Harford County Sheriff warns of Facebook Marketplace fishing trend involving stolen vehicles
BALTIMORE -- The Harford County Sheriff's Office is warning people who are buying vehicles off of Facebook Marketplace that they might find their purchases missing the next day and later learn that they were stolen from another state.
Sheriff's deputies have noticed a trend of vehicle thefts tied to the popular online marketplace, according to authorities.
People perusing Facebook Marketplace for affordable automobiles are getting lured into buying what they don't realize is a stolen vehicle at a public spot only to have it taken from outside of their home not long after buying it, deputies said.
There are videos of a suspect entering the vehicle and driving off with it, according to authorities.
So far, two people have reported falling victim to this scheme within one week of each other, Sheriff Jeff Gahler confirmed.
The sheriff added that both of them paid in cash. The first person paid $13,000 while the second person paid $16,000.
"If there's two, there's probably more. If it's not here in Harford County, probably happening around us," said Sheriff Gahler.
Detectives cannot confirm yet whether the two fell victim to the same scam artist or how exactly the cars are being tracked back to their homes. But did add that in both cases, the buyers met up with someone who posed as a seller in Pennsylvania.
Oftentimes, the vehicle that was stolen from the buyer was already stolen from someone else in another state, deputies said.
Then the suspect goes fishing for a new victim by trying to resell the same automobile again, according to authorities.
The Harford County Sheriff's Office is urging people to buy cars, trucks, and vans from a licensed dealership or someone they know and to not pay in cash.