Fraudster steals man’s car

Produces fake bank transfer, racks up seven fines

A GOLD Coast man says his car was stolen by a fraudster who produced fake bank transfer confirmation on the day of sale.

To rub salt into the wound, he has copped seven speeding fines run up by the woman who conned him.

And police have told him they are aware of at least three cars stolen in similar scams.

Nathan Asher was trying to sell his Hyundai Sonata through Gumtree when a woman who was interested in buying the car contacted him and asked to inspect it and take it for a test drive.

Mr Asher said everything seemed normal, including a Bendigo Bank transfer screenshot she showed him after claiming to have made the payment into his account.

“She came, she drove the car around and said she wanted it, put all her details down on a registration transfer form and transferred money and sent me a screenshot of the transfer,” Mr Asher said.

“It was right before the long weekend. By the middle of the following week the funds hadn’t cleared, so I rang my bank and they said it wasn’t coming in, so I rang Bendigo Bank, which was the app she was using and they told me the account doesn’t exist.

“I’d asked her for a copy of her ID. She gave me a sob story that she lost her purse, didn’t have a Medicare card, nothing. So that was a mistake I made and everything she wrote down on that registration form was false.

“It was just shy of $4000 – not a small amount of money.

“I won’t be trusting a transfer screen anymore, that’s for sure.”

He said he has also received seven speeding fines from the first seven days the car was stolen and fears there could be more to come.

“The car was recovered on Wednesday. I got a call from police, they told me it was one of at least three cars that have been take in a similar manner,’’ Mr Asher said.

“I’ve been told it was used in a number of offences and the car has been finger printed.

“It’s in a holding yard in Tweed. I don’t have a key or anything, so I’ll have to get a locksmith out to get a key.”

If you know any more about this incident or similar cases, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.