A buyer found a car he wanted from the United States. The seller sent photos. They sent paperwork. They even sent an official-looking import approval and promised to handle everything: the shipping, the Australian customs clearance, the import duty and the import GST, all of it. All that the importer had to do was send the money and wait for the call to come to the port to collect his car.
His instinct told him something was wrong. So he called Platinum® Freight Management.
Peter McRae looked at the paperwork. Three seconds later, he told the buyer it was a scam.
The Call
“My Instinct Was the Same as Yours. I Just Needed a Second Opinion.”
The buyer had done what many Australians do when they find a vehicle overseas they want to import: he went looking for someone who could help him make sense of the process. He found Platinum® Freight Management through a search and sent through everything the seller had provided.
“While he was on the phone, I said to him: this is a scam, this is fake. I asked him what his instinct told him. He said his instinct was the same as mine. He just needed a second opinion.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
What Peter spotted took him three seconds. Not because the document was obviously amateur, but because he sees legitimate vehicle import approvals every single day and knew exactly what was wrong with this one.
The Tell
What a Real Vehicle Import Approval Actually Looks Like
In Australia, importing a motor vehicle, including cars, motorbikes, and e-bikes, requires an import approval issued by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, commonly applied through the ROVER portal.
Peter and his team handle these approvals constantly. That familiarity is precisely what makes a fraudulent one so easy to identify.
“We know what the approval letter looks like. We know what colour it is. We know how many pages it should be. We know where the date is going to be situated. We see these on a daily basis.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
The document the buyer had been sent had several of these details wrong. But there was one flaw that no amount of design skill could fix.
The approval was not in the buyer’s name.
“Nobody gets import approvals except the person that purchased the motor vehicle. Why would somebody else get an import approval for you when you are the one that needs the import approval?”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
The scammers had created an approval in their own name. They were painting a picture: we will do everything for you, you just pay us the money, and you will have your car. But the process does not work that way and never has.
The Process
How the Import Approval Process Actually Works
If you are importing a motor vehicle into Australia, the import approval belongs only to you. There is no shortcut, and no third party can obtain it on your behalf.
The importer must log on to the ROVER portal themselves. They upload their own identification, photos of the vehicle, and answer a set of compliance questions covering the vehicle’s specifications, age, and intended use.
The application fee is $50. The assessment takes up to 30 business days. The approval, when it comes, is issued in the applicant’s name and contains specific vehicle details that match the documentation submitted.
No one else does this for you. A customs broker can advise you on the process and help prepare the supporting documentation, but the ROVER application is yours to complete. Any offer to obtain the approval on your behalf is a red flag, not a service.
The AI Question
Will AI Make These Scams Harder to Detect?
It is a reasonable concern. Generative AI tools can now produce convincing documents, and the quality of fraudulent paperwork is likely to improve over time.
Peter considered this directly when the question was raised. His answer was clear.
“Even if AI helped them create a better version of the permit, it all came back to the same fundamental problem. The approval was in somebody else’s name. That would not make any difference.”
— Peter McRae | Licensed Customs Broker, Platinum® Freight Management
The design of a fraudulent document can be improved. The logic of the fraud cannot. If an approval arrives under any name other than yours, no amount of sophisticated formatting can change what that document actually is.
The tell is not in the pixels. It is in the name at the top of the page.
Red Flags
Warning Signs to Watch for When Importing a Vehicle from Overseas
Peter identifies these as the warning signs that should stop any vehicle import transaction:
Before You Buy
What to Do Before You Buy a Vehicle from Overseas
Before any money changes hands on an overseas vehicle purchase, Peter recommends the following. For a broader guide, see Platinum®’s detailed resource on why you should always consult a customs broker before purchasing from overseas.
Speak with Platinum® Freight Management
Peter McRae has been identifying fraudulent import documentation for over 28 years. If you are considering importing a vehicle from overseas and want to verify your paperwork is legitimate before money changes hands, call Platinum® Freight Management first.
Call 1300 882 877Every shipment has a number. Every person has a name. Platinum® knows the difference.
Platinum® Freight Management is a licensed customs brokerage operating Australia-wide since 2000. Peter McRae holds a Master of International Customs Law and a Master of International Revenue Administration (University of Canberra) and has been a licensed customs broker since 1998. Member: IFCBAA and Freight & Trade Alliance. ABN 58 095 228 934.