrepreneurs who have been accused of selling software that is available for free (such as the free version of AVG antivirus) to unwitting users under the guise of premium support.[5] Assouline and Dadoun used to sell the free version of Lavasoft's security program prior to acquiring the company itself. This has been well-documented by security consultants such as Dancho Danchev.[

Sounds like Veda and the new owners of Lavasoft might get along.

[aussiblue]

I am going to ditch Ad-Aware as it finds much less spyware than Nortons and no spyware that Nortons doesn't find. Usually it just finds the relatively harmless stuff I get as a result of using Excite mail - something I am also slowly ditching. My issues on this PC started when I let my son use it and he made the mistake of thinking he had created a problem and then installed the scamware Spyhunter 4 (see https://malwaretips.com/threads/spyh...e.26301/page-2 and http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...ter-what-i-do/) to fix it. Can't blame him; I think we have all been down that path - I fell the traps some years ago too. However, although I had a Ghost copy to recover my PC to the pre Spyhunter status (I refused to pay Enigma Software ransom price), odd problems have been happening since. Google in particular was playing up from time to time not allowing me to edit search text, jumping to the end of the page and not allowing me to edit its settings but it has been OK for the last two weeks or so expect for those missing yellow Ad boxes..

[MITCHAY]

I noticed this quite a while back actually. If I recall correctly you were able to do a REVS check (when they were the actual registar) but had to pay for the certificate to be protected. I did one for at least my TX5 and maybe my WRX but I don't remember to be honest.

[Jacko*]

So is a PPRS check the same as a revs check? Does it give all the same info? I have only used REVS checks in the past when buying used cars, $30 seemed a small price to pay for peace of mind but if it really only costs $3.50 what a rip off.

[aussiblue]

So is a PPRS check the same as a revs check? Does it give all the same info? I have only used REVS checks in the past when buying used cars, $30 seemed a small price to pay for peace of mind but if it really only costs $3.50 what a rip off.

Yes; REVs was what many states ran (e.g. WA had a REVS system) before it was replaced on January 2012 by the National Government PPSR system. Veda and others have created sites with similar sounding names to attract those that don't know about the change and search for REVS etc (e.g. http://www.revs.com.au/ and http://revschecker.com.au/) It's only if you read the terms and conditions or notice the lack of the Government Coat of arms that you'll realise its a more expensive non Government services that gets the info from the Government PPRS and then charges you a considerable margin. They try and con you into thinking it's the Government site by referring to things like "Official Australian Government Revs Check" and using a blue tick logo similar to the PPSR Government web site.

PPRS also gives you data such as insurance claim history and write off history of vehicles from the National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System (NEVDIS) administered by Austroads (the association of Australasian road transport and traffic agencies). See http://www.austroads.com.au/drivers-vehicles/nevdis

[aussiblue]

And you get these assurances and protection on the real Government web site while the scam sites are full of disclaimers.

https://www.ppsr.gov.au/searching-and-buyer-protections

Buyer protections for serial number searches

The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPS Act) provides protections for buyers. Buyers and lessees will generally take personal property free of any security interests if the property is of a kind that must or may be described by a serial number, and the buyer searches the PPSR immediately before the time of sale or lease using the serial number only, and the security interest is not disclosed.

Motor vehicle buyer protections

If the collateral is a motor vehicle, section 45 of the PPS Act provides that a buyer or lessee will generally take the motor vehicle free of any security interest if:
•at any time between the time the motor vehicle was sold or leased and the start of the previous day a search of the PPSR by reference only to the serial number would not have disclosed a registration which perfected the interest; and
•the seller or lessor is either the person who granted the security interest, or another person who is in possession of the vehicle (provided the person who granted the security interest has lost the right to possess the motor vehicle or is stopped from asserting an interest in the vehicle).

Exceptions to motor vehicle buyer protections

The above protection does not apply if:
•the secured party is in possession of the motor vehicle immediately before the time of the sale or lease; or
•the motor vehicle is bought at a sale held by or on behalf of an execution creditor; or
•the buyer or lessee holds the motor vehicle as inventory; or on behalf of a person who would hold the motor vehicle as inventory; or
•the buyer or lessee buys or leases the motor vehicle with actual or constructive knowledge of the security interest.

Exceptions for motor vehicle licensed dealers

Section 45(3) of the PPS Act provides that a buyer or lessee will generally take the motor vehicle free of any security interests if they provide new value for the motor vehicle and the seller or lessor holds a licence (issued by the state or territory where the sale or lease happens) to deal in that kind of motor vehicle.

[last fairlane]

I sold a car last month and got a revs certificate/check
it cost me $9.90 and I printed it out myself
the site says its the official revs check site
I havnt checked my C/C statement lately
does this sound like the correct site to use or not
heres hoping
thanks John

[Phildo]

This is the site to use: https://www.ppsr.gov.au

Costs $3.40 to search.

It's GOV.... not COM... au.

The federal government stuffed up. When setting up a commercial web site, register all domain names that are similar to the one that you're going to use (ie .com.au, .net.au, etc).

Other places are doing the same search, but adding a profit margin.

[aussiblue]

I sold a car last month and got a revs certificate/check
it cost me $9.90 and I printed it out myself
the site says its the official revs check site
I havnt checked my C/C statement lately
does this sound like the correct site to use or not
heres hoping
thanks John

Sounds like you got off lightly unless that was a monthly or some other periodic subscription fee that you didn't realise you were signing up to; carefully check your credit card statement.

[aussiblue]

It seems Commerce WA may at one time have had a link to the wrong place on their site leading to my mistake. I have had an email from them saying: "I have made sure our website only links to the government PPSR website and not to any commercial services". I guess public servants can be sucked in by the results of a Google search just like anyone else.