Check Scam Hurts Online Car Sellers

More information on car buying scams. This one involves a buyer who paid $4,000 too much for a car from a seller and then asked for a refund of the difference via Western Union.

Beware: Check Scam Hurts Online Car Seller

(CBS) NEW JERSEY It may seem like a great idea to sell your car online: it’s quick, cheap and the information only goes to people looking to buy. But these transactions can be fraught with some serious potholes.

Joe Barbalaco has been trying to sell three cars. He chose to put them up online since it was cheaper and he thought it would reach all the right people. Little did he know his ads would drive in offers from all the wrong kind of buyers.

"This was the first time I've sold a car over the Internet,” Barbalaco said. “I haven't sold a car in more than 25 years.”

Soon enough, he had made a deal, and a cashier’s check quickly followed for $21,000. The problem was, the agreement for his Dodge Stratus was for $17,000. "I thought they just plain made a mistake,” Barbalaco noted.

After several calls and emails, though, the buyers wanted Joe to send them the $4,000 overage from their cashier's check. "They requested that I Western Union the money back to them," he said.