By Steven Symes 
Two men in Corona, California were arrested after they sold a Turo rental car to an unsuspecting victim. We’ve seen this scam before, so we want to make everyone aware that it could happen to them as they shop for a used vehicle.
It looks like the Hellcat isn’t dead after all.
The suspects listed the car on Craigslist, then were contacted by the victim, who arranged to meet up and test drive it. As ABC7 reports, the victim liked the vehicle and looked over the title, which appeared to be legitimate.
Then the person handed over $23,000 in cash. However, later the victim learned the car was rented off Turo by the “sellers” and she had been duped out of the money.
Normally, with a stolen vehicle you can run the VIN through different services and it will return as stolen. But we’re not aware of any way to run a VIN to see if it’s on the Turo rental service. That’s what makes detecting this deception more difficult.
Angry about losing her money, the victim got on Craigslist and looked for ads that were similar to the one she responded to. After finding one, she passed the info to police who in turn arranged a meetup.
Investigators determined the car advertised for sale was another Turo rental and the title the seller had was fake. The seller and his accomplice were both arrested. To the shock of nobody, they both have criminal records auto theft and trafficking stolen cars.
Criminals are getting more and more creative to separate you from your hard-earned cash. It’s important to listen to your instincts and walk from a deal that doesn’t feel right. Also, if it seems too good to be true, it likely is.
Image via ABC7/YouTube