Port Hope (September 13, 2019) – A Port Hope resident was defrauded of $500, which he paid for a car, he found in an advertisement on Kijiji on September 10. After he put down the deposit, the bogus seller could not be reached anymore and it turned out that the provided address was not related to the scammer.
This week a so-thought vehicle purchase through the buy and sell website Kijiji went wrong. A man from the west end of Port Hope found a car for sale on Kijiji, on September 10. He was interested in buying the 2003 Dodge Truck and started texting with the supposed owner. The seller asked for a deposit of $500. To secure the purchase, the scammed buyer directed the requested amount by interact transfer to a Gmail account.
At a provided address in Mississauga, he wanted to finalize the purchase. However, the so thought owner of the car could not be found and he figured out that the address is not related to the name of the bogus seller. Then, he tried to contact the alleged fraudster, just to find out that he blocked him on Kijiji.
The Port Hope Police are investigating and issued a warning to the public against fraudsters who utilize buy and sell sites for their phony activities. On their website, Kijiji advises victims of fraud to contact the online marketplace and the local police service. They inform their costumers that ‘Kijiji works with law enforcement agencies to try to catch scammers and stop bad people from using the site.’
