Static Caravan and Mobile Home Scams: How to Spot One

Park Homes

14/08/2026

Buying a static caravan or a park home privately can save you real money. It can also cost you everything you send, and that money rarely comes back.

Criminals took £1.28 billion through payment fraud in the UK during 2025. Purchase scams, where you pay for something that never turns up, accounted for 71% of all authorised push payment cases, and losses on them rose a fifth in a single year.

Holiday homes sit in the sweet spot for a fraudster. They carry a five-figure price, they sell privately between strangers, they are hard to inspect from two hundred miles away, and people buy them in a hurry each spring. This guide covers what the fraud looks like on eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree, what gives it away, and how to pay so you can get your money back if it goes wrong.

The scale of it

What	Figure	Source and period
UK payment fraud losses	£1.28 billion	UK Finance, 2025
Purchase scam losses	£118.1 million, up 20% on the year	UK Finance, 2025
Share of all APP fraud cases that are purchase scams	71%	UK Finance, 2025
Holiday fraud reports to Action Fraud	6,066	Action Fraud, 2024
Total lost to holiday fraud	£11.2 million	Action Fraud, 2024
Average loss per victim	£1,844	Action Fraud, 2024
Marketplace listings judged fraudulent in a 100-advert sample	34%	TSB, January 2024

Not every one of those cases involves a caravan. The pattern behind them does not change though. A listing appears on a platform, the seller is friendly and quick to reply, and the money leaves your account before anybody has stood on the plot.

Why holiday homes attract fraudsters

The price. A used static runs into five figures and a new lodge goes well past that. One successful caravan scam pays better than fifty fake phones, so it is worth a fraudster's time to build a convincing story.

The distance. Buyers routinely shop for a caravan hundreds of miles from home. Taking photographs on trust feels normal in a way it never would when buying a car down the road, and fraudsters know it.

The season. Demand climbs from February onwards as people plan the summer. Pressure works on somebody who wants the van ready for Easter, and every scam on this page runs on pressure.

The six scams that actually happen

The scam	How it looks to you	What gives it away
The caravan that does not exist	Good photographs, a fair price, a reason for the quick sale such as illness or emigration	Every excuse in the world for why you cannot view it this week. The photos appear elsewhere online.
The holding deposit	Two other people are coming Saturday, and £500 secures it today	Payment demanded before any viewing. Real sellers take deposits after you have seen the home.
The overpayment	A buyer sends more than the asking price and asks you to refund the difference	The original payment reverses days later. You have sent real money against a payment that never cleared.
The fake finance agent	A call saying they have a buyer approved for credit, and a processing fee to release it	A broker asking you for an upfront fee to release a buyer is a warning sign worth acting on.
The reversed e-wallet payment	Payment lands, you hand over the keys and the paperwork	PayPal and card payments can be pulled back after the fact. Cleared funds in your bank cannot.
The cloned park	A real park name, address and photographs used by a seller with no connection to it	Ring the park on its own published number. They have never heard of the seller.

If you are buying

View it, every time, without exception

This one rule kills most of the scams above. A seller who will not let you stand in the home is not selling you a home. The excuses sound reasonable on their own: they work away, the park has restricted access this month, another buyer is arriving. Treat any of them as the end of the conversation.

Check whether the photographs have been used before

Right-click any image in the listing and choose Search image with Google. If the same caravan appears on a dealer site in Wales and a listing in Norfolk, you have your answer. Manufacturer stock photographs are fine when the listing says so, but a private seller with only stock images and no photograph of their own decking is worth a question.

Ring the park, using the park's own number

Find the park's number yourself rather than using the one in the advert. Ask three things: does this home exist on your park, is the seller the registered occupier, and will you allow the pitch to transfer. A genuine sale survives all three questions. Nothing else does.

Read the paperwork before you pay, not after

For a residential park home you want the Written Statement, which sets out your rights and the pitch fee. For a holiday caravan you want the licence agreement, the site fees, what happens at the end of the licence term and whether the park operates an age limit on homes. Anyone reluctant to send these has a reason.

Be suspicious of a price that is too good

A caravan priced well under everything comparable usually has a reason behind it. Ask what the reason is. A seller with a real answer will give you one, and it is worth hearing before you travel.

If you are selling

Wait for the money to clear, not to appear

Money showing in your account is not the same as money you get to keep. Cheques bounce weeks later. Card and e-wallet payments reverse. Hand over the keys once your bank confirms the funds are yours and irreversible, and not a day sooner.

Never refund an overpayment

If a buyer sends too much, do not send the difference back from your own account. Ask them to reverse the whole payment and start again. Any pushback tells you what it is.

Ignore anyone who rings offering you a buyer

Cold calls claiming a buyer is lined up and approved for finance, subject to a small fee from you, should be treated as a scam. Ask for the company name, then ring the firm on a number you have found yourself.

Give out information, not identity

Share photographs, dimensions, service history and site fees freely. Do not share bank details beyond the account you are being paid into, and never share documents that could be used to open credit in your name.

Paying so you can get it back

How you pay	Protection if it goes wrong	Use it for
Credit card	Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the card provider jointly liable on purchases over £100 and up to £30,000	Deposits. The strongest protection available to you.
Debit card	Chargeback, which is a card scheme rule rather than a legal right	Deposits where credit is not an option
Bank transfer	Faster Payments and CHAPS scams are reimbursable up to £85,000 per claim under rules in force since 7 October 2024, though reimbursement is not automatic	Balance payments, after you have viewed
PayPal goods and services	Buyer protection, though large private sales sit awkwardly inside it	Small items only
PayPal friends and family	None whatsoever	Never, for anything you are buying
Cash on collection	None, but you are holding the goods when you hand it over	Final settlement in person
Cheque	None until cleared, and it can be reclaimed after that	Avoid

The practical version. Put the deposit on a credit card so Section 75 covers you, view the home, get the park's written confirmation, then pay the balance by bank transfer. That sequence protects you at the exact points where the money is at risk.

If it has already happened to you

Ring your bank straight away. Use the number on the back of your card, or dial 159, which connects you to your bank's fraud team and cannot be intercepted. Speed decides whether the money can be stopped.
Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101.
Report the listing and the account to the platform it appeared on. It rarely gets your money back and it does get the account closed before it reaches the next person.
Keep everything. Messages, the advert, screenshots, bank references. Your bank will ask for it and a delay in producing it costs you.
Ask your bank for reimbursement in writing if you paid by bank transfer. If they refuse, the Financial Ombudsman Service reviews the decision free of charge.

Buying and selling with less exposure

Sell My Group lists park homes, static caravans and lodges for sale across the UK. Whoever you buy through, the checks on this page still apply: view the home, speak to the park directly, read the paperwork, and pay in an order that protects you.

BROWSE HOMES FOR SALE ACROSS THE UK

Frequently asked questions

Are static caravans on eBay and Facebook Marketplace always a scam?

No. Genuine private sellers use both platforms and always have. The risk is that neither platform verifies that the caravan exists or that the pitch can transfer to you, so the checking falls entirely to you. View the home, ring the park on its own number, and pay in a way you can reverse.

Can I get my money back after a bank transfer to a scammer?

Often, yes. Since 7 October 2024, banks must reimburse victims of authorised push payment scams made by Faster Payments or CHAPS, up to £85,000 per claim. Reimbursement is not automatic and your bank can challenge a claim, so report it immediately and keep your evidence.

How do I check a park is real before I travel to see a caravan?

Search for the park separately rather than following links in the advert, then ring the number published on the park's own site. Ask whether the home exists, whether the seller is the registered occupier and whether the pitch transfers on sale.

Is a deposit safe if the seller seems genuine?

A deposit paid before a viewing is never safe, however genuine the seller sounds. If you do pay one after viewing, put it on a credit card so Section 75 applies, and get a receipt naming the home, the pitch and the park.

What is the single most common warning sign?

Pressure. Every scam on this page needs you to move faster than you would like to. A genuine seller will wait a week for you to check the paperwork. A fraudster cannot afford to.

FIND YOUR NEXT HOME ON A PARK YOU CAN VISIT