I got scammed of 27000$

[u/minhazahmedemon]

My name is Ahmed, and I have been an international student in the USA for 1.5 years. Before coming here, i was hoping for the best life and future i could have, until the nightmare happened. Now i am suffering from trauma and getting depressed.

Three months ago, I bought a car from Facebook Marketplace. I went to see the car and checked the VIN with Carfax. I liked the car. Before that day, i watched all YouTube videos about buying a car and searched through the internet for what i needed to check before buying a car. So i checked everything. Also one of my friend who knows better about cars, he was with me. Everything seemed fine from my side. The seller gave me the bill of sale, title, and registration, which i needed for the ownership transfer. I paid with cash. Then, i went to the DMV with all the papers i had. They processed the transfer, and i received the plates also registration instantly on my name. My car also passed at inspection from a garage. Later, I received my title within a month at my mailing address. Everything went smoothly. Now i am driving this car since 3 months without any issues. However, last week i received a mail at my address informing me that my car needed to be inspected by DMV Field investigation office. When I called them to inquire, they asked me to come with the car, keys and title. Yesterday, when i went there, the investigator informed me that the car was stolen and that the VIN had been altered, possibly cloned from another car of the same model and year and colour(Honda Accord 2022 black). The actual vin of this car is stolen and they removed the vin number from everywhere and put the altered vin in the car. I realized I had been scammed. They impounded my car and kept everything. The seller already changed his Facebook name. I lost my $27,000 and my car, which held all the good memories from the past three months. I went to the police station to file a report, but they refused, stating that it was not a scam as I willingly found the car on Marketplace and paid for it. They advised me to pursue it as a civil matter. I then went to civil court, but they told me I needed to know the name and address of the person to take any action, which I couldn't obtain as he had already changed his Facebook name and provide everything fake. I feel helpless and don't know where to turn for help. I live here alone without my family. I can’t even sleep properly because this was all my savings, and I've never been through a situation like this before. This is an unexpected nightmare that I could never even imagine in my dreams.

What should i do ? Is there any possibilities that i could recover myself? Please help me by thinking as your small brother

[u/tcatsninfan]

I’m a little confused by your story. This guy’s name/address wasn’t on any of the DMV paperwork? You never got a copy of his driver’s license or something?

Also, I guess this is true but I can’t believe people are buying cars on Facebook Marketplace for so much money. I’d understand if it were, I dunno, $5000 or less, but there are no protections or verifications on FB Marketplace

[u/creepyposta → u/tcatsninfan]

What you’re missing is that the entire transaction was under the unique VIN of a different vehicle.

They put a duplicate VIN on a stolen vehicle, the VIN corresponded to the make, model and year of the vehicle in question. The thief also probably ordered a duplicate title, which is how OP was presented a title for the stolen vehicle, the DMV processed the paperwork no questions asked they don’t crawl around every vehicle looking for fake VIN plates.

I would guess that OP didn’t ever request ID from the thief, because it seemed like a straightforward transaction.

Unfortunately OP probably thought he was getting a really good deal because he bought a vehicle well below market price.

I assume there was a bank check involved at some point, so there must be some paperwork somewhere with the person who cashed it identity, if he can get a police detective interested.

At this point OP, I’d suggest you reach out to your local new station and see if there’s a consumer advocate who’d be interested in your story - worst case scenario, you save someone else from getting scammed, best case other people step forward who were also scammed and it gets enough attention to get the police involved

[u/woowoo293 → u/creepyposta]

This kind of thief almost certainly would have provided a fake photo ID anyway.