need help catching a fraudster/scam artist

[nobbie48]

Forum Sponsor

we need to do both. The amount is in the thousands and it has to do with buying a car from him. money was given but the car wasn't delivered. Basically a senior citizen was taken advantage of.

I guess anyone of us can get in a situation like this. Its akin to someone buying a motorcycle and giving the money to a seller and the seller not delivering the product as promised.

Hey guys, a number of people are posting about a bounced cheque but where did that come from? The senior paid for a car and din't get one. The seller has vanished with the money and whether it was cash cheque or money order it's gone. The only address on any paperwork would be the victims. The phone was likely a hard to trace or stolen cell.

Bad news for the OP. This is a common scam and you might as well suck it up. Successful con artists don't look or sound like con artists or they wouldn't be successful.

Report it to the police and it will likely get filed in some data base and if at some time down the road information converges and they catch the guy, you, along with his other victims will be notified and you can have your day in court. The money will be gone and the guy will get a minimal sentence for a non violent crime.

The only good news is that you have hopefully learned a lesson at a cost of few thousands of dollars. If you do not take this lesson to heart the next time is could be everything you own.

You are probably a good and honest person and therefore do not have the ability to to think of the numerous scams these scumballs come up with.

I don't know if this one works anymore.

House for rent, make appointment and leave deposit. Six weeks later twenty movng vans show up at the same time. The guy renting didn't own the house and screwed 20 families out of thousands each leaving them homeless as well.

My point is that an honest person wouldn't think of being so evil. Con artists are hyenas and will scam anyone including their own families.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm not holding my breath for a quick happy solution.

 

[jolomatic]

Didn't the cheque have to be cashed somewhere?
Wouldn't the person who cashed it need to have provided some info?
Can't the police and/or bank managers put some sort of freeze on?
I'm pretty sure banks can recall these transactions for quite a long time after they have been made.

(Just my 100% uninformed thoughts)

 

[blackcamaro]

Considering this deal involved a car I would contact omvic and see if they have any guidance. Since it wasn't a dealer they won't have compensation available but they do investigate and charge people with curbsiding so at the very least it may prevent this person from doing it again. www.omvic.com

 

[adamwest]

Hey guys, a number of people are posting about a bounced cheque but where did that come from? The senior paid for a car and din't get one. The seller has vanished with the money and whether it was cash cheque or money order it's gone. The only address on any paperwork would be the victims. The phone was likely a hard to trace or stolen cell.

Bad news for the OP. This is a common scam and you might as well suck it up. Successful con artists don't look or sound like con artists or they wouldn't be successful.

Report it to the police and it will likely get filed in some data base and if at some time down the road information converges and they catch the guy, you, along with his other victims will be notified and you can have your day in court. The money will be gone and the guy will get a minimal sentence for a non violent crime.

The only good news is that you have hopefully learned a lesson at a cost of few thousands of dollars. If you do not take this lesson to heart the next time is could be everything you own.

You are probably a good and honest person and therefore do not have the ability to to think of the numerous scams these scumballs come up with.

I don't know if this one works anymore.

House for rent, make appointment and leave deposit. Six weeks later twenty movng vans show up at the same time. The guy renting didn't own the house and screwed 20 families out of thousands each leaving them homeless as well.

My point is that an honest person wouldn't think of being so evil. Con artists are hyenas and will scam anyone including their own families.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm not holding my breath for a quick happy solution.

+1 i think i said something of the same effect waaaay back in the first page. look folks... i have a story about a time i tried to get a REAL STEAL on a guys get-away to Miami. Guess what? I realized the deal was too good to be true. Especially because things didn't add up when I did my "due diligence" *wink wink* So I let it slide and moved on to paying the fortune that most people do for that trip. Lessons come in different packages. Cut your loses instead continuing to invest your valuable time trying to find a ghost. ;-)

 

[pcsourced]

all we have is a bounced check and a phone number that this individual does not answer to anymore. It has been more than three months and still this individual is not answering his phone. What can we do.

update:

I found out more whats going on. The individual who took off the money was the president of the used car dealership SiWoo Paul Chun. Weno Motors located at 160 Rossdean Drive, Toronto, Ontario. My dad made a full payment of $8000 for a used car but cancelled the deal when the dealer who was also the president of the used car dealership took too long to address the mechanical problems with the car. He gave my dad an initial check of $500 because he said he had financial problems and then gave a personal cheque of $7500 which bounced. He longer works there, took off with the money, coworkers don't or won't tell us where his whereabouts is.

shouldn't the dealership compensate for the missing money

 

[REDBALLS]

all we have is a bounced check and a phone number that this individual does not answer to anymore. It has been more than three months and still this individual is not answering his phone. What can we do.

update:

I found out more whats going on. The individual who took off the money was the president of the used car dealership SiWoo Paul Chun. Weno Motors located at 160 Rossdean Drive, Toronto, Ontario. My dad made a full payment of $8000 for a used car but cancelled the deal when the dealer who was also the president of the used car dealership took too long to address the mechanical problems with the car. He gave my dad an initial check of $500 because he said he had financial problems and then gave a personal cheque of $7500 which bounced. He longer works there, took off with the money, coworkers don't or won't tell us where his whereabouts is.

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-weno-motors-falls-short-customer-review-1257007175.html
Doesn't sound like this is his first vanishing act.

 

[nobbie48]

Now that the picture is clearer maybe one of our legal beagles can comment. I thought writing a cheque known to be NSF was a crime. The police have to investigate crimes, right?
Does there have to be intent and how does one prove it?
If the police see it as a civil matter they tell you to take it to court.
If someone writes a bad cheque and you confront them giving them some time to straighten things out you have just given them credit and it is therefore a civil collections matter? I got the last bit from an ex-cop. True / false?

 

[Rob]

Unfortunately you're screwed. The money will never be seen again and same goes with the scammer. I ran into a similar situation where money for a tankless water heater was paid and no one showed up. I tracked the guy down, told the police where he was and they said "sue him in small claims". I said he stole money from me, they said "you gave it to him". When I said that I would go to him and take whatever I can get I was informed that I would then be the criminal and subsequently charged, great system!

Forum Sponsor