An Albert Lea woman was on Minnesotacars.com and came across a really good deal. Unfortunately, it was also a scam.

Online auto dealer websites might make it easier for car buyers and car sellers to meet each other than it was in the pre-Internet years, but with a web program accepting the ads, rather than a real-live person like with newspaper classifieds, there is not much of a filter against people who aim to cheat other people out of their money.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said the sellers were asking for $2,900 for a car worth two or three times that amount.

She tried to call the phone number provided, and the phone company recording said the number was not functioning. So she communicated over email, instead.

The reply came with a name of Susan Jones of New Ulm and said the automobile was in great shape, no problems or hidden defects and always garaged. The message said because of a divorce settlement, Jones owned a car, was without a driver’s license and got a new job. She said other things were a priority and needed to get rid of the car cheap.

The Albert Lea woman was suspicious because the price was typed as “$2.900.00” and much of the story from Jones sounded too good to be true. She replied that she was looking for a car for her daughter and they wanted to test-drive it. She offered times they could visit New Ulm 90 minutes away.

The response came that the car was in a container at a shipping company warehouse in Milwaukee. Jones explained how to pay:

• Give a full name and shipping address so she could register the transaction with PayPal.

• Proceed to pay through PayPal, which will hold the transaction during the inspection period.

• Wait for the car to be shipped, then get a five-day period to see if the car is in good working order.

• If the car is not to her liking, the money will be released and the car shipped back at Jones’ expense.

Here is where the Albert Lea woman found it was a scam. She called PayPal. The online payment service does not hold transactions. If she had paid the money, it would have been gone for good.

The Albert Lea woman’s husband works for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. He suggested she tell the seller that they have a friend who is a patrolman in Milwaukee and he could inspect the car.

The scam artist then replied the car must be paid in full before it could be seen.

The Albert Lea woman laughed. “I’m not interested in a car I can’t see.”

She called Minnesotacars.com, which took down the ad.

The Albert Lea woman continued her search only to run into more suspicious ads for one-third-the-usual-price cars by people named Susan. Hmm. More of the same?

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office warns Internet consumers to beware of the dangers of online car sales, particularly when anything looks to good to be true.

Another form of fraud that happens with Internet car sales is a buyer sending a check or money order for more than the purchase price, asking the seller to repay the excess directly. However, the seller soon discovers the check or money order was fraudulent, often after making the overage repayment.

 

Concerns about Internet scams?
Contact the following agencies:
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Minneapolis Office
111 Washington Ave. S., Suite 1100
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 376-3200

Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20580
1-877-382-4357