Getting scammed is one of the worst feelings in the world. Even losing $20 to someone who tricks you can leave a bad taste in your mouth. But what if you tried to sell your Corvette only for it to get stolen?
Unfortunately, this is what Frederick Paulino (@killvroom) says happened to him when he tried to sell his Corvette on Facebook Marketplace. The video was viewed over 25,000 times as of publication.
How did his Corvette get stolen?
According to Paulino, he was trying to sell his white, black top C8 Corvette for $61,000 on Facebook Marketplace when a buyer contacted him and agreed to pay his asking price. Not only did he agree to his price, but he also offered an additional $1,000 if Paulino met him halfway between where they both lived and $500 on top in case there were any delays or issues.
“He told me he was six hours away from me, and if we met halfway, he would add some money on top,” Paulino said.
Excited to not only sell his car for his asking price but for $1,500 over, he agreed to meet the buyer.
“We met up this Sunday. We were supposed to meet up on Tuesday, but he told me his son got sick and he couldn’t go,” Paulino said.
Thinking he was going to meet a “dad wanting a cool car,” Paulino met him at their designated spot and noticed that the man looked like he was 19, though he claimed to be 26.
“He paid with a cashier’s check, and I didn’t find it suspicious at all. I mean, it’s a check; you would expect these banks to immediately know if these checks are fake or not,” Paulino said.
To hedge his bets, Paulino kept the title while he waited for the cashier’s check to clear.
After depositing the check and seeing the $62,500 balance in his account, Paulino initially thought everything was fine.
Unfortunately, the check bounced a day later. When he tried to fix the situation, he discovered there was no record of the buyer at the bank, his ID was fake, and the check was fraudulent.
A common scam
Sadly, cashier’s check scams are fairly common. According to Washington State Financial Institution, the scam almost always involves a check that appears genuine. The most common types of this scam include a mystery shopper scam where you are chosen as a mystery shopper, property rental scams, work-from-home scams, and using a cashier’s check to purchase something.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation explains that the most common red flag is someone offering to pay you “an amount higher than your asking price.” These “fake checks are often made out for more than agreed upon amount” as a way to entice a person to accept the deal.
Viewers respond
Many viewers explained that when dealing with an unknown buyer, you should never accept a check.
“Don’t take checks only take cash or wire transfer sorry for your loss,” one said.
“Cash only when dealing on FB marketplace, hope you get what’s yours man,” another added.
“Idk if this helps but any time I sell anything over even 100 I meet them at my local police station if they are legit they always meet if not they either block you or don’t respond,” a third added.
“Last time we bought a private owned car it was for $48,500. we did everything at the bank and the owner of the car had the funds verified in his account before we left with the truck,” a viewer said.
Luckily for Paulino, his Corvette was discovered in Connecticut a few days after he posted his original video. Detailed in a later video, Paulino explains how the scammer abandoned the car at an apartment complex.
The Daily Dot reached out to Paulino via TikTok Comments and Instagram direct message.
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The post ‘I’ve never had an issue’: Man sells Corvette on Facebook Marketplace. Then his car gets stolen without him realizing for days appeared first on The Daily Dot.