I received a call yesterday from a Louisville consumer who was shopping for a car on AutoTrader.com, a legitimate website that advertises automobiles being sold by dealers and private sellers. Two cars appeared to be what he was looking for, both at excellent prices. The sellers had posted pictures and VIN numbers for the cars. The prospective buyer got a CarFax report on each car, which appeared to match-up with what the sellers were saying about the cars. So far, so good.

Both sellers (one a man, the other a woman) said they were selling the car because they were in the military and preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Both stated in an e-mail to the buyer, in exactly the same words, that they were selling because they "don't want the car to get old in my backyard." Two messages using these exact same words prompted the buyer to call to the Better Business Bureau.

Not surprisingly, the BBB staff quickly recognized this as a scam, similar to numerous car-selling and car-buying scams that use legitimate websites such as AutoTrader, Craigslist and online newspaper classified ads.

Car seller scams such as this one usually involve a price that sounds cheap -- often too cheap. But there is always a reason why the seller is offering such a good deal. In this case, the sellers said they were leaving for Afghanistan and needed to sell the cars quickly and just "didn't want the car to get old in my backyard." BBB has seen other cases where the seller claimed to be selling due to a divorce, or the car belonged to a recently-deceased mother or father, or the seller had lost a job and needs money quickly.

The car being offered for sale is real, the VIN number is real. Problem is, the seller doesn't own the car and has snatched the pictures and VIN number from the Internet, usually from a dealer website or another car ad placed by a legitimate seller.

The seller usually claims that the buyer will be protected by using a third-party escrow service to pay for the car. Supposedly, the money will be held by the escrow service for several days after you receive the car, and you'll have 5 days or so to decide whether to keep the car or return it and get their money back. The seller will ask you to wire funds to the escrow service, promising to deliver the car once money arrives in the escrow account.

Problem is, the escrow service isn't real, even if the seller gives you a name that sounds legitimate. If money is wired to the "escrow service," the seller will quickly take the money and run. Your money will be gone. You'll have no car and no way to contact the "seller."

Don't be fooled by a low price or "money back guarantee." Some people are willing to buy a car sight unseen, but if you've only communicated online and by e-mail with the seller, you have no idea where the person is actually located. These scammers are almost always outside the United States, making it hard for law enforcement to track them.