3 buyers scammed on car deals through popular social media site

Vehicles for sale in this undated file image. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

A social media ad offering discounts on the sale of cars caught more than one buyer’s eye.

Under the axiom, ‘if it sounds to be to be true…’ three people fell for the same scam in Caledon last July.

It seems that a scammer took out an ad on Facebook Marketplace indicating a family discount was offered on the sale of cars.

The trio all transferred money to the alleged seller and the final transactions were completed at a dealership.

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However, the legitimate loans the buyers had signed for didn’t account for the deposits they had made to the seller.

The Caledon Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Major Crime Unit got involved and as of March 5, charged a 52-year-old Oakville man with:

• Possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime over $5,000
• Three counts of fraud over $5,000
• Intimidation - use of threatens use of violence
• Laundering the proceeds of a crime

The accused is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Orangeville on April 3 to answer to the charges.