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Online Car Sale Scams Roll On

April 24, 2006
Scammers continue to use online automotive and auction sites to cheat would-be car buyers out of thousands of dollars.

One of the latest – an Ohio Army Reservist on leave from Iraq, reportedly lost nearly $5,000 when he purchased a non-existent 1967 Mustang online.

The scam has victimized hundreds of people throughout the U.S., and is apparently the work of several different criminals.

A Better Business Bureau report says one group or individual has been consistently operating the scam from South Africa over the last 12 months.

In nearly every case, the consumer becomes a victim because they do not use a third party broker to handle the transaction.

In the case of the solider, he wired money to what he thought was a shipping company. It was actually the personal account of the scammer.

Complicating the matter for the victim is the fact that wire transfers cannot be traced and cannot be retrieved.

Security experts say in any online financial transaction, especially for a big ticket item, consumers should carefully examine how their money is to be handled.

A seller that insists on a wire transfer, they say, should raise several red flags.

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