The Internet opened up the car-buying public to a much larger pool of vehicles for sale. This was an even greater development for classics and muscle cars. It was an absolute boon for collectors and enthusiasts. Legendary vehicles (not to mention hard-to-find parts) from all over the country became available at the click of a mouse.

But how do you protect yourself from online fraud? Criminals are hiding in every dark corner of the web. Everyone seems to be aware of them, but there are still those willing to give their banking information to a Nigerian prince who promises to transfer stacks of cash to their account (if only they’d let him).

The Internet offers car enthusiasts an incredibly diverse place to shop for classics and muscle cars, but you have to be extra diligent when it comes to spending money.

Before the Internet, enthusiasts had to wait for paper classifieds, which could come in a day, a week, or a month (if the ad was to appear in a national magazine like Hemmings Motor News or Hot Rod).

Then along came websites like eBay Motors, and all bets were off. I was shocked to hear from a friend who bought numerous Fox Mustangs sight unseen in online auctions when that was first a thing. He was never disappointed, which surprised me. I couldn’t fathom spending thousands of dollars on a vehicle without being able to crawl under it and inspect every nook and cranny.

There are millions of cars available online—classifieds, auctions, and places like Facebook Marketplace, among them. This can bring the car of your dreams a lot closer to reality. The proliferation of these sites, however, also brought online fraud, and lots of it.

Facebook Marketplace, in particular, can be a great place to buy and sell a car or truck. It is wildly popular and grows every day, but it can also be an absolute minefield of online fraud. Millions of people use it daily to buy and sell all kinds of goods, but like everything else, you have to be careful.

“If it looks too good to be true, it generally is too good to be true. That’s the easiest scam alert,” Vincent T. Kung says. He is the director of operations and co-founder of Motorcar Market, a well-established specialty vehicle dealer out of New Jersey that sells everything from classic muscle cars and Corvettes to high-end European exotics.

Vincent T. Kung has been buying and selling cars online since the earliest days of Internet forums and knows from firsthand experience the pros and cons of online vehicle shopping.

Kung, who spent years working for BMW and Mini and started his career as a writer/technical editor for Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords magazine, has been buying and selling cars online since the earliest days of online forums and knows from experience the good, the bad, and the ugly.

“Usually, something’s priced ridiculously too low, or the story doesn’t make sense, like, ‘Must sell right away, the first person gets it,’ and people get lost in it and get so emotional and think they’ve gotta run and get it,” Kung says. “We’ve seen people still fall for the scam, where they send the money first because they gotta buy it now. Sometimes, you even get to talk to a person on the phone, but you wind up never getting anything, and you are out $10, $20, $50,000, whatever. This still happens, and it happens often.”

Per a recent story we caught, online fraud (specifically car scams) is big business on nearly every online marketplace. Many of these scams are a variation of other common Internet ripoffs, but there are a few automotive-specific scams to look out for, including:
• Fake VIN checks and vehicle reports
• Fake escrow accounts
• Malicious links to sites outside of Facebook
• Listed vehicles on behalf of someone who is out of the country

If you’re looking to buy a car, you should always drive one before you buy it. If the seller won’t let you, it probably means something is wrong with it. If you’re selling a car, don’t click any links a buyer sends, as they could lead to a malicious site or download.

Look at the seller’s profile. Is it a new account with only a handful of followers (or friends)? That is a giant red flag.
Does the deal seem too good to be true? This is a giant red flag number two, though some scam artists are on to this and have adjusted their pricing so it’s below market value, but not so outrageously so that it immediately puts you on guard.
Check out this car we found on Facebook Marketplace in the Charlotte area selling a low-mileage 2014 Corvette with the Z51 package for a mere $18,000. That is a good scrap price, but even for a well-used example, it should automatically raise concern for a serious buyer.

Also, how about the other low-priced vehicles he’s selling at well under market value?

Seeing someone offering multiple vehicles at below-market prices should put you on alert.

A lot of scammers are good at tugging on your heartstrings, too. How many times have you seen, “My grandfather (or father) left me this car? He had it so long, but I’ll never be able to get to it … ”

Emotion plays a huge part in getting people sucked in.

“Sometimes these stories are true, but generally speaking, it’s when one person gets overwhelmed with the emotions and finds something he’s been looking for for a year, and it’s 20 percent below what he was willing to pay,” Kung says. “Then there’s some cockamamy story: ‘I have the title right here. I’m not available this week to show it, but you wanna come next week when I’m back, it’ll be first come, first served … ’

“When somebody hears that, coupled with the fact they’ve been looking for this particular car, and they, unfortunately, are willing to give a deposit or full payment without even realizing what’s going on because they get caught up in the moment.”

Ideally, you want to be able to see the car in person or have someone else look it over, but unless you are on an online auction site like Bring A Trailer that has dozens of photos and videos, along with pictures of the front and back of the title, you have to be emotionless.

“That’s always the best practice, but you’d be surprised what happens when your brain loses control and you make a bad decision. This usually happens when you don’t think about it and just start acting emotionally, and you just fall for the trap—and this happens a lot.”

A huge problem is there is precious little protection for buyers or sellers unless you are on a site like eBay Motors, where they’ve been able to establish methods for people to buy and sell so that both sides are protected, but outside of that, you are on your own without any type of recourse.

Kung notes that some of the more traditional online ways, like forums, tend to be better because there’s usually a reputation for the person there. If a car (or part) is being sold by a business, generally speaking, if the business is solid and it’s been around for many years, it will generally uphold their side, and there are fewer worries or fears.

Of course, it pays to research these companies, whether they are national or simply known locally.

Regarding Facebook Marketplace, Kung likes to do two things aside from sending a message. Always do more than ask if the vehicle is still available. Ask if you can come and see the car that day. Number two, click on the seller’s profile to see where they are on Facebook and if they have consistent postings with family members, especially during holidays. Generally speaking, this could be a reputable person, and the account is active.

“A common scam on Facebook is people are getting hacked/cloned; when their account is hacked, they all of a sudden have 50 things for sale, and that makes no sense,” Kung says. “Why is this guy selling 10 cars all of a sudden, and is this guy a used car salesman? Then, all of a sudden, there are stereo systems for sale, a big-screen TV. It’s usually bait for people to respond to them, or so-called garage sales, where items are 50-75 percent of market value, all available on a first-come, first-serve basis where you are asked to leave a deposit for when the garage sale starts next week, which are fake.”

If possible, Kung recommends trying to find someone who knows the seller. This usually goes a long way. It helps to get a reference on both sides. It’s also tough selling things without being subjected to the online fraud. Some people will try the full price and shipping, and then you just return the balance.

“I’ll just give you $20,000 for a $15,000 car and say, ‘Just return the $5,000 to me,’ and it turns out the check was bad in the first place,” says Kung.

Yes, good deals still abound, but the overwhelming thing is you have to be extremely careful. As the old used car credo goes, “Trust no one with your money you would not trust with your daughter.”

Happy hunting.