Online Car Buying Scam: How a Fake Dealership Stole $55K

The Online Car Buying Scam

• 💡 Sarah shares her experience of being scammed by a fake online car dealership that appeared completely legitimate.
• 🎯 The scam involved a professional website, convincing customer reviews, and a detailed backstory for the vehicle.

The Deceptive Process

• 📞 After an initial online inquiry, a salesman contacted Sarah, and despite a week of communication, including facetimes and videos of the car, the deal seemed real.
• 📄 Sarah received a Carfax report and signed contracts, and even had her banker review the transaction, who confirmed everything looked good.
• 💰 She wired the money, and was later sent a picture of her car loaded onto a car hauler, further solidifying her belief that the purchase was legitimate.

The Disappearance and Aftermath

• 🚚 On the scheduled delivery day, the car never arrived, and the website and phone number for the dealership disappeared.
• 🚓 Sarah reported the scam to the FBI (IC3) and local police over 100 days ago but has not heard back.
• ⚠️ She has since encountered identical scam sites with the same vehicle pictures, but law enforcement initially dismissed her concerns, believing the sites to be legitimate based on a quick Google search.

Red Flags and Advice

• 📌 Sarah found the fake dealership through Facebook Marketplace, which she now recognizes as a common platform for such scams.
• ⚠️ The scam was not a "smoking deal"; the price was comparable to other vehicles, making it harder to suspect.
• 🗣️ The discussion highlights the difficulty in identifying sophisticated online scams, even when taking multiple precautions.