There is a version of this story where everything goes fine. Seller lists a Corvette Z06 for $60,000, buyer agrees to pay the asking price plus travel costs, they meet at a bank, shake hands, and everybody goes home happy. That is not this story.
A car flipper who goes by Ghosted on TikTok drove seven hours from his home to Chicago after a buyer reached out about his Corvette Z06, originally purchased for $50,000 and listed at $60,000. The buyer sweetened the deal by offering to cover the travel costs, which, in hindsight, should have been clue number one that something was off. Scammers are generous right up until the moment they are not.
Ghosted documented the whole painful saga in a TikTok video posted on March 3rd that has racked up thousands of views, mostly from people who cannot believe what they are watching unfold. The video runs nearly nine minutes, which is roughly how long it takes to process losing $70,000 in a single afternoon.
The plan was to meet at a bank, presumably to make the transaction feel official and secure. The buyer showed up, looked at the car, and produced a small bag of cash. Ghosted noticed immediately that the bag was not nearly large enough to hold $63,000. The buyer waved it off as a kind of proof-of-funds gesture. It was not.
How the Theft Actually Went Down
@j_ahimedia If your In the chicago area lmk please #zo6 #blowthisup #fyp #corvette ♬ original sound – Ghosted
After the walk-around, the buyer asked to take the car for a test drive, which is a completely normal request. Ghosted, being a reasonable person who also would not buy a car without driving it first, said yes and got in the passenger seat. So far, still normal.
They finished the drive and pulled onto a side street so the buyer could look at the engine. The buyer opened his door, put one foot out, and Ghosted took that as a cue to get out on his side. The moment both feet hit the pavement, the buyer closed his door and drove off. The Corvette, worth $60,000, was gone in seconds.
Ghosted had his phone and his wallet on him, fortunately, because those two items were about to be the only things standing between him and a truly catastrophic situation. He tried to flag down a nearby police officer, but could not get the officer’s attention, and eventually had about ten squad cars respond to the call. By that point, the car had vanished. He got a ride to the station and flew home without the Corvette, the cash, or much of anything else.
The Red Flags Were Already There
Here is the part that stings the most. After the theft, Ghosted started digging around and discovered that this buyer had already tried this exact scam on someone else. A friend told him he had nearly been the victim of the same scheme, but a police officer intervened before the test drive could turn into a joyride. There was also a review on the buyer’s Facebook Marketplace profile from another seller who had driven 12 hours and spent $2,000 on travel expenses to meet this person, only to be stood up at a police station.
None of that information was visible to Ghosted before the meeting because he simply had not looked hard enough. That is not a character flaw; it is a reminder that private car sales require the same level of due diligence as any other significant financial transaction. Checking a buyer’s reviews on Facebook Marketplace takes about thirty seconds and could have saved him a seven-hour drive and $70,000.
Why Insurance Would Not Help
The financial damage here is not just the car. Ghosted says he is out roughly $70,000 total when everything is factored in, and his insurance will not pay out a single dollar. The reason comes down to coverage type. Comprehensive insurance covers theft, fire, and vandalism. Liability-only insurance, which is the legal minimum in most states, only covers damage you cause to other people and their property. It does not care what happens to your own vehicle.
For someone running a car-flipping operation and transporting vehicles worth tens of thousands of dollars, carrying only liability coverage is a significant gap. It is the kind of gap that feels fine until the exact moment it absolutely is not. Ghosted described himself as starting completely from scratch, which is about as grim an outcome as a side hustle can produce.
Experts and experienced sellers have weighed in with the obvious-in-retrospect advice: always copy the buyer’s license before handing over keys, never exit the vehicle during a test drive, meet in a public place with witnesses, and never deliver a car to a buyer until payment has fully cleared. One commenter put it most bluntly, noting that the seller broke a fundamental rule by bringing the car to the buyer at all in exchange for extra money rather than requiring a wire transfer first.
As of now, the Corvette has not been recovered, and Ghosted is asking anyone in the Chicago area with information to reach out. Whether the car turns up or not, the lesson has already been paid for in full.