posted
My brother told me today about his friend Danny getting cheated out of $8,000. My brother didn't tell me all of the details, so I'll just tell you all I know.
Danny found a car for sale on the internet, and talked to the person about buying it. Apparently he never got a name or address, just an email from this guy. He got the VIN and checked it out at carfax.com, all was well. He put $8,000 in his escrow account, and the man took it. He called the guy and he said the car was on its way, but of course, it never showed up. The man claimed the car was in New York, but said he had moved to Europe. Danny went to the police and gave them the VIN, and they told him no such car had ever existed. A picture of the car is up on the website for sale again.
I wish I knew the website, but I don't. That's all I know.
I know Danny made some stupid decisions, in not getting the man's name or anything, but is there anything he can do? Posts: 925 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Then call the FBI...this guys is using the internet to cross state lines (at the least) to commit cirnes...the FBI doesn't take kindly to that sort of thing. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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If he doesn't have the car, the escrow company probably shouldn't have released the money.
Assuming it was a real escrow company, Danny should have had to sign a release before they sent the money to the seller. If not, then it wasn't really an "escrow" company as I understand them.
And yes, if this is fraud, it's wire fraud, and it's federal. Conctacting a local FBI office is not a bad idea. If you don't have one, a U.S. Attorney's office might help.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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The key lies in the escrow company. If the escrow company is legitimate, they have ways of regaining the released funds - less fees.
If the escrow company ISN'T legitimate, well...he's what they call SOL until the authorities can step in.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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His friend should also contact CARFAX. If they said the car was good, and the car "never existed," and I believe that CARFAX has guarantees against certain problems with their reports....well, it's certainly worth a shot.
But if CARFAX said the car was good, and the police said the car "never existed", well, it sounds like someone doesn't have their facts straight.
Wish him luck, by the way. Though I will admit the stupidest thing I ever did was pay $60 for a boxful of newspapers that was supposed to be a SONY VCR.
Posts: 1862 | Registered: Mar 2000
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