What was supposed to be a straightforward car purchase on Facebook Marketplace has turned into a costly mess for two metro Atlanta families, one of them a single mother who says she is now out both a vehicle and thousands of dollars.
Police say a 2016 Hyundai Sonata was sold twice on the same day, with one buyer losing the car and $5,000 in cash and the other stuck with a bounced $7,000 check. Officers have since recovered the vehicle and opened an investigation, leaving buyers and sellers across the area rattled about what really happens in those parking lot car deals.
Single Mom Says Her New Ride Vanished Overnight
According to Atlanta News First, Atlanta single mother Neshia Brown said she paid $5,000 in cash for the 2016 Sonata on February 28 after finding it listed on Facebook Marketplace.
Just days later, Brown said she learned the car had been reported stolen. The vehicle was taken back, and she was left without the money or the transportation she thought she had secured for her family.
Brown described the loss as a crushing blow, telling reporters she now has no reliable way to get her child where they need to go.
McDonough Sellers Say Their $7,000 Check Was Fake
That same day, a McDonough couple told Atlanta News First they sold the exact same Sonata to a man who called himself "Ryan." They said he paid with a $7,000 personal check that seemed legitimate in the moment.
It was not. The couple said they only found out the money was fake when they tried to cash the check at the bank.
"It wasn't even a cashier's check," one of the sellers said, adding that by the time they realized the check had bounced, the car was already gone and up for grabs again.
Police Say Metro Atlanta Has Seen This Play Before
Investigators say the back-to-back deals fit a pattern they have seen in metro Atlanta, where stolen cars are pushed through online marketplaces, resold quickly and shuffled between unsuspecting buyers.
Last year, Gwinnett County police said they took down an alleged theft ring that moved stolen vehicles through Facebook Marketplace using altered vehicle identification numbers and bogus documents, WSB-TV reported. Officers in that case urged car shoppers to treat too-good-to-be-true listings with serious suspicion and to meet sellers only in designated safe zones monitored by police.
How Buyers Can Lower Their Risk
Experts say there are a few simple steps that can make these kinds of scams much harder to pull off. Buyers are urged to check the vehicle identification number in more than one place on the car and make sure it matches across the title, registration and body of the vehicle.
Running a vehicle-history report and confirming that the seller's name matches the name on the title are also key. The National Insurance Crime Bureau offers a free VINCheck tool that can flag vehicles that have been reported stolen.
Meeting at a police station or the DMV and having a bank verify funds on the spot are additional ways to cut down on risk, especially for cash or check deals.
Brown and the McDonough couple told reporters they now steer clear of Facebook Marketplace for vehicle sales and hope their stories serve as a warning. Police continue to investigate the February 28 transactions, and anyone with information is urged to contact local law enforcement.
