A Bellefontaine man lost $800 this week after falling for an online scam involving a fake vehicle listing on Facebook Marketplace.
According to the Bellefontaine Police Department, the man had been communicating with someone claiming to sell a 2003 Chevy Tahoe out of Rhode Island.
The seller promised free shipping, and the total cost was just $800.
The victim paid using two Green Dot prepaid cards—one for $500 and another for $300—and sent the card details via email as instructed.
But once the payment was made, the seller asked for even more money.
That’s when the victim realized something wasn’t right.
He said he received what looked like an official eBay link with more information about the vehicle, but he was never prompted to log in to an eBay account.
When he tried contacting the seller again, they stopped responding altogether.
Deputies looked into the Facebook profile the man had been dealing with and found it was only recently created, with little to no information attached.
The phone number used by the scammer had a California area code, further confirming it was a scam.
Police are reminding residents to be cautious when making purchases online, especially when sellers request payment through prepaid or gift cards, which are difficult to trace and commonly used in scams.
If a deal seems too good to be true—it probably is.
