Tips on how to avoid scammers while shopping for used vehicles

(WHTM) — Looking for a used car this summer? The good news is that prices are down a bit, but the bad news is that scammers are everywhere online trying to rip you off.

“This is the truck I was supposed to be getting,” Ricardo Sebastian said, who now is out more than a thousand dollars, another victim of the online car sales scam.

“The pickup looked really nice and had a price on it of $1,500,” he said.

Sebastian found a Toyota Tacoma on the Letgo app. Like Facebook Marketplace, Wallapop and Craigslist, these sites are targets for scammers.

“Told me to go buy Amazon cards, and I went and bought three Amazon cards for $500 each, and sent them to her,” Sebastian said. That was the last he heard from the seller.

But now scammers are also targeting buyers looking for more expensive classic cars! Just when you think you found the car of your dreams, that dream car never shows up.

“Classic 4×4’s are the hottest thing in the classic car market right now,” Matt Milbrandt, who owns a classic car dealership, said. “That one’s got 729 miles on it.”

But lately he’s been the target of scam artists. Milbrandt says photos and descriptions of his beautiful cars show up on copycat sites, where scammers get buyers to send deposit money.

“That’s happened to us twice this year, in 2024,” Milbrandt said. It works, because scammers list much lower prices. “They entice people by having a very cheap price so it seems like it’s a good deal,” he said.

To protect yourself, the FTC says:

• never pay a deposit via Zelle, Venmo, or gift cards;
• beware cars that seem to be priced to low;
• avoid buying cars you can’t see in person unless the seller agrees to do a Facetime walkaround to show it is real.

Sebastian says he will never buy a truck sight unseen, again.

Bottom line: be suspicious if the price seems too good, so you don’t waste your money.