This Car Buying Hustle Might Leave You a Little Bit Scared

At some point or another, we’ve all either been caught up in or heard a horror story about a scam that victimized somebody we know. Nobody likes that and we want to do our part to help raise awareness of any scam we find out about, and this one could easily trip you up or somebody you know, so take notes and spread the word so everybody knows what you look for.

Basically what these scammers are doing is setting up a phony sale ad having the victims come check out the car. They meet the seller, a normal, harmless woman who has a car priced way too cheap to ignore. In this case, the car is a Dodge Caliber, but honestly it could be any car, because it’s not going anywhere, as you’ll see. The seller and buyer discuss the car, but the other members of the scamming team run interference to keep the questions to a minimum so the potential buyer doesn’t really get a chance to thoroughly inspect the ride. The team uses a baby monitor to feign an excuse to leave, but the “seller” makes sure to get the victims’ deposits before rushing off to handle her crying baby situation.

With deposits in hand from several buyers, the team makes off with $3,200 in cash in the car, which it turns out was a rental that they couldn’t have sold if they wanted to. The whole setup was fake, from the house to the ownership of the car, but the money was real and the unsuspecting victims would have very much been left holding their hat and little else if this weren’t for TV. Luckily for the group of victims, all of whom were told to meet back at the house at the same time to really drive home the point.
As you’ve probably heard all fo your life, if something seems to good to be true it probably is. Just be safe out here, use a little common sense and make sure you do everything you’re supposed to so you aren’t the victim of something like this, or worse.