Another identifier....he wore a Rolex, and was proud of his watch, even said expensive watches are a good investment right now...so if you see someone who looks like the guy, see if he is wearing a Rolex or expensive watch.
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Slumpey326
Member
Biggest tip off is if the vehicle is being offered at a lower than market price. Buyer greed will often lure them into sketchy deals.
Rice&Curry
Member
For a lot of common folks like me this has been an eye opener. I have never paid with cash ( only check) and the only time I paid with a cashier's check was to Tesla when I purchased a brand new car from them directly. If you are a AAA member then they have membership services and they can look up Vehicle Registration to confirm ownership before the transaction takes place. I have not tried it so I can't confirm on this but it is a possible option. Also not sure if they can verify out of station registrations.
He likely could at least have them pull the vehicle up and confirm the registered owner and if there was anything outstanding against the vehicle. If this becomes super common I'm sure they'll put a stop to this but honestly it should be a service they offer, even if there was a fee associated with it. The state that the vehicle is registered in should be able to provide absolutely rock solid proof on who is the legal owner, if the vehicle has been reported stolen or a write off on insurance or anything, and that it has been legally registered.
Try to contact him again and reach out saying you want to learn how to do the same so you can make your money back. Offer a few thousand bucks or something for him to teach you, then just obviously never get the money anywhere near him but try to get some contact started. Scammers are stupid and like money, while this would clearly be an attempt to find the guy, he might think he's smarter than everyone and you're really stupid and that he could make a few grand more...
Also... the owner renting it on Turo
"Um Sir.... some... interesting news... someone tried to sell your car when they rented it..."
Actually, HUGE question, where is the car?! Did you drive it all the way back to WA before finding out the problems, or did you swing by a licencing agency down there to try and get temp plates or something to drive back home? Honestly I'm not sure how that works when buying a vehicle out of state from person to person... that's insane if some dudes Turo was driving from CA up to WA and horrible that you might have had to foot the bill to ship it back down to them!
"Um Sir.... some... interesting news... someone tried to sell your car when they rented it..."
Actually, HUGE question, where is the car?! Did you drive it all the way back to WA before finding out the problems, or did you swing by a licencing agency down there to try and get temp plates or something to drive back home? Honestly I'm not sure how that works when buying a vehicle out of state from person to person... that's insane if some dudes Turo was driving from CA up to WA and horrible that you might have had to foot the bill to ship it back down to them!
To the OP, I am sorry for what happened to you. I am not sure if anyone mentioned that, but could you ask tesla to provide the most common locations the vehicle was parked at prior to your meeting with him?
I did drive it up to WA, the rental company flew up and drove it back down yesterday. And I guess the rental company never reported it stolen...just rental fraud.
People who commit these criminal acts are sociopaths. Best to steer clear of them and let the proper authorities deal with investigating their crimes.
I would be concerned if they had a copy of your driver's license, your photo, phone number, your home address or one of your personal checks. This would make it easier for them to steal your identity or even sell your checking account information to a fraud ring. (Keep a close watch on your checking account for the next year for any unauthorized automated clearing house (ACH) debit transactions. A fraudster only needs a photo of one of your checks to obtain the checking account information needed to initiate ACH debit fraud.
OC is a major area for all types of fraud. There were even seminars taught out of hotels in OC on how to commit wire fraud. (Not a crime unless, until you actually commit the fraud.)
I would be concerned if they had a copy of your driver's license, your photo, phone number, your home address or one of your personal checks. This would make it easier for them to steal your identity or even sell your checking account information to a fraud ring. (Keep a close watch on your checking account for the next year for any unauthorized automated clearing house (ACH) debit transactions. A fraudster only needs a photo of one of your checks to obtain the checking account information needed to initiate ACH debit fraud.
OC is a major area for all types of fraud. There were even seminars taught out of hotels in OC on how to commit wire fraud. (Not a crime unless, until you actually commit the fraud.)
Wow I didn't even know this was a thing. Such an easy scam to fall for too.
Thanks for posting this. It will prob save someone else over the years.
Thanks for posting this. It will prob save someone else over the years.
EVer Hopeful
Active Member
Hate to muddy the waters and make you feel worse, but what proof of ID did the rental company guy give you when he picked it up?
They actually picked it up from the police...so, I think that is as good of proof as I needed.
I didn't keep it in my possession as soon as I found out it was not mine to keep...I left it with the local police...and they contacted the police and came to retrieve it. I am sure they had to show proof it was theirs as well.hmm, can the police work with you and the rental company and find where the car is now? ( teslas are the last kind of car one should steal as trackable adn can be *sugar* down by vin ) if he " returned" it to the rental company , after the scam, then tracking it wont work unfortunately . the only thing is if he goes back to another rental agent and rents another to try and scam some one else., then all they can do is flag the false IDs but he probably has moved on to another set of IDs. so sorry to hear this!
That’s an interesting idea… maybe see if Tesla has a history of where the Model Y has been parked to find the scammers true residence.
RedWhite19
Member
Here is a Chad Spencer Robinson from Nevada. It gives family information as well.
But after doing a little digging, it appears to be a bogus name. The guy gives the name Chad Spencer Robinson. That’s a real name and he’s got a brother named Drew Robinson. Drew Robinson played for the SF Giants and he almost killed himself. In this article it says his brother Chad Robinson. But in that photo, it says he’s 6’5 240. Maybe he was an athlete. I don’t know, maybe you can reach out to the real Chad Robinson and ask him if he knows the guy and by the way, he’s using your name to scam people.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(689x0:691x2)/drew-robinson2-2000-b2cfc0fcb14c4cce9654929031ecf6ee.jpg)
www.google.com
The real Chad Robinson.
But after doing a little digging, it appears to be a bogus name. The guy gives the name Chad Spencer Robinson. That’s a real name and he’s got a brother named Drew Robinson. Drew Robinson played for the SF Giants and he almost killed himself. In this article it says his brother Chad Robinson. But in that photo, it says he’s 6’5 240. Maybe he was an athlete. I don’t know, maybe you can reach out to the real Chad Robinson and ask him if he knows the guy and by the way, he’s using your name to scam people.
Giants' Drew Robinson Opens Up About Second Chance After Suicide Attempt: 'I'm Meant to Be Alive'
Drew Robinson, 28, lost his right eye after a suicide attempt last year
The real Chad Robinson.
RedWhite19
Member
I’ve gotta ask, was this guy really 6’5? Because he’s literally using the baseball players info. Look at height, birthday, weight. It says his eye color on that is blue on the ID and it looks brown and black in real life. Red flag central!
TSLY
Member
I'm very sorry to hear this, it totally sucks. The only consolation I can give is that guys like this are inevitably caught, and ultimately have a miserable life in and out of jail. Fingers crossed you get your money back (or at least the cashiers check transaction stopped).
