The County Sheriff’s Office is warning SLO County residents of a nefarious scam involving Romanian crooks lowballing car owners to trick them into accepting offers far below their car’s value.
The scam has been successfully pulled a couple of times, including against someone from Los Osos.
According to Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla, “A group of Romanian nationals have been working this scam throughout California and recently showed up in San Luis Obispo County.”
How it works is “A scammer pretends to be a buyer and contacts a seller on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist,” Cipolla said. “They arrange to inspect, and test drive the vehicle. Often, the scammer will bring along two or three others posing as friends or mechanics.
“While one person distracts the seller, another secretly pours oil on the engine. During the test drive, the engine starts smoking, making it seem like the car has a serious problem.”
With this scenario the fear of every used car owner, “The scammer then offers a very low price, hoping the seller, now worried about expensive repairs, will agree to sell the car for far less than its actual value.”
This scheme has worked a couple of times here. Cipolla said on Jan. 18 a car seller in Atascadero fell victim to the scam and the suspects tried it again the same day in Los Osos and Nipomo.
Then on March 10, a seller in Los Osos fell for the scam “and accepted an offer that was far below asking price. The same scam was attempted the next day in Atascadero.”
Cipolla offered up some tips on how to beat these crooks:
• Meet potential buyers in a public area, such as a grocery store parking lot.
• Don’t go alone, have a friend or family member with you during the meeting.
• Do not leave the potential buyer alone with your vehicle (this includes the test drive).
• If a mechanical issue is suspected, do not succumb to the pressure to drastically reduce the price until you have the vehicle inspected by a trusted mechanic.
• Be wary of significant “lowball” offers.
If readers think they were a victim of this scam contact the Sheriff’s Detective Division at 805-781-4500.
