With many manufacturers struggling to keep pace with the burgeoning demand for caravans and motorhomes, the number of RV thefts is reportedly on the rise.
As well as being urged to take proper security precautions to protect their vans, grey nomads and soon-to-be grey nomads in the market for a new rig are being warned to look out scam artists posing as legitimate businesses.
On Queensland’s Gold Coast, a number of expensive caravans have been reported stolen over summer. It is believed the vans are being targeted by criminal gangs who drive them interstate before attempting to sell them online.
Olivia Cameron from New Age Caravans in Arundel told the Gold Coast Bulletin her company was among those impersonated by scammers posting to online trading sites such as Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree.
“People are getting tricked, lured with images of vans that people don’t have,” Ms Cameron said. “They’re trying to get their bank details or a deposit from them … we’ve had scammers pretend to be our dealership and generate a fake invoice.”
Although the waiting time for new caravans can be more than a year, Ms Cameron said she strongly urged people to be patient.
However, she told the Bulletin that, if people did want to buy a second-hand caravan, they could minimise the risks involved.
Ms Cameron said buyers should undergo a PPSR (Personal Property Securities Register) check to ensure money was not owed or that the caravan had previously been written off.
She also urged existing owners to take precautions to help prevent theft, or help locate their stolen caravans quickly.
“We recommend our customers to buy DO35 lock pins for their hitch when they are unhooked from their caravan,” she told the Bulletin. “We also fit Trackerwise trackers on to the chassis and inside hidden cabinetry of the caravans for our customers … that means they can track their caravan as soon as it moves.”
I had the RVsecure system installed by Justin @ Northside Caravans. Got the GPS as well, awesome, its a full security alarm system so it protects all of my gear as well as my van. Unfortunately cant be to careful as more and more stuff is getting stolen from caravan parks now days.
We had our van stolen from in front of our house in a Northern NSW town 30 years ago. Well before all the current security devices were even thought of. While we had strong suspicions who stole it, the local police were uninterested.
WiTi seems to have the best solution available. This is based on the number of manufacturers firring the WiTi product, these include Zone RV, Masterpiece Caravans, Crusader Caravans, Network RV to mention a few. Plus they have a wide dealer network across the country and even in New Zealand. Just google witi for more information.