International Thieves Using Classifieds To Target Floridians
POSTED: Thursday, December 15, 2005
UPDATED: 6:11 pm EST December 22,
2005
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International thieves are using classified advertisements in popular publications like "American Classifieds Thrifty Nickel" to target Central Floridians selling used cars, Local 6 News has learned.In the last 24 months, agents in the Brevard County Sheriff's Office have seen an average of two counterfeit checks a week used to pay for cars listed in auto classified ads.In all of the cases, the car owners received a check well above the asking price. However, the buyer asks that the seller wire back the difference in price, agents said.A Central Florida woman, Jessica Haynes, was scammed out of $4,000 after receiving a check much higher than the price she was asking for the car.
Haynes deposited the check at Harbor Federal bank, and it was approved.She then withdrew the excess money and wired it to Canada to a man who identified himself as Raymond Martins.A few weeks later, Harbor Federal Bank returned the check as a suspected counterfeit check."Didn't it bother you that the check was so much more than it was supposed to be?" Holfeld asked."No, because he told me a good story," Haynes said. "He told me that the car company was coming down to get it and they gave me the car company's portion along with my portion."Haynes' buyer wiped her bank account clean, Holfeld said."Are we accurate in saying we have one country that is targeting us right now?" Problem Solver Mike Holfeld asked."I would not find it hard to believe that one country or one group is conducting all of this," an agent told Holfeld.Police said the scams come from out of area because they are outside police jurisdiction.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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