The FBI is warning online vehicle shoppers about certain fraudulent vehicle sales and false claims of vehicle protection programs (VPP).
Katie Carrol with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says criminals are attempting to sell vehicles they do not own.
"They create an attractive deal by advertising cars for sale at prices below book value," says Carrol.
Often the sellers purport they need to sell because they are moving for work, including military deployments.
The criminals make up excuses so they do not have to meet the victim in person or allow the potential victim to inspect the care, and the scammer often attempts to rush the sale.
"To make the deal seem legitimate, the criminal instructs the victim to send full or partial payment to a third-party agent via a wire transfer payment service and to fax the payment receipt to the seller as proof of payment," says Carrol. "The criminal pockets the payment but does not deliver the car."
Criminals also attempt to make their scams appear valid by misusing the names of reputable companies and programs. (For example, eBay Motors’ VPP is a legitimate program whose name is commonly misused by these criminals.)
The BBB says car shoppers should exercise caution before attempting to purchase vehicles advertised online.
In particular, the following should serve as a red flag:
* Sellers who push for speedy completion of the transaction and request payments via quick wire transfer payment systems.
* Sellers who refuse to meet in person, or refuse to allow the buyer to physically inspect the vehicle before the purchase.
* Transactions in which the seller and vehicle are in different locations. Criminals often claim to have been transferred for work reasons, deployed by the military, or moved because of a family circumstance, and could not take the vehicle with them.
* Vehicles advertised at well below their market value.
Consumers who have witnessed this behavior or fallen victim to this type of scam can file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center
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