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I saw this at freeshipping.org. It's a very good article.
Nearly 1,000 people recently lost up to $5,000 each in a simple yet elegant Internet car scam.
The scammers posed as a legitimate Memphis-based car dealership, complete with a fake website but a real snail-mail address and contact information. Their goal: Identity theft.
Despite the ease and general safety of shopping over the Internet, scams abound. It’s often said but rarely taken into consideration: Fraud happens to everyone else until it happens to you.
This latest Memphis automotive con is one of many and was large enough to catch the attention of the Better Business Bureau. The BBB report warns of similar websites masquerading as dealerships in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas and Kentucky.
Below is a checklist of tips to protect yourself, your identity and bank account when car shopping online. As always, if you feel uneasy, hold onto your money. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.
The real Memphis dealership, America Auto Sales, doesn’t use "America" in their web address. The scam site, which is no longer operational, was americautosales.com (Also notice only one “a” in the middle.)
http://www.freeshipping.org/blog/10-tips-to-avoid-internet-car-sales-scams/
(Offline)
I feel sorry for the poor guys at the real dealership that had to face the wrath of the people that were scammed!
I forget because I'm online a lot that some folks just are too trusting and don't bother investigating before parting with thousands. The wire transfer deal happened to them though because they got greedy in trying to avoid the taxes too as well as getting a good deal. Scammer rely on that kind of greed to reel people in. They are in part at fault themselves because of that.
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If it's too good to be true, it really is. People need to remember that. It must be something in human nature because people have fell for scams for decades if not hundreds of years. The story of Victor Lustig selling the Eiffel Tower is a prime example of how greed blinds people.
I feel so sorry for people that lost so much. You can see how that would happen when the dealer name existed.
The wire transfers are another matter. Them not being issued in the company name should scream SCAM.
The only reason a great many American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments. - Mad Magazine.