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The Dangers of Scams: Protecting Yourself on Craigslist and Beyond

People get scammed every single day by fake Craigslist ads and literal highway robbery. Are you at risk? Hell yeah, you are. Has this ever happened to you? You're driving along, and the car in front of you slams on the brake. You spill hot soup all over your lap, all over your legs and lap. Now, you're stuck with the bill. It's a scam.

I will protect you. I'm gonna give you a crash course on how not to get scammed, and if you stick around to the end, I'll show you the worst scam of all.

(strumming) Let me thank Omaze for partnering with us to bring you this episode. You may not know already that Omaze is this really cool company that offers you the chance to win dream experiences all to support amazing causes like the Reagan Medical Center at UCLA. The same center that helped save James' life.

Omaze also offers you the chance to win super-sick cars, too. I'm talking dream cars like the BMW M8 competition package, (hoots), engine revving, (hip hop music) the Audi R8, want one of those? And a Shelby GT500, and more. You can check out all the cars at omaze.com/garage. And while you're there, enter to win one of them, seriously.

You can help support a great cause and end up with something cool like this custom Sprinter van plus $60,000, twerk it out, and make it your own. I think I'm gonna head over to omaze.com/garage right now and enter to win something myself because I'm a #vanlife boy now.

Supporting the companies that help support the show is also crucial. Thank you Omaze for sponsoring this episode.

Buying a car from a dealership isn't fun, and it's not always easy to know what you're getting into. But with caution and knowledge, you can protect yourself from scams and make informed decisions when buying a vehicle.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- People get scammed every single dayby fake Craigslist ads andliteral highway robbery.Are you at risk?Hell yeah you are.Has this ever happened to you?You're driving alongand the car in front ofyou slams on the brake.You spill hot soup all over your lap,all over your legs and lap.Now you're stuck with the bill.It's a scam.I will protect you.I'm gonna give you a crashcourse on how not to get scammedand if you stick around to the end,I'll show you the worst scam of all.(strumming)I wanna thank Omaze for partnering with usto bring you this episode.If you don't know already, Omazeis this really cool companythat offers you the chanceto win dream experiencesall to support amazing causeslike the Reagan Medical Center at UCLA,the same center thathelped saved James' life.Omaze also offers you the chanceto win super-sick cars too.I'm talking dream cars likethe BMW M8 competition package,(hoots)(engine revving)(hip hop music)the Audi R8, want one of those,and a Shelby GT500, and more.You can check out all thecars at omaze.com/garage.And while you're there, enterto win one of them, seriously.You can help support a great causeand end up with something coollike this custom Sprinter vanplus, $60,000, twerk it out,and make it your own.I think I'm gonna head overto omaze.com/garage right nowand enter to win something myselfbecause I'm a #vanlyfe boy now.Support the companies thathelp support the show.Thank you Omaze forsponsoring this episode.Buying a car from a dealership isn't fun.I've never heard anyone say,"Wow, I had such a great time."Let's do that again."Dealerships employ many hidden tricksto trap their customers,trying to extract everylast penny they can.But what happens when a dealer pretendsto be a private seller?Let's say you come across an adfor an early model MINI Cooper S.This one looks good.It has a clean title and lowish mileage.You contact the ownerand make an appointmentto look at the car.They give you their addressand everything checks out.You agree on a priceand you're ready to handthem your hard-earned cash,but the owner pulls out the pink slipand it has a different name on it.Uh, "What the heck, dude."They give you and excuse,"Oh, I'm selling this car"for an old friend."But that's all BS.They're just trying to get rid of a carwith hidden problems, faraway from the dealership.This is known as curbstoning.It's a way that dealers sell carsthat aren't fit to sell on the lot.But why is that?In 2013, California passed a lawthat all, "Buy here, pay here dealerships"must provide a warrantywith every car sold,for 30 days or a thousandmiles, whichever comes first."The owner is protectedfrom major mechanicaland electronic failures.But, that's only if you buythe car through a dealership.Some dealers will come across a carthat has a mechanical issueor something else wrong with a carthat is too expensive to fix,or too much of a liability for them.They can't risk losing their licenseand they don't wanna spendmoney to fix the car.So, they sell it quickly by curbstoning.Unethical dealerships willutilize the curbstoning scamto avoid liability.I'm not saying this is a common scamand that you should beskeptic of every dealership,but it does happen.Although mind games aren't really scams,and more like manipulation,here's a dealership scamthat you should be aware of.Ever heard of somethingcalled title washing?All cars come with a legaldocument called a title.And in terms of buying andselling, most people only careif it's clean or a salvaged car.Title washing is when someonetakes a salvage-statusand re-registers it in a different state.The new state might notrecognize it at salvaged,which basically washesthat salvaged title away.We go into way more detail on this scamon another Wheelhouse episode.If you wanna learn more, checkout that one (clears throat),and if you like this video,consider hitting that subscribe button.When dealing with online private sellersa scammer might try tosell you a fake car.Has this ever happened to you?You go to buy a car and theseller only takes gift cards.It's a scam.I'll protect you, ah!(laughter)- (mumbling) No more.- They will post adsof really low asking pricesand good sob stories to match.If you ask to see the car,the scammer will give a runaround excuseand tell you, "Oh, someone else"is really interested in buying the car."This is done to entice you, the buyer,to quickly make a depositor purchase the carbefore anyone else does.But when it comes times to pay,they only accept moneythrough specific escrow,or gift cards.The Federal Trade Commission website says,"Gift cards are for gifts, not payments."Anyone who demands payment by gift card,is always a scammer.Dealing with a scammer thatwants to work through an escrow,is a little different, butit can still be a scam.If you don't know what an escrow is,it's a service used toensure a secure transactionbetween two parties thatdon't trust each other.Once the scammer canfind someone to prey on,the escrow reinsures the victimthat they have received everything.But in reality, there's nothing.After the victim sends theescrow their hard-earned cash,the thief then closes everything downand dips, leaving without a traceand your money in their pocket.This scam is a little less commonbut something to be aware of.Scammers disguised asbuyers work the opposite endof this transaction.Having a similar approach,but utilizing a fake paymentmethod such as a bogus check.The typical scammer mightexpress great interestin your for sale ad, beggingyou to take the ad down,claiming they're in love with your carand dead set on buying it.But they're convenientlylocated somewhere far, far awayand do not need to come inspectyour car before purchase.Hmm, that's kinda strange.Sometimes they'll even offerto cover the shipping cost'cause they want your 350Z that bad.The scammer might message you sayingthey sent, "Too much money,"and ask for the difference.They'll send you fake money.and have their friends come and take car.Either way, don't fall for it.Get them to come handyou real cash, in person.'Cause guess what, cash is king, my king.One way crooks scam driversis through staged accidents.Now we've all seen thosedash cam compilationsof people throwingthemselves at slow moving,or sometimes, even stopped cars,but there are more elaborateand dangerous schemes out there,some even used by organized crime groups.One of these scams is so infamous,it even has its own name.Known as the swoop and squat.It comes in many forms,ultimately ending upwith you rear-endingthe car in front of youafter they slam on the brakes.This scam usually requiresthe use of multiple carsto make it more believable.The squat car, the car you rear-end,is usually loaded up with passengersto maximize injury claims.The swoop car cuts off the squat carand causes the accident,driving away unaffected,as you and their accomplices pull over.Sometimes multiple swoopcars will box you in,ensuring you can't swerveto avoid the squat car.This puts all the blame on you,because you weren't payingattention to the roadand everyone in the squatcar told the cop that.Big yikes!Another staged accidentscam you should look out foris done through exploitationof the road law, itself.Picture this.It's a Friday nightand you're finally freeafter a long day at work.You come to an intersection,about to take a left turn.Oncoming traffic speeds by youas you patiently wait for your opening.But then, out of nowhere,you see a flick of high beamsand the driver waving atyou, ever so softly, hello.Their vehicle begins to slow downand you think, "Gee,that's a kind human being."They're letting me go."There's nothing suspicious about that."You pull out into their laneand out of nowhere, bam, it hits ya.When you talk to the person,they just straight-updeny that they flashed youand that you're at faultbecause they had the right o' way.Guess what?They're right.If it's just between you and the person,you might be screwed.So how do you protect yourself?If there are any witnessesaround, call the copsand get a statement fromthe witness, or witnesses.This holds substantial weightfor your argument against the scammers.Sometimes they might evenadmit fault after an accident,but once you get their report,they're trying to pin the blame on you.That's shady.If you're watching rightnow, don't do that.I'll protect you.(gavel slamming)No matter how nice theother person may seem,make sure you document everything you can,after an accident.Don't let the other person sway youinto thinking everythingis fine and handled,even if they admit to being at fault.Also, if you're in an accident,don't admit to being at fault.If you don't document everything,they can always flip the story aroundso be sure to get statementsfrom everybody involved,take a billion pictures of both cars,and the layout of the accident.An easy way not to get scammedis to know your own car.And to learn how to do that,check out our new show MoneyPit; it's build-along series.We have a new project car.The beautiful blue-eyeddevil himself, Zach Jobs,is gonna show you how todo everything on your car,top to bottom.Also, if you haven't listenedto our podcast, Past Gas,listen to that on Spotify, Apple Podcast,wherever you get your podcasts,or watch us do it in oursecond channel, Donut Podcasts.Look, scammers suck,but there are a lotta thingswe can do to prevent ourselvesfrom becoming a victim.But if you ask me, thebiggest scam in the worldis this garbage.I can't figure this out.I mean, look at this,maybe someone can help.Gentlemen, gentlemen,when can I park here?- Don't try on a holiday.You have a seven permit,do you have a seven permit?- I do not have a seven permit.- Maybe park here on the week--- I'd just say, don't park here.- What was that sir?- I wouldn't park here.We're late.- Oh, I'm sorry.- Well, that settles it.Never park in Los Angeles.(blowing air)- It's hot soup (hooting).(laughs)Thank you for watching, bekind, I'll see you next time.