COUNTYWIDE : Scam Artists Target Strapped Car Buyers

Car buyers who fall behind in their payments because of a sluggish economy have become the latest targets of scam artists, an investigator with the Department of Motor Vehicles warns.

Fly-by-night companies that promise to find qualified customers to assume the monthly payments of struggling car owners, only to disappear with the money, have sprung up in Ventura County, said DMV fraud investigator Ron Roth.

A Ventura County-based ring, which is under investigation, has sought victims by placing newspaper ads in metropolitan areas statewide, Roth said.

The hoax relies on an illegal subleasing agreement that promises to rescue a strapped car buyer from defaulting on a car loan. “Times are bad, and there are people who are used to making good money who fall behind in their car payments,” Roth said. “They are often grateful to just find someone to take the car loan off their hands.”

Victims also are found when they advertise for buyers to assume their loans, often requesting a down payment to pay off any overdue balance. Finding potential victims is often as easy as reading the classified ads, Roth said.

The potential victim will sometimes receive a call from a con artist who claims to be interested in the car but says he can’t afford it. Then, Roth said, the caller will offer to introduce the owner to somebody who can afford the car and begin to negotiate a sublease.

“People are persuaded to violate the civil contract they have with the loan provider and to give up their car,” Roth said. Those who fall for the scam lose out in a number of ways, the investigator said.

If the con artist pockets the loan payments, the car owner will eventually receive non-payment notices from the lender, Roth said. He added that without officially transferring title, the original owner can also be liable if the car insurance is not maintained.

The lender will refuse to surrender the pink slip if the payments have been diverted, Roth said. “There’s no telling what will happen to the car,” Roth said.