Think You've Been Scammed?

If you're the victim of an auto-buying scam and have no luck trying to settle the dispute with the supposed buyer, it's critical to contact the appropriate authorities immediately. File a report with your local police department, and contact the consumer protection division of your state attorney general's office; you can find a listing of all 50 offices online at the National Association of Attorneys General. At the national level, contact the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, the U.S. Department of Justice's Internet Fraud Division, Consumer Sentinel, the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center or the National Fraud Information Center. If the scam was carried out via U.S. mail, you can also fill out the U.S. Postal Service's Mail Fraud Complaint Form. These websites are good sources to check out before you sell your vehicle, and they maintain current updates of the latest scams perpetrated against consumers. You can email complaints about a counterfeit check scam to the U.S. Secret Service at 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov, or contact your local Secret Service field office. Finally, if your situation involved a supposed buyer overseas, you should contact the appropriate authorities in that country as well. European victims of fraudulent car buying should get in touch with the European Anti-Fraud Office.

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Comments

[Scammed by Champion Chevrolet & Mitsibishi in Houston, TX]

We contacted Champion Chevrolet/Mitsubishi Gulf Freeway @ 877-634-2675 regarding this listing. I spoke to Alma twice in 1 day to confirm that this car was on the lot before we drove 2 hours to look at it. On that same day we drove there to look at the vehicle & were told that it was loaned out to someone, but that they didn't get approved for the loan, so they would be returning it that evening. Rick Gonzalez the ecomm mgr (Rick Gonzalez: 281-745-3194 or email gonzaleza1@autonation.com) told us that we needed to put a deposit on this vehicle because so many other people were inquiring about it, but no one had put a deposit on it. So we did, he said that if when we viewed the vehicle we didnt like it our deposit would be returned, & that this would guarantee the car was ours if we liked it. Well, after 1 week of excuse after excuse...the car never turned up. I would be willing to bet it doesn't even exist. I just really want to save people their gas & time, because these people are liars & a joke.