Model X burns on the ice in Vermont on February 24, 2019

[leaftoy]

I suspected it was stolen and insurance fraud back in post #2, two days after this happened back in 2019.

Impressive! From the Jalopnik article:

At the time the fire occurred, a user on the Tesla Motors Club forum who had witnessed it shared their story, as well as the image seen at the top of this post. Some respondents were skeptical of the supposed course of events — as forum users tend to be — and theorized possible insurance fraud. In this instance, they may have guessed right.

 

[stopcrazypp]

ACH transfers bounced. Tesla would need to call bank to verify funds (and prevent them being withdrawn) to avoid this. Or force full (and cleared) payment before delivery, which is not popular since car inspection would be be easily feasible.

I guess that's why they switched to using the Plaid service to handle ACH, which allows the service access to your online banking directly and see if you actually had the funds. I suppose even that one may still be vulnerable in terms of someone doing that progress and then transfer money out of the account before the transfer finishes, although that's complicated by if your bank allows overdraft like that, plus the perp would need that much funds in the account in the first place.

 

[cwerdna]

The Man Who Duped Tesla Out Of 5 Free Cars Has Been Sentenced To 4 Years In Jail

Michael Gonzalez's scheme was discovered after he drove a Tesla onto a frozen lake and set it on fire.

www.forbes.com

Shelburne man sentenced to four years in prison for Tesla fraud scheme

Gonzalez also drove one of the Teslas onto the frozen surface of Lake Champlain in February 2019 and lit it on fire in an attempt to collect the insurance money on the vehicle, prosecutors said.

www.mynbc5.com

Michael Gonzalez Sentenced to 48 Months in Prison for Possessing and Selling Stolen Teslas

www.justice.gov