The FBI and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York have revealed a massive fraud ring that tricked buyers into thinking they were purchasing a classic car.
According to the Department of Justice, the “wide-ranging fraudulent scheme” stated in November of 2016 and continued through the end of last month. 25 people were reportedly involved and the government says the co-conspirators would impersonate dealerships and collectors. They would then list classic cars on “various well-known internet auction and trading websites.” The indictment (PDF) doesn’t name which sites were used, but likely candidates include eBay and Craigslist.
Regardless of where the cars were listed, the criminals were contacted by interested buyers. The two parties then negotiated the sale price as well as the down payment and shipping cost. The victims were then directed to “purported automotive transportation companies and were told that these companies would accept payment and transport the cars.”
Unfortunately for the buyers, this was all a ruse. The government says the transportation companies were just shell corporations that were controlled by the criminals. When these shell companies received payment for a car, the crooks would travel to different banks and withdrawal money in varying denominations. The criminals apparently believed this extra effort would prevent people from discovering the fraud and alerting authorities.
The funds were then sent to a number of Eastern European countries, while buyers were left high and dry. The DOJ says more than $4.5 (£3.4 / € 3.8) million was taken from victims and some of those who fell for the scam were stuck paying for car loans.
The defendants are facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, they could face up to 50 years in prison.
