The Expert Podcast

So there's a new type of fraud. Well, it's not brand new, but it's rolling out quite a bit more than it used to be with classic car sales: fake classic car sales. Here's what the scammers will do: they will find the name and address of a used car dealership and create a website that's very similar in name. Let's say it's called Joe's Cars; they will make a website that is JoesUsedCarsInc.com. They'll get the logo and the picture of the building from Google Earth, and they'll get photos of vehicles that they scrape from different websites. They'll make a very nice-looking used car classic car for sale website.

Because classic cars many times are not bought locally—look, if you're selling a 2022 Toyota Corolla, you don't need to go halfway across the country to get that car because you can find one near where you live. But if you want a 1969 Z28 Camaro, you're probably going to have to take whatever you can get wherever it is in the country. The chances of one of those cars being right next to your house are slim, so people buy them remotely. They may want to go look at them, but a lot of times you have to send a deposit in advance or take pictures or videos.

So what these scammers will do is make a fake website of a car dealership. They make it look legit. They put the address of a real car dealership, so if you Google the address, yep, there's the car dealership. They'll put a phone number that rings to them, and they'll get pictures not necessarily from the car dealership they're cloning, but they'll find great cars online elsewhere and take the pictures. They might Photoshop the logo of this fake car dealership on the front license plate, or put the fake car dealership name on the sign in the background. They'll put really slick, good-looking photos and even videos that they scrape from the internet on the website.

They take the call and say, "Yep, this is Joe at Joe's Used Cars. Do you want to buy this car?" They go back and forth with you, sending pictures and even updated photos if you ask. Eventually, you'll say, "I want to buy it," and they'll say, "Great. Do you want to come see it?" If you're not local, they'll suggest sending a deposit, saying they'll hold it for you or ship it. Of course, it's a scam.

So how do you prevent this from happening? The first thing you do is positively identify the company you're doing business with. Look up their website to see when it was formed. You can do a "WHOIS" lookup on the domain name, which is a web address like JoesCars.com. It will tell you the date it was formed. Most of these scam websites were formed within the last four or five months because they can't keep running this scam for too long without getting bad reviews. If you see the website was formed recently, that's a red flag.

Next, go onto Google Maps, look up that business, click on it, and check the phone number because you can't fake a phone number on Google Maps. They make you identify the business and call that number. Say, "Hey, do you have this car for sale?" If it's the real place, then you call the real number.

Third, have the person send you a video of them walking on the lot of that place with a date and then show the car. A lot of times, the videos they have are ones put on the internet months or years ago. Make sure the video is dated and shows the lot from Google Maps, not another showroom location. It should match what you can see on Google Maps.

Lastly, ask them to send you a photo of the title of the vehicle. If they have the vehicle, they should have the title. If they don't have the title, that's a red flag. Look at the title to see if it's Photoshopped. Sometimes they'll Photoshop the words on it, like the name of their dealership. Remember, the dealership's name is probably not on the front of the title. If they send you a title with their name printed on the front, that's a red flag. Dealerships never put a new title in their name; their name is signed over on the back from the seller, and then they sign it over to you.

To verify the title, you can contact the Department of Motor Vehicles in the state where the title was issued. They won't tell you the name due to privacy laws, but they can confirm if there's actually a title issued from that state and if the title number matches what the scammer sent you. Be very careful, as these scammers are taking tens of thousands of dollars from victims for deposits on vehicles they don't even have. They might bluff you, saying you can come look at it, knowing you're far away and probably won't.

Worst case scenario, if it's a lot of money, you could go on Craigslist and find a local inspector to look at the vehicle. They may not be a car inspector, but at least they can go put their hands on it, put their eyes on it, take a picture of it as a third party. It might cost you $50-$100 to have someone local go to a dealership and see the car, but that will also keep you from getting scammed. It still could be a scam or a bad car, but at least you're not sending money to someone outside the country who made up a fake car dealership website to steal your hard-earned money.

Thank you for watching. Remember, you can access live one-on-one personal consultations with a licensed private investigator, a licensed commercial insurance broker, a licensed certified real estate title examiner, or a certified civil court mediator. If you need to talk to an expert in any of these fields, or even a licensed building general contractor, you can click the link below, ActualHuman.com, and arrange a live one-on-one session with a licensed expert where you can ask any questions, get information about your situation, and we'd be glad to help.