Don't be taken for a ride if you try to buy a vehicle online.

That's the new warning from the Alberta minister responsible for consumer protection who's blowing the whistle on "increasingly sophisticated" online scams that try to bilk people of cash by selling them nonexistent cars and trucks.

"Scams are becoming more sophisticated, making it harder for consumers to tell them apart from legitimate sales offers," said Service Alberta Minister Heather Klimchuk.

"The basic advice holds true: if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

A spokesman for Service Alberta says scammers typically advertise vehicles for thousands of dollars below wholesale on sites such as Craigslist, Kijiji and the Auto Trader, then push people to pay for a vehicle without seeing it, often by directing them to fake PayPal-type sites.

Says Service Alberta spokesman Mike Berezowsky: "They'll say things like, 'I'm a soldier stationed overseas and I have to sell it' or 'We have a sick child and have to pay for medical bills -- that's why the car's so cheap.'

"It plays on the heartstrings and makes people feel guilty. It's really disgusting that people would do that, but that's the world we live in."

Berezowsky said once a would-be buyer shows interest, scammers will negotiate the deals via e-mail or by telephone and make excuses about why they can't show the car in person.

Some will provide vehicle identification numbers (VINs) that are often fake or belong to other cars and trucks that aren't the vehicles advertised, he said.

Service Alberta consumer-protection investigators looked into one case where an ad offered a 2006 Nissan Murano SUV with 34,000 km on it for just $6,500.

"The ad claimed the vehicle was for sale in Canada but when we looked into it, it was registered in Florida," said Berezowsky.

"When you looked closely at the photo you could actually see palm trees in it."

He said online classified reps take down the fake ads as soon as they're alerted to them, "but as soon as they do that, another one pops up."

People who believe they've been scammed in such a deal, should call police, he said.

KERRY.DIOTTE@SUNMEDIA.CA