MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A couple says they lost nearly $30,000 after buying a 2022 Chevrolet Silverado on Facebook Marketplace that turned out to be stolen and had a fake title and vehicle identification number.
Alexus Macblain and her husband, who used to flip vehicles, said they routinely buy items on Facebook Marketplace.
“I mean, we’ve probably bought, I don’t know, 20, 30 vehicles on Facebook. We sell houses on Facebook, we sell furniture, everything,” she said.
Macblain said her father went to meet the seller and recorded a video that showed the truck in good shape.
[WATCH: Wells Fargo fraud alert failed to stop $950 charge for New Smyrna Beach couple]
The couple withdrew nearly $30,000 in cash to pay the seller in person, Macblain said.
“My husband checked all the VINs, made sure everything matched the title. The guy showed us his ID, signed the title in front of us, everything was good,” Macblain said.
When they got to the DMV to register the vehicle, they were told the truck had a lien that needed to be paid off.
When they tried to contact the seller, he blocked them.
The couple got suspicious and went to the sheriff’s office
Investigators later found the truck the crooks used to copy the VIN had been registered in Virginia, while the Silverado the Macblains bought had been reported stolen out of Texas.
Authorities confiscated the vehicle, leaving the couple with no truck and out of their money.
[WATCH: Man dragged by car in Winter Springs during Facebook Marketplace deal]
Investigators described the crime as a clone-car scheme - criminals transplant or copy VINs from legally titled vehicles to stolen vehicles so they can be resold.
Lt. Paul Volkerson of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office explained the tactic.
“Criminals will take those VIN numbers and replace them with VIN numbers off other vehicles that have a clean title or maybe registered in a different state,” Volkerson said.
Volkerson said cloned vehicles are often resold or exported out of the country.
Volkerson advises buyers to check a vehicle’s history through Carfax, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and the state Department of Motor Vehicles before completing a transaction.
He also suggests that if you’re buying a vehicle from a private seller, do the transaction at your local sheriff’s office and have investigators inspect the vehicle for you.
“It’s been a lot. Financially straining, mentally straining, it has just been a lot,” Macblain said.