A woman and her family are out thousands of dollars after attempting to buy a car online.
She says the person online posed as a military service member and that played a big role in the scam.
The woman, who we’re only calling Jennifer, found a great car deal on Craigslist and even thought the purchase was insured, but it was all a scam.
It started with emails. The seller, a woman claiming she was in the military, about to be deployed, said her husband recently died and she needed to sell her daughter's car, a Honda Civic, quickly.
Jennifer thought it was a great stroke of luck and the perfect solution for her family.
But she was required to purchase Vanilla Cards, or Visa Cash Cards, to purchase the car. She sent $3,500 in cash cards, only to find out the car was never going to be delivered and the whole situation was a scam.
She said it's really tough to be out this money for her family and she hopes no one else gets caught by the same scam.
“I'd been saving this money so I could buy a car something good for my family and this lady or whoever this fake person was took me in,” she says.
Jennifer has filed several complaints with Internet crimes and the attorney general’s office, but these crimes are hard to prosecute.
Be aware if you're buying online, don't send cash or cards directly to the seller - use a third party option like Pay Pal or eBay.
