Metro police officer warns of internet, theft scams

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Metro police officer warns of internet, theft scams

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Reported by Caroline Moses - email

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -

If you ever sell stuff online, police say there's something important you need to know.

Some people listing cars and motorcycles are losing their vehicles and their cash, but after a Metro police officer almost became a victim himself, he says there are a few simple things you can do to avoid falling for a scam.

Cpt. Terrence Graves catches criminals for a living, but even he was almost duped by the latest online scam.

"I attempted to sell a motorcycle and the guy left with it, but I had a picture of his ID," Graves said.

He says police have been seeing this scheme more and more. Someone acts like they want to buy a car, bike or four-wheeler posted on Craigslist.

They show up to see the vehicle and ask to take a test drive.

"It's common sense when you buy a car you want to drive it, so it could be an honest looking person say, 'Hey you mind if I take it around the block, test drive it,'" Graves said.

It happened to Graves when he was selling his bike and the man never came back from his alleged test drive.

But Graves managed to use the photo he took of the suspect's license to track him down in Kentucky.

"If someone has come to test drive your vehicle, it's not a bad practice to ask them for their driver's license. Maybe take a picture of their license with your cell phone and email it to yourself," Graves said.

Police say two men were arrested last week after they allegedly took several cars, motorcycles and four-wheelers on test drives but never returned.

Graves says he now only agrees to meet potential buyers at a police station, so he can better protect himself.

"It's just that we need to pay attention to who we are giving our car to and see if we can't get some information from them," Graves said.

Police say this scheme is already happening in Nashville, Hendersonville, Dickson and parts of Kentucky.

But if sellers take some extra steps to get buyers' information first, they can protect themselves from becoming the next victim.

"It could happen to anybody, but the good news is we were able to recover it," Graves said.

Police provided other tips for protecting sellers from this scheme.

Officials suggest that you take a photo of the vehicle the potential buyer showed up in, take a photo of the car's license plate, and only agree to meet in a location where there are good surveillance cameras nearby.