A Johnston County auto repair shop was recently scammed out of a large sum of money. It happened when they tried to buy a classic vehicle online.
The business owner was shopping for classic cars on the internet and found a restored 1953 Ford F100 truck listed for $22,000. They responded to the ad and after some negotiating were about to lower the purchase price to $18,050. They wired the payment and were promised the truck, which was supposedly in Georgia, would be delivered to their Johnston County business a few days later. It never arrived.
The local auto repair company sent an employee to Georgia to try and find the truck. They discovered the scammer had used the name of a legitimate Georgia auto dealer to place the ad. The real business had no knowledge of the ad, or anything about the truck. Officials believe the scammer used photos of a 1953 Ford F100 they didn’t own to place the ad with a fake profile.
The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
When responding to auto ads online, remember most scammers will only want to make contact through email. They don’t follow through with phone calls. If they do call, the numbers are often listed as “blocked” on caller ID.
They often give excuses why you can’t look at the vehicle in person, or a reason the transition needs to be completely quickly. Insist on seeing the car in person. Never disclose your bank account information.
As always, if the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
If you are the victim of an online vehicle sales scam, notify your nearest law enforcement agency. You can also report it to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
A ’53 F100 for under $20K? Prices on BAT *start* at $30K (and that doesn’t even include a 400 mile delivery!). That’s the exact defection of “if the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.” I can’t believe how dumb this country has become. #WakeUpAmerica #BeResponsible