The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning car shoppers to be wary of fake car scams when buying a vehicle online. The BBB says while legitimate sellers use modern technologies to simplify the car-buying process, fraudsters use similar technology to carry out elaborate impostor scams.
The warning is an update to the BBB's 2020 Virtual Vehicle Study. Since then the BBB says fraudsters have come up with new ways to entangle consumers. Reports to the BBB since 2020 finds scammers still list non-existing vehicles of all kinds on real online marketplaces, but increasingly use fake websites, target high-end buyers of rare classic cars and exploit vehicle history reports to steal money and information.
After dropping in 2022, the BBB says online vehicle vendor scam reports to the BBB Scam Tracker rose in 2023. Consumers looking to buy a vehicle are at risk of encountering fake vehicle listings and fraudulent vehicle reports across various websites and social media platforms, according to the BBB Scam Tracker data from the last three years.
Buyers aged 45 and above accounted for over three-quarters of all reports on virtual vehicle vendor scams filed with BBB Scam Tracker. The BBB says online purchases, including car sales, are one of the scam types most likely to result in a loss of money, according to BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust research, further indicating the need for caution when searching for a vehicle online.
Researchers say this type of fraud took off across North America during the pandemic, when limited in-person contact was encouraged. It's also probably underreported. The BBB says one study using FTC data determined that only 4.8% of victims of mass market fraud ever report to BBB or a government entity, meaning the number of cases reported is likely an undercount.
As an example, the BBB cites one report from Peter, in Friendswood, Texas. He told BBB he found a 1972 Dodge Challenger on an online marketplace in June 2023 for about $26,000. Believing it to be a good price, he jumped on the deal and reached out to the seller. The supposed seller, Dawn Perez, told Peter the car would be shipped to him, and there would be a 7-day trial period to ensure he was happy with the purchase.
“He sent me a lot of pics of the car and description. He told me car is in great shape, no issues,” Peter told BBB.
Long story short, it did not end well for Peter. After he followed the seller's instructions to send a payment to an escrow company, the car never arrived and he knew he'd been scammed.
To see the entire BBB study, click here.
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