TORONTO - Canadians are being warned about American online auto sale scams after at least five people in this country lost $200,000 in one such apparent ruse.
The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council says those people arranged to buy vehicles from Ambient Auto Centre, which purported to be based in Oklahoma, and wired them money that they have now lost.
Terry O'Keefe, a spokesman with the council, says after a previous warning about Ambient was publicized their website disappeared and their phone number went dead.
The council is now warning Canadians about Husen Original Autos, which advertises luxury vehicles on the Canadian websites of AutoTrader, eBay, Craigslist, Kijiji and Wheels.ca at prices O'Keefe says are too good to be true.
U.S. authorities say Husen Original Autos is not licensed and has no physical presence — the address listed on their website is actually a community centre in Phoenix, Ariz.
A call to the number listed on Husen Original Autos' website goes to a voicemail for Sprint Luxury Autos but a message left there was not returned.
O'Keefe urges Canadians to contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre if they think they have been a victim of such a scam.
© The Canadian Press, 2013