He Wired $39k for a 2022 Corvette—Then the Website Blocked His Number and Sold the Car AgainMotorBiscuitRahaan MazumderMon, September 21, 2026 at 3:45 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleThe dream of buying a high-end sports car at a massive online discount has transformed into a financial nightmare for one Tennessee man.Randall Durham of Murfreesboro recently fell victim to a highly sophisticated online auto auction trap, losing nearly $40,000 on a vehicle that likely never existed in the first place. The devastating ordeal highlights the massive risks of wire transfers, the illusion of five-star reviews, and the terrifying ease with which modern scammers can operate in broad daylight.Durham, an avid Corvette enthusiast, was browsing listings when he spotted a beautiful 2022 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray on a website called Cars-Auction.com. Aware of the inherent risks of buying vehicles online, Durham did his due diligence by researching the company and checking its online reputation.AdvertisementAdvertisement"You know, you just start reading them, and most of them were five-star reviews," Durham explained. "There was one review, and it was just the car wasn't what they advertised… that was bad, out of the hundreds that this company has".Lulled into a false sense of security by the overwhelming number of positive (and likely fabricated) reviews, Durham placed a bid and won the Stingray for $38,800. After finalizing the paperwork and fees, he wired the funds directly to the auction house. In return, the company provided him with a designated pickup code to retrieve his new Corvette from a storage facility down in Florida.The Florida Mirage and the Double SaleWhen Durham arrived at the Florida storage facility, the reality of the situation immediately crashed down on him: the Corvette wasn't there.After filing an initial report with local authorities, Durham was caught in an interstate jurisdictional nightmare. Police in Florida told him that "because the fraud took place in Tennessee, that's where the money came from, uh, that it would be Tennessee's jurisdiction".AdvertisementAdvertisementAs Durham desperately tried to get answers, the scammers escalated their operation. Representatives from Cars-Auction stopped taking his calls and fully blocked his cell phone number. Then came the ultimate slap in the face: Durham logged back onto the auction website and watched in horror as the same 2022 Corvette—featuring the identical Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) he had just "purchased"—went right back up for auction.The phantom car officially sold a second time, closing at $61,200.A Bogus RefundEventually, the company sent Durham a hollow email attempting to blame the failure on a phantom third-party logistics company."The vehicle was expected to be delivered to you by the designated transportation provider," the email read. "However, the vehicle has not arrived, and we've been unable to obtain a response or a meaningful status update." The email ultimately promised to "proceed with a full refund of $39,320" within 14 business days.AdvertisementAdvertisementMore than a month has passed since that email, and Durham has not received a single dime.The Rutherford County Sheriff's Department and the FBI have both been notified of the ongoing scam. Meanwhile, Durham is going public to warn other eager car buyers before they wire their life savings to seemingly legitimate auction houses. According to local reporting, the Cars-Auction website is still actively running, auctioning off approximately 50 vehicles a day."You want to believe everything on the internet is true. Unfortunately, it's not," Durham warned. "Uh, it's a sickening feeling".
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