Nijme Fardous drove from Dearborn to Cincinnati, Ohio, to purchase a truck that was posted for sale on Facebook Marketplace, but when she arrived there was more than just a truck waiting for her.
Fardous said that she found the truck online, and sent a US$500 (RM2,190) deposit to hold it while she made the four-hour drive.
After that she went to a bank, took out US$14,500 (RM63,531) and headed to Ohio with her parents.
They got to the agreed upon location, and the used 2020 Ford Explorer was in the lot.
“So, we go to the parking lot. I get into the truck with her, and we’re counting the money,” Fardous told WLWT in Cincinnati.
The seller, identified by police as Amanda Renn Griffin, went to her boyfriend’s car for a minute, and came back with a gun, which Fardous said was held to her head.
Fardous said Griffin told her to leave the money and get out of the vehicle.
“Always remember that you never get something for nothing and if it sounds too good to be true it absolutely is,” Det. Charles Zopfi of the Cincinnati Police Department told WLWT.
The detective said that there are at least six other people who have fallen for similar scams through the same Facebook account.
The Facebook account is “Mandii Remii”.
Police said there are seven felony warrants already outstanding for Griffin, six in Ohio and one in Kentucky. – Press & Guide, Dearborn, Mich./Tribune News Service
