LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Diana Nagibi bought a 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 from a private seller off the website OfferUp only to find out it had been reported stolen.
She gave the seller of the truck $7,600 for the truck and even spent around $500 on repairs for the truck. After she took it to the Department of Motor Vehicles to register her new purchase, she found out it had been stolen.
She filed a police report with the North Las Vegas Police Department. They impounded the vehicle and at that point, she was out the money and the vehicle.
“There are better ways to make money than to scam people,” Nagibi said.
These kinds of scams are becoming more common according to the DMV. As many as two stolen vehicles are discovered at their VIN Inspection Stations every week.
The best way to avoid becoming a victim to these types of scams according to the DMV is to never buy a victim of a social media website, and always buy from a licensed dealer. You can find out if someone is licensed on the DMV website. And always make sure the person selling the vehicle is listed on the title.
There are some other red flags to look for.
“If someone is trying to induce you into paying cash for a vehicle by making the price very attractive it’s likely that person is trying to sell it quick for a reason that you are not aware of. Possibly because it is stolen or got an odometer rollback,” JD Decker at the DMV Compliance Enforcement Division explained.
You can find more information here.
