Stolen vehicle scams target online buyers
After months of searching, Marvin Guerrero finally found the car he wanted: a blue 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. At about $7,000, the SUV was an absolute bargain on Facebook Marketplace.
Guerrero’s painting business had been slow, so it had taken him years to scrounge and save for a car that could reliably get him to far flung places for jobs.
He might have hesitated were it not for how normal the seller seemed.
The seller met Guerrero several times so he could show him a variety of vehicles.
The man wanted to make sure it was the exact Equinox that Guerrero wanted. The owner even had him fill out paperwork ahead of purchasing it, Guerrero said.
But when Guerrero went to register the vehicle, he discovered it was stolen.
“Well, they cheated me,” he told the Houston Chronicle in Spanish, reflecting on the incident more than a year later. “I was robbed. I trusted them because I saw they had already sold many cars and had even looked at a few of them myself.”
Allure of deals online
The scam that targeted Guerrero is part of a growing trend.
The Houston region has become a playground for thieves looking for vehicles to steal. Some of these cars are used in the commission of crimes.
But a growing number are sold to unsuspecting residents looking for an affordable vehicle in an increasingly expensive car market, according to investigators from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, multiple constable’s offices and the Houston Police Department.
“It’s happened over the last 2½ years, predominantly in the Hispanic community,” said Sgt. Eduardo Rivera, a member of the sheriff’s auto crimes task force.
It’s difficult to pinpoint why some Latinos have been targeted in these scams, according to multiple agencies. Officials speculated that it could be because immigrants living in the U.S. illegally are hesitant to report scams like this to the police.
People may look to informal online markets to avoid credit checks at dealerships.
Guerrero, who was desperate for a new car, was drawn in by the affordability.
“We get pulled in by the low prices,” he said. “But at least now we know better.”
The stolen car sales often play out as they did for Guerrero, Rivera said.
A person will search online, on a place like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, for an inexpensive vehicle. Maybe the individual doesn’t have great credit or just can’t afford anything else, but the buyer will find an affordable vehicle and purchase it.
But when they go to register it, or secure the title, they discover it has been stolen, Rivera said.
Not always a happy ending
“Most of the victims are out 10 to 20 grand,” said Jeff McShan, a spokesperson for the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office. “Most are Spanish-speaking immigrants who saved for a long time for a truck.”
While investigators from various local agencies agreed the scheme was becoming a growing problem, Rivera said it was difficult to quantify, because for most law enforcement agencies, the vehicles are listed as part of a stolen vehicle report.
The fact that they’re purchased by innocent victims doesn’t become a separate police report, Rivera said.
Guerrero’s case was unique in that it ended in an arrest, said Rivera.
Because he’d traded paperwork and even IDs with the man who’d sold him the car, Guerrero had a name to give sheriff’s deputies when he called about the stolen vehicle.
And that man, Rashard Dornes, has since been charged with theft in connection with the incident, according to Harris County court records.
An attorney for Dornes declined to comment about the pending case.
But any solace Guerrero might take through the man being brought to justice is undone by the financial damage the ordeal has caused, especially since he said he was tricked into paying thousands extra during the transaction.
“How could it not hurt to lose the money?” Guerrero said. “$10,000 is $10,000, especially for someone who already doesn’t make a lot.”
Saving the money to buy the car was not an easy task. And because the vehicle was returned to its original owner after he reported it stolen, Guerrero was left without wheels. He has been leasing a vehicle, which has further drained his finances.
Conditions have gotten so bad, he’s struggled to pay his taxes on time, Guerrero said.