Milwaukee, Wis. – Buying an automobile or heavy equipment of any kind is a major purchase. Don’t let scam groups fool you into handing over your cash.
Since 2022, Better Business Bureau® (BBB) received over 200 reports of consumers attempting to purchase a vehicle or other heavy equipment online, only to run into a scammer impersonating a reputable seller.
Reports to BBB Scam Tracker 2022-2024:
2022: 64
2023: 80
2024: 69
Additionally, BBB collected another 140 complaints reported directly to us, to attorneys general, tip lines and other sources.
When pooled together, the reports revealed a pattern of fraudulent websites, where scammers claim to sell all kinds of vehicles – sedans, trucks, SUVs, classic cars, boats, ATVs and even farm equipment – at attractive low prices.
These websites can look especially legitimate by cloning the original websites of real business in the auto and equipment sales industries. Businesses may have their pictures, design and products copied wholesale, with only the contact information swapped out with the scammer’s information.
Those who are in the market for one of these vehicles need to be extra vigilant, as these supposed sellers always claim their vehicles and equipment must be shipped, not allowing buyers to check the legitimacy of the vehicle or equipment in person. And once money is handed over, the fraudsters disappear.
BBB has written several articles on virtual vehicle scams, including a recent update in 2024 by the International Investigations Initiative, which found a rise in VIN lookup fraud. This subsequent update shows how scammers are employing a new tactic, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, to further their frauds.
BBB Tip: When doing business with a seller that is solely online, call the seller and ask for evidence about their business to ensure they are legitimate.
Scammers organize, create convincing fakes
Many of the reports to BBB show scammers creating increasingly realistic, believable websites. And many of these websites appear to be tied together, indicating organized groups may be behind these frauds.
By examining the scam websites and registration, BBB was able to track clusters of websites with shared domain name servers.
One server, located in Lithuania, was home to nearly 30 different websites reported to BBB. These fakes claimed to be located throughout the United States, impersonating businesses in Alabama, Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio. They claimed to be typical auto sellers as well as purveyors of classic and vintage cars, farm equipment and general agricultural machinery.
Another name server, located in Iceland, was home to almost 20 more fraudulent sites, with additional locations in Tennessee, Nevada and South Carolina. While many of the websites appeared to sell similar products, some also claimed to sell heavy machinery and construction equipment
When a shopper stumbles upon one of these sites, the losses can be significant.
Greg in Wyoming told BBB he was planning to buy an RV online from a seller in Minnesota. The vehicle was for sale for a great deal at $14,000, and the seller, calling himself Marcus, promised to ship the vehicle across the country for free. Greg paid half of the price, planning to pay the other half upon delivery.
Problems kept cropping up. Greg became suspicious. He had a friend reach out to “Marcus” and ask about the RV, which “Marcus” claimed to still have available for sale. Greg went directly to the owner of the business, demanding answers. He was shocked to learn that Marcus was a scammer and had been impersonating a real business owner dealing with dozens of calls and messages from other frustrated customers.
BBB Tip: Whenever possible, ask to see a vehicles or equipment in person. Call nearby businesses or local governments if needed to confirm legitimacy.
Business reputations can suffer as scammers thrive
As people may lose thousands of dollars to scammers, business reputations are at equal risk.
The impersonation can lead to poor reviews from customers who believe that the legitimate business is stealing. Over the last few years, businesses have spoken out about being impersonated, recounting the harsh effects it can have on their livelihood.
One business owner, Doug in Canby, Minnesota, whose business was impersonated in Greg’s case, recounted his ordeal to BBB.
In September, Doug and his wife, who repair and sell parts for motor homes, received messages from people who said they were showing unusual inventory online compared to what Doug’s business usually stocked. The couple realized that someone was impersonating their business, stealing pictures of the shop, their address and nearly everything else about their business.
Doug reached out to search engines in an attempt to stop the website from showing up when customers looked for his business, but he struggled to get the website taken down.
BBB Tip: Managing your online reputation is important for your business. Watch for impersonation of your business. Set up alerts for your company name on web browsers.
In the following months, Doug received thousands of emails from frustrated customers who believed he had scammed them. The scammers also inundated him with threatening messages and calls. Eventually, Doug had to change his phone number because he had over 3,000 unread texts, some threatening.
Doug said it is impossible to calculate the loss of business, but he has had multiple customers ask why he never answered their requests for maintenance on their RVs. It turns out they were calling the scammer’s number.
Doug and his wife plan to close the business, in large part due to the stress and difficulties related to the incident.
“It was a scary situation,” Doug told BBB. “And it drove us to seriously think of closing.”
Fraudsters target BBB pages to hide poor reviews
In 2023, BBB Central and South Alabama began to investigate similar local scam reports.
BBB investigators quickly found scammers were impersonating and creating fake businesses in their region. To protect consumers who might encounter these scam businesses, BBB partnered with local news organizations and began to spread the word about the fraud.
In most cases, this is where the story would end. But this time, the scammers turned their sights on BBB itself.
Since the publishing of that information on those first scams, BBB.org was the target of multiple distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which is a malicious attempt to disrupt or overwhelm a website. If successful, these types of attacks can knock a website offline until the attacks are mitigated.
To pull off the attacks, perpetrators compromise multiple internet-connected computer systems and coordinate them to flood a webpage with an unusually high number of visitors.
Cloudflare, an IT company that specializes in DDoS mitigation, compares the attack to “an unexpected traffic jam clogging up the highway, preventing regular traffic from arriving at its destination.” In the attack on BBB, this meant consumers could not access complaints, reviews and warnings about the impersonators on BBB Business Profiles.
While the goal of any individual or group of scammers is impossible to know, DDoS attacks in these cases targeted business pages in which scammers were stealing information. It is believed that they tried to avoid negative reviews and warnings published by the BBB in order to alert people to these deceptions.
While BBB is protected against these types of attacks, other businesses are at risk. For those targeted by scammers, the cost is high.
BBB recommends businesses not only guard against impersonation but also understand how a DDoS attack might affect them and how they can protect themselves against similar threats.
BBB Tip: Know the signs of a DDoS attack and have a plan in action ready.
Know the red flags of vehicle and equipment seller scams:
- The price is significantly below market value
- Owner cites an overly personal reason they need to get rid of a vehicle
- A seller will not allow you to see the vehicle and insists upon vehicle delivery
- Money must be sent to a third-party recommended by seller
BBB tips to avoid vehicle and equipment seller scams:
- Be wary of too-good-to-be-true prices
- Pick up a vehicle yourself whenever possible
- Call a business and ask if you can see the car in person
- Resist high-pressure tactics urging quick action
- Use secondary sources to research a business’ legitimacy
- Avoid sharing personal information with unknown sources
BBB tips for businesses to avoid impersonation scams and DDoS attacks
- Maintain and regularly inspect your online presence
- Do regular searches on your business and its reviews
- Monitor any similar businesses that may overlap with your brand
- Use reverse image search if you believe someone has taken pictures from your website
- Research DDoS mitigation, firewalls and other practices that may be necessary for at-risk businesses
Where to report:
- Better Business Bureau or BBB Scam Tracker
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call 877-FTC-Help
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or 1-888-495-8501
- If you have been a victim of a vehicle scam, report it to the company.
Visit BBB.org to check out a business or register a complaint, BBB Scam TrackerSM to report a scam and BBB.org/scamstudies for more on this and other scams.
Any third-party trademarks mentioned in the report remain the intellectual property of their respective holder, and use of them does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by them.
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For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
ABOUT BBB: The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for over 110 years. In 2023, people turned to BBB more than 218 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 5.3 million businesses, and 80,000 times for BBB charity reports on about 12,000 charities, for free at BBB.org. The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States and Canada.
