Updated September 3, 2018

The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance and the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission are warning consumers to avoid purchasing vehicles advertised through a phony website created and operated by scammers posing as the proprietors of a legitimate Lawrenceburg auto dealer.

Fully licensed and in operation since 1991, Fields Auto Sales operates its dealership at 1408 N. Locust St. in Lawrenceburg but does not have a website.

Unfortunately, scammers created a fake website with a fake phone number purporting to be Fields Auto Sales in order to fool unsuspecting potential consumers. Scammers also advertised nonexistent vehicles through the online auto sales website using Fields Auto Sales’ name. Victims believed they were buying actual cars online and gave money to the scammers through electronic fund transfers.

The owners of Field’s Auto Sales were made aware of the scam when they were contacted by three victims, all of whom live outside Tennessee and believed they were buying vehicles via the Internet.

Fraudulent online vehicle sales are costly for consumers. From May 2014 through December 2017, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received approximately 26,967 complaints with adjusted losses of $54,032,396 related to these types of fraudulent sales.