Sorry to hear that happened. Impossible to know if the dealer was being honest or not. If it's a dealer with a decent reputation, it's probably unlikely they are using fake allocations to catfish buyers. Dealers are going to sell everyone of these first allocations pretty easily, so I don't see...
This thread in the Ordering/Reservation discussion section was helpful to me in understanding that Toyota doesn't really have an "ordering" to spec system like other manufacturers:
Link: 2025 4Runner "Ordering" and Allocations Explained
But essentially you're correct. Having a deposit /...