If you’re in the market for a used car in Austin, you might want to be extra careful. Police say there’s been an uptick in reports of people being tricked into buying stolen cars on Craigslist.
In the past year, Austin police have taken more than 100 reports of people who say they were scammed out of money after buying a car on Craigslist. The ads look legitimate, but the cars are actually stolen.
“It’s hard to tell if an ad is real or not, but there are some red flags you can look for,” said Austin police Det. Patrick Van Gompel.
He said one red flag is if the seller is asking for payment in cash only. Another is if they’re being vague about where the car is located.
“A lot of these scams will involve the seller saying they’re out of town or they’re in the military and they can’t show you the car in person,” Van Gompel said. “That should be a big red flag that something’s not right.”
He said scammers will often use stolen photos from other websites to make their ads look legit. So, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
“Do your research and don’t be afraid to ask questions,” Van Gompel said. “If something doesn’t feel right, walk away.”
If you do end up getting scammed, he said to file a report with police and also with Craigslist. In some cases, victims have been able to get their money back through PayPal or other methods.
