There are scammers in our county…be informed on how to protect yourself!

A local couple was selling their truck (posted on FB Marketplace and Craig’s List), and a man contacted them saying he was interested in buying it.  A meeting was set-up at a local bank, so the sellers could verify that the cash given for the sale was not counterfeit.

On the day of the meeting, the sellers met the potential buyers -- a man, his wife and baby.  The buyers liked the truck and agreed to buy the truck for the agreed-upon price.  The buyers then asked if the seller would take them for a short drive around the block.  The seller’s wife went into the bank to wait and collect the car title, instead of going on the test drive (this was the first mistake). 

After they returned from the test drive, the male buyer asked to see the engine, and the male seller agreed and opened the hood.  While the men were looking under the hood, the wife of the buyer exclaimed, “What is this?” (drawing attention to a puddle of oil beneath the tailpipe).  The seller walked from the front of the truck to the back to see what was going on.  Unbeknownst to the seller, while the men had been occupied looking under the hood, the wife of the buyer had squirted oil into the tailpipe.  As the seller went to look at the oil coming from the tailpipe, the male buyer (quickly and secretively) squirted oil into the engine and in the coolant reservoir, all of this occurring because there was not a person watching EACH of the buyers.  The buyers claimed that the truck had a blown head gasket, and that $10,000 worth of repairs were now needed.  The buyer told the seller that he would now only pay $10,000 less than the previously agreed-upon price.  The seller did not fall for the scheme, although the buyer was adamant about still wanting the truck and wanting to “fix” the gasket problem.  The seller, thankfully, refused the offer.

It wasn’t until the potential buyers left that the sellers realized that they were almost duped into selling their truck for significantly less money than it was worth.  There was NOT a blown head gasket, after all.  This is a simple scam in which many could have been fooled.  Have eyes on EACH person, at all times, as they look at your car for sale.  Unfortunately, the names of the potential buyers were not yet known, so these scammers are still out there, looking for more people to trick.  BE ALERT!