The Rise Of Dealer Cloning Across America
The scheme by the numbers
Figures come from the FrankonFraud database. Site tracking and the takedown requests to registrars and hosts are the work of the Point Predictive fraud task force.
From five sites to 1,587 today
The list had about five sites when tracking began in March 2025. It passed 50 in February 2026, 200 in May and 1,300 in early September. Point Predictive’s fraud task force documents each site, archives the evidence and files abuse reports with the registrar and host, which had 600 sites removed by September.
Wyoming and Montana buyers are targeted at nearly nine times the national rate. By raw count, Alabama, Texas, California and Florida lead.
Latest sites added to the list
Some highlighted examples
Six cases from the records that show how far the scheme goes.
A Porsche never delivered
The largest loss in the records. A buyer wired $389,000 to a seller using the name Dave’s Used Auto Sales for a Porsche that was never delivered.
A motorhome never arrived
A Wisconsin buyer wired payment for a 2018 Jayco motorhome. Delivery slipped a day because the truck "broke down," then every line went dead. A friend who called separately was told the motorhome was still for sale.
Asked for $80,000 more
A Mississippi buyer paid $80,000 for a John Deere tractor and was talked into sending a second $80,000 before anything arrived. The bank caught the second wire and returned it. The first was gone.
Dealer at public works
Ironwood Tractor Company listed the address of Calera Public Works in Alabama as its lot and filled its site with AI-generated images. Calera police warned residents it did not exist.
Clone inside Kubota warehouse
A site called Kubota NADC Edgerton sells used machines from 31750 W. 207th St. in Edgerton, Kansas. That is Kubota Tractor Corporation’s North American Distribution Center, a warehouse that sells nothing to the public.
Rankings site rates clones
Florida Heavy Iron Rankings rates ten Florida dealers and puts ESS LLC first. Only three of the ten have websites, and all three share one Facebook advertising pixel with the rankings site. It went live the day after the third dealer did.
How the scam works
They build a dealer that does not exist
The scammer takes the name of a real small-town dealer, or makes one up, and builds a website for it. The site has a logo, a phone number, business hours, an address and a photo of a lot full of machines.
None of it is theirs. The photos are copied from real sellers, the staff pictures are made with AI, and the phone number rings to the scammer. Picolotos Equipment is a made-up name used here to show the pattern.
They list a machine at a price you cannot pass up
A tractor worth about $42,000 shows up for $23,900, with low hours and a warranty. The price is low enough to make you call, but not so low that it looks fake.
You find it on Facebook Marketplace, a Google search or a listing site. The seller answers right away and is happy to help.
They give you every reason to trust them
Ask for proof and you get it: a team photo in front of the building, a selfie of a man holding a sign with your name on it, a signed contract and a money-back guarantee.
All of it is fake. The staff photo was made with AI, the sign was added to a stock picture, and the guarantee is a document nobody will honor.
They ask you to wire the money
The invoice accepts only a bank wire or ACH transfer, often to a company you have never heard of. The seller says the money is held in trust
until you inspect the machine, and that a truck will deliver it in four or five days.
No real dealer works this way. Real dealers take checks, cards and financing, and they let you see the machine first.
The truck never comes
You get a photo of the machine chained on a trailer and a tracking number. Then the delivery date slips. The truck broke down. The driver needs a fee for insurance. Then the phone stops ringing and the website goes dark.
A wire cannot be pulled back once it lands. Buyers have reported $12.4 million in losses, and most never report at all.
What buyers told BBB Scam Tracker
Six accounts from the public BBB Scam Tracker record, condensed from the buyer’s own report. Each links to its report number.
Scammer made everything look legitimate: emails, addresses, phones, signed contract, tracking number. At delivery time they claimed "we don’t have your money yet," but the money was gone from the account and all their contact info vanished.
Found the website through a Google search for a good-priced tractor. Got confirmation from a person named Olivia that the item was available, a purchase agreement for 50 percent up front and an invoice with bank wire details. Wired on May 20. On June 5 found their website with a domain error.
Looked 100 percent legit with references and other sites. Tried to buy two mini excavators and wired $46,000. The address actually belongs to a real tractor dealer. Scammed by a person named David.
Found heavy equipment online, saw pictures and a serial number, got a dealer sheet, invoice and wire instructions. Talked several times, then communication moved to text. Called for a shipping update and the call would not complete. Phone is now off the hook.
Wired $50,000 for an excavator, purchase and delivery. After the purchase the GPS tracking turned off, the website was taken down and the seller could not be reached.
Found a skid steer on Facebook, a good deal. Signed a DocuSign contract. Asked to see the tractor first. The address, 8383 Airport Boulevard in Mobile, had no such company.
Dollar amounts are what each buyer reported losing. Accounts are condensed from the public record and are not legal findings.
Warning signs before you pay
Any one of these is reason to stop. Two or more and you are on a clone.
Wire transfer only
Real dealers accept checks and financing. A seller who will only take a bank wire, crypto or a payment app is the clearest red flag.
"Held in trust" promises
No real dealer keeps your wire in trust while you inspect a machine. Once a wire is sent, it is very hard to get back.
No visits allowed
If the seller will not let you or a local mechanic see the machine in person, walk away.
Prices far below market
A late-model excavator for the price of a used pickup is bait. Compare prices on several sites before you call.
A phone number that does not match
Look up the dealer’s number with your state’s licensing office, not on the website. The number on a clone site is often the scammer waiting for your call.
The same reviews everywhere
Search the reviewer names. If Daniel Foster or Larry Oldman praised a dozen other dealers, the reviews are fake.
A brand-new web address
Many clone sites claim to have been in business since 2015 on domains registered weeks ago. A free domain lookup shows the real age.
A Colorado bond on a Kansas dealer
Clone sites print bond number 13069 and registration 20211929794 no matter where they claim to be. Search those numbers and you will find 131 other sites.
If you sent money
Call your bank first
Ask it to recall the wire. Speed matters more than anything else.
File two reports
The FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov. A report to BBB Scam Tracker warns the next buyer.
Send us the site
If you find a dealer site that is not on this list, send it through frankonfraud.com. Tips from buyers are how most of these sites were found. Where to report, step by step.