I Got Scammed for $7500 officially today

[69charger2002]

ok well guys. first off this is not a pity post to get everyone to feel sorry for me. i guess if anything it's because my blood pressure is about 300, my wife cries when i mention it, and i guess also it's to help warn someone not to be as stupid as me. i need to vent a bit.
i saw a craigslist ad on 4/15 on the cglfc board, much like chargerST and others do on this board. craigslist ad, columbia south carolina. 69 roadrunner, 69 charger both run and drive, need paint and interior work 10000 obo for both. good deal but not too unbelievable right??.. called i was second in line. that night 1st guy couldn't come up with the money. yeehaa they are mine.. $7500 for both! guy has a bill that HAS to be paid ASAP, which is why he was selling so cheap, he knew they would sell locally fast. i begged and pleaded to let him know i'd overnight the money etc.. he claims he doesn't have enough in his checking account to cover $7500 in cashier's check, they hold for 10 days, talks me into mailing cash(yes i know, please no bashing here ok??). call me stupid, call me nieve, i've never been burned before, so i tend to trust people.. ok i used to. long story short, he was headed this way to buy a house actually near me(20 miles away, he knew the area the first time i called, which blew me away).. every day for the last 2 weeks truck has broken down, uncle died you name it, of course doubt entered my mind, but you have to stay positive right? what got me was after he got his cash he could have never called again and disappeared. he called every day, even his wife sometimes, which to this minute i cannot figure out why they drug it out so long. yesterday at 11:30 am was the last time he called, to say he was in mobile headed this way(2 1/2 hours away).. so i leave work, come home, sit here.. 3 4 5 pm goes by no phone call, no guy nothing. start leaving messages and this morning his phone turns into not working number, then his wife's an hour later.. ok so it's official. so i called FBI in new orleans, they kind of take down my info, but pretty much leave me getting off the phone not feeling any better.. still waiting on columbia SC local police to call me back. guy went by Trey Walker, Ann walker was his wife, of course i'm sure those were both made up names..i called sprint the phones were inactivated today, they said they are billed to a lisa boykin, 238 border dr.. belvedere SC.. can't find any info there, but there is a 238 border drive in belvedere but has someone else's name as owners.. i'm basically at a dead end and out $7500.. just thought i'd vent here. sure i'm a flipper at times. and yes i was going to sell the roadrunner and hope to keep the charger as a "free car".. now i kind of borrowed the money at a bad time to get these, as i just closed on some property last week.. really has me in a bind. and i'm depressed enough SERIOUSLY that i kind of just want to keep one charger and completely get out of the hobby. my trust in people is gone now. any thoughts or opinions welcome. like i said.. this isn't a pity post, if nothing else, i guess it's a stupid but normally obvious lesson. never send cash to anyone, if you trust them or not. i'm sure you guys know how it is nowadays, to get a deal you HAVE to be first to call/buy or you can forget it. guess it finally bit me in the ass
trav
FORGOT to mention.. they sent me a email bill of sale for the 2 cars. can an email be traced to see the origin? it's ladyhealer99@yahoo.com and can the bill of sale be used as a legal bill of sale since there is no REAL signature on the email?

[Hemidoug]

Man that sucks big time. I feel for you bro. anything I can do let me know. I know it was an expensive lesson but hopefully the long arm of the law will catch up with the scum. Karma is a bitch after all......

[Kevin68N71]

For the money you have into it, get a private detective to investigate and at least trace who they are.  You have a start.  You can go personally to where they live and verify its them.  Then sue the hell out of them.  Hell, even small claims court I think is up to $3000, you could sue them for each car.

[TruckDriver]

  THAT sucks! I hope you get the BAST@$&

[RD]

damn!!!!! anyone in SC that could help trav out by pulling some mafia style revenge on this SOB?

jeez dude, i am so sorry... let me know if there is anything I can do?  I could send you some money to help out if you are in a big bind.

Jamey

[evil1]

Sorry to here that,  Just out of curiosity, did they give you any vin numbers?

[C_stripes]

Hey man.  Sorry about that.  But DON'T sell everything. That will only make it worse. My friend just got burned $60K by a guy. He's pissed but the only thing you can do is move on. Money comes and goes. Hopefully they will find they guy and bust him. But just try to stay happy and be proud of all the good luck you have had thus far.   I got burned a few years ago on a 68 Charger R/T. I had it on the trailer and another guy shows up with a title to the car. I had a title to the car also. Mine was older so his superseeds mine. I lost a 440 six pack set up. A pistol grip shifter A mint 71 duster grille. A pair of max wedge heads and some other stuff. I was bumed uot for awile.   You'll get threw it and it will all work out in the end. If he doesn't get busted here. The big man upstairs will take care of it later.

[gasoline_24]

Trav, do you know how old this guy was?  I am doing some checking and may have tracked down some info for you.  Also, can you get me his cell number and I can get some additional information that way.

[69charger2002]

well, i don't know. everything he told me was probably a lie.. names, etc. he sounded 40 ish.. wife too. she was so bubbly and nice(probably while shopping with my money). he claimed he had 2 kids, sarah and matthew, probably made up too.  and no the guy was selling the cars, that were his dad's who had died 8 months earlier.. and the ywere in savannah GA. which is why he idn't have the VIN numbers handy
the cell numbers were 803-439-1731 and the wife's 803-290-9618. both disconnected now

[gasoline_24]

I have an address for a guy that is 25 in Irmo, SC which appears to be a suburb of Columbia.  Does this sound like the guy?

[69charger2002]

i don't believe, i looked that up before.. on 411.com  like i said i am pretty sure at this point the names are made up.

[Mopar440+6]

All I can say is I know how ya feel man. It sucks. I got burned this past fall on a car (not nearly as much money but for a broke college kid $2K is alot). Trav, you're one of the most honest guys I've never met and I hope and pray you can get this all straightened out....

[oldcarnut]

Sorry to hear about your plight. Just because the address is listed as another owner doesn't mean they weren't living there.  Maybe the owner was renting it out to them and possibly has a forwarding mail or contact address.  Did you check with the owner to see if that could be the case or they knew them.  I reckon you've probably done that but just offering as it may be another avenue just in case. I thought that the cell phone carriers usually ask for a SSN to do a credit ck on its customers.  Hope you do find out something, thats a lot of cash to be out of.

[68charger383]

Sorry to hear the news:

All I can say as an alternate way to get some action is contact the postal Inspector's office if you mailed the cash to these crooks.

I would also take the time to go to your local police/FBI office and file a written complaint. Get to know the detective assigned to your case. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Unfortunately, the problem is even if you catch these crooks down the road....unless they own something of value that you can attach (land) your unlikely to recoup the cash and will have to live solely with the satisfaction that they get locked up!

[JimShine]

Sorry to hear about this fiasco. Have you read this page about email IP tracking?

http://www.johnru.com/active-whois/trace-email.html

Check it out. You may be able to get some additional info.

I do have an email tracer utility, but I don't use it. This is what it comes back with. I am not sure if they are reliabe or useable as they are yahoo throwaway style accounts

[dpm68]

Yes. Nail them. If there's any way in the world that any of us can assist you, let us know. I hate scam artists and they need to be served. I don't know anyone in that area, but there's got to be some way to unravel this a bit.  - d

[gasoline_24]

 (803) 684-8053
(803) 732-3307
(803) 407-1109

These are three numbers that come up to Trey Walker in SC.  I know the name may not be correct, but I doubt they were that sophisticated.  If they were they wouldn't have kept talking to you.  One is what appears to be a parents number.

[gasoline_24]

Here is all of the info for the Border Dr. address I could find.  I can't track the cell phone until tomorrow.


I emailed these to you.

[gasoline_24]

Some more info on the address

[gasoline_24]

Final names

[69charger2002]

lisa boykin that has to be it! i thought the guy from sprint said lisa vokin. i bet i misunderstood him. are all those records current? this lisa boykin, age 45 could be the beginning of the search.. her husband could really be thomas boykin. at least it gives me hope
thanks very much
trav

[charger01]

(803) 684-8053
(803) 732-3307
(803) 407-1109

These are three numbers that come up to Trey Walker in SC.  I know the name may not be correct, but I doubt they were that sophisticated.  If they were they wouldn't have kept talking to you.  One is what appears to be a parents number.

Possibly keeping in touch long enough until they were able to relocate.  Seems like a lot of red flags, but I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt as well.  I hope you are able to take care of this.  Really infuriates me......

[gasoline_24]

What is your email and I will send you all of the information on Lisa.

[69charger2002]

charger69foster@yahoo.com
is it just me or did they have a few different names listed for the same address.. like lisa boykin, lisa boykin thomas etc, are those alias names?

[JimShine]

I thought that as well, but look at the dates they were verified. These are names from back in the early 80's to current. The Johnson's are the most recent. But that doesn't mean they haven't been scamming for a long time from that addy. They could have had bogus credit cards and other accounts set up under fake names at that addy over the years.