Three families that were swindled out of $60,000 will get their money back just in time for Christmas.
Three different families, two from Texas and one from California, responded to a Utah-based Craig's List ad that offered a 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe for sale by a man who claimed to be a Marine deploying to Afghanistan.
Each of the couples did some investigation into the legitimacy of the vehicle, Sandy police say, before wiring nearly $20,000 each to a bank account in Sandy. However after sending the money, the couples never received the truck.
In October, one family contacted the Sandy Police Department, and officers, along with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, were able to freeze the bank account and seize the money.
The police have not found the suspect, but have issued a warrant for his arrest. He was formally charged with three felony counts of theft by deception and one count of communications fraud.
"Although this story has a happy ending for these victims of fraud, this is not always the case," said Sgt. Troy Arnold. "Police remind people to always use caution when conducting business transactions over the Internet. Do as much as possible to verify the seller's information and to make sure the item they are purchasing is not too good to be true."
Arnold also encourages victims of such fraud to report it to police so officers can attempt to locate and arrest those setting up scams.
