Sedgwick County official: Be wary of vehicle sales scams on Craigslist

The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office is warning residents of Craigslist scams that target vehicle and boat buyers.

The office announced last week that its consumer protection division recently has received multiple calls from people who lost money while trying to make a purchase.

In one case, the purported seller got away with $7,500 after a man disclosed his bank account number to secure the sale of a vintage pickup truck located in another state. The man found a vacant home on a military base – but no vehicle – when he went to retrieve the truck, the D.A.’s office said.

In a second case, a consumer lost $2,500 after giving a person who claimed to have a truck for sale in Dallas the numbers off a Green Dot Money Card to which he transferred funds. The money was withdrawn from the card and the consumer was unable to reach the seller again.

District Attorney Marc Bennett said Saturday that the scams are effective because victims “feel in control” when they initiate contact.

“They (the victims) got on Craigslist looking for the used pickup – the crook didn’t seek them out with an unsolicited call” or e-mail, as is common in other scams, Bennett said.

“The buyer makes the first contact when they find the item they are interested in purchasing. Since they initiated the contact, the danger may seem less obvious,” he said.

Bennett’s office urged those buying vehicles off of Craigslist or similar sites to be wary of sellers who say they are in another state or country, are unreachable, use phrases that indicate urgency like “must get rid of immediately” or request payment via untraceable means, such as Western Union, Green Dot Money Cards or cash.

The district attorney also suggests following these tips to help recognize fraud involving vehicle sales:

▪ Search for vehicle history records on sites like Carfax before buying. Be wary of too-good-to-be-true deals and ads that claims vehicles have no problems.

▪ Do a quick Internet search to check whether the vehicle photos posted in the sales ad were copied from another website – a car dealership, for example – and are listed as “for sale by owner.”

▪ Ask sellers to provide more additional photos of the sale vehicle. Resistance could indicate a scam.

▪ Check the sale price against the estimated value of the vehicle; an extremely low price tag could mean fraud. Sites like www.kbb.com (Kelley Blue Book) and www.nadaguides.com (the National Automobile Dealers Association Guide) can provide quick estimates.

▪ Get the vehicle identification number and request a free National Insurance Crime Bureau report at www.nicb.org to see whether the vehicle has been reported stolen, has flood damage or is a salvage.

▪ Confirm the seller’s physical address and phone number through an Internet search. Scammers often use fake or vacant addresses or someone else’s contact information.

Telephone or cellphone searches can reveal complaints made against a number as well as multiple sales listings not tied to an authorized car dealer, the district attorney’s office said.

This story was originally published September 28, 2014 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County official: Be wary of vehicle sales scams on Craigslist."