Just when we thought we’d seen all the car scams out there, authorities in Minneapolis bust a really creative one. The two-way car tampering scheme not only ripped off innocent people buying vehicles from the suspects, but also ripped off the people selling their cars to the group.
Classy couple busted for stealing a Nissan 240Z.
That’s right, these guys found a way to tamper with rides that were for sale, lowball the owners, then turn around and falsely inflate the value as they sold them. If the operation weren’t so scummy, we would be impressed by their ingenuity.
According to Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, the suspects made tens of thousands of dollars licitly by duping at least a dozen different people selling cars in the metro Minneapolis area and some surrounding states.
They did that by going to look at the used vehicles listed for sale with at least two guys. One would distract the seller while another would do something to make the car seem like it had a serious issue, like pouring oil on the radiator.
We’ve seen that scam many times before. When the seller believes there is something wrong with the vehicle, they agree to sell it for significantly less.
But these guys decided to double dip. They would take the same cars and roll back the odometers, selling them at top dollar, making $10,000 to $15,000 in profit on each ride.
While these guys were clever, they still made mistakes, leaving a trail which HCSO Special Assignment Unit detectives followed back to them. With a search warrant in hand, they descended on a property in Minneapolis, finding six vehicles with tampered odometers.
They also found tools for tampering with car odometers, over $53,000 in cash, and other evidence. Now five suspects are facing a long list of charges.
Image via Hennepin County Sheriff's Office
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