Casselberry man loses $3,500 to Air Force impostor

Bogus female airman claimed to have 2000 GMC Truck for sale

Carey Sparks has worked with military personnel for years so when he saw a post from a female Air Force airman with a 2000 GMC truck for sale he thought he’d try to help out.

Sparks says Linda Hall seemed “legit” claiming to be preparing to change residency or “PCS”  from Offut Air Force base in Nebraska to Elmondorf Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska.

“The individuals that actually worked the scheme have open working knowledge of how the military works,” Sparks said.

According to the email, Hall would be stationed in Alaska for three years and needed the money for a new house.

“I looked at the pictures of the truck, the military uniforms in the back of the truck…” Sparks said.

Sparks said everything appeared legitimate right down to the transfer story.

"I called a couple of buddies of mine (in the military) and yes they do PCS or change residency from Offut Airforce base to Anchorage," Sparks said.

In one email the impostor wrote: ”Your peace of mind is a lot more important than this deal!!!”

Sparks said he wired $2,000 for the truck via Money Gram as instructed but that wasn’t the end of the scam.

The next day he said he received an email : “we needed to do shipping insurance, that I would be reimbursed for my shipping insurance,“ he said.

That brought his lost funds to $3,500.

On Feb 27, 2016, at 6:24 PM, Linda Hall wrote:
> I just received the payment confirmation from eBay. The shipping process will Monday morning. I will get back to you once I have everything ready. Thanks a lot

Sparks never received the truck and of course all communication stopped.

The one regret he has is not waiting to get a reply from Hall’s military email address account.

The email is still active. It’s not clear where they are operating out of and how many people have been scammed.

If you have security issues on an Ebay transaction go to: http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/questions/report-spoof-email.html or http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/


About the Author:

News 6’s Emmy Award-winning Investigative Reporter Mike Holfeld has made Central Florida history with major investigations that have led to new policies, legislative proposals and even -- state and national laws. If you have an issue or story idea, call Mike's office at 407-521-1322.

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