Description

My member attempted to purchase a 2015 corvette that was to be delivered to nebraska by yesterday. The member wired 23,000 to the scammer for the car and shipping was to be free. Upon investigation after the wire was sent, we deemed the website to be fraudulent and attempted to have the wire sent back, but the receiving financial has not responded. Both the incoming deposit and the outgoing wire were outside the member’s typical spending patterns. Due to the unclear beneficiary information, I called the member to verify the transaction. During the call, the member stated he did not know why the wire instructions listed “Express Auto LLC” in Illinois. He said the business he was actually dealing with was Barger Auto in Florida, and that he was purchasing a Corvette that would be shipped to him. He also mentioned that he was not supposed to receive any confirmation or follow-up information until Barger received the funds. He has been communicating with a man named [redacted] by phone. I explained my concerns and requested additional time to investigate, and the member agreed. I was unable to identify any connection between Barger Auto LLC and the Express Auto LLC listed on the wire. I did locate Barger Auto’s website, and after reviewing it with accounting, several red flags were noted. • Vehicle prices appear unusually low for the condition advertised • Reviews appear automated or bot-generated • Linked social media accounts do not exist • The overall website appears recently created and lacks supporting information • Miles on the car is 23,000 • No listed VIN • Comparable vehicles priced over double what is shown on their site I called the phone number listed on Barger Auto’s website. A man with a thick accent answered and identified himself as John. When I asked him to verify the proper beneficiary name and address for the wire, he refused to confirm anything without knowing which financial institution I represented and the member’s information. I clarified that I only needed to verify the wire details and would not disclose any member information. He then stated that wires are sent to “escrow accounts,” and the call disconnected. ScamAdviser reports a poor rating for the Barger Auto website. One major concern is that the domain was registered only one month ago. Based on the numerous concerns—particularly the mismatch between the listed beneficiary and the business the member believed he was dealing with—I called the member back and informed him that I am 99% certain this is a scam. He authorized us to send a request for return of funds. I explained that the receiving financial institution is under no obligation to return the wire and that we cannot guarantee an outcome, but we will pursue the request and update him as soon as we receive new information. The member lost his funds as we were not able to recover them in time.