Purchased 2000 Land Cruiser from Odometer Fraud seller. NEED HELP. (1 Viewer)

[jsphaguirre]

Post up some pictures under hood of the radiator support, and behind the headlights, inner fenders, etc. Will help determine what has been replaced.

I will definitely post more pictures of the engine and under the car/ interior asap.

View attachment 3831012

Two things wrong with this receipt. One is the url - ".c om".

The other is the 415 phone number. I just called it - it is the number for Toyota of Marin.

I feel so dumb about this. It’s embarrassing.

Ok, since we're all playing detective here is my theory:

You are in fact the 5th owner.

You bought it from the 4th owner who is a complete mystery man (and obviously a scammer). This is because he never registered or titled the vehicle when he bought it from the 3rd owner (Joshua Bailey). This is illegal - it's called jumping titles. The title in your screenshot should never be in that state with only seller information filled out without buyer information.

3rd owner is obviously Joshua Bailey. If you are lucky you can contact him and figure out the scumbag he sold it too, but I'm sure the scumbag covered his tracks as he specifically requested Bailey to just complete the seller info and that he would fill in the buyer info "later". Bailey screwed up complying with this request.

4th owner then resets the odo, fudges all the docs, probably uses a burner phone, claims he is Bailey and resells at a huge profit from where he bought.

Anyways, I could be completely off base. But stuff like this is why some states (like here in North Carolina) we require the seller's information on the title to be notarized. The notary also verifies a buyer's information is present on the title as well before they approve it.

This sounds demoralizing but could very well be true. I did not know that someone could do that.

 

[D21FJ60]

His number was 628-800-2036

This is a general question and a relatively ignorant one but in my defense I am not super techy. |
Is it possible to ping this guys location using his number or does someone have to get him to answer a call first?

 

[hoser]

He sent me these photos the morning of the sale. Kinda looks like the same neighborhood.

I would guess he lives there. People don't usually park in other people driveways especially when there is plenty of other parking on the street. I also noticed this vehicle has gotten its Smog check in Spring Valley (small city) multiple times.... in both his and the previous ownership. I wouldn't be surprised if owner 3 ("Joshua") knows Owner 2. Perhaps Owner 2 became ill and parked this thing for 5 years (3k miles) and the son offered it to his buddy, Josh. There's no reason to drive far for a Smog check for a vehicle that can easily pass.... you do it locally.

When was the sale date? It's a very particular picture that was done at your request, right? Any chance the pictures he sent your still have the Geotag info?

 

[CSteppe82]

He may not have taken those photos. But that location could lead you to one of the previous owners

The person the scammer bought the LC from could have sent him those pics before he purchased

 

[rexington14]

This sounds demoralizing but could very well be true. I did not know that someone could do that.

Yeah...

Did you actually witness the scumbag sign the title? Or did he hand it over to you already signed?

 

[jsphaguirre]

Yeah...

Did you actually witness the scumbag sign the title? Or did he hand it over to you already signed?

It was already signed..

I would guess he lives there. People don't usually park in other people driveways especially when there is plenty of other parking on the street. I also noticed this vehicle has gotten its Smog check in Spring Valley (small city) multiple times.... in both his and the previous ownership. I wouldn't be surprised if owner 3 ("Joshua") knows Owner 2. Perhaps Owner 2 became ill and parked this thing for 5 years (3k miles) and the son offered it to his buddy, Josh. There's no reason to drive far for a Smog check for a vehicle that can easily pass.... you do it locally.

When was the sale date? It's a very particular picture that was done at your request, right? Any chance the pictures he sent your still have the Geotag info?

Sale date was Feb 1st. And yes, I asked for a zoomed out picture of the tailgate per request because I wanted to see if the truck was real. I asked for that the morning before I drove to meet him. He sent me the picture at 8:35am, but I couldn’t find any geotag info on the photo

 

[riffman12]

I really hope the collective brain of Mud can find this waste of space.

I think maybe getting Joshua B's information of who he sold the car to could be interesting.

Any photos he sent you of the car where you could identify an address?

 

[kbfj621989]

Signatures don’t appear to match across all documents.

 

[jsphaguirre]

I really hope the collective brain of Mud can find this waste of space.

I think maybe getting Joshua B's information of who he sold the car to could be interesting.

Any photos he sent you of the car where you could identify an address?

I only had those two photos of the back of the truck and couldn’t find anything on them.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

The truck is in good shape. At this point just concerned about the engine. On a positive note, it did get my wife and child home safely from 100 miles away. Only issue I felt when driving my was that while coasting on the freeway, there was a small thud when applying gas after I took my food off the pedal. It seems to be something with the transmission.

Drive shaft would be my first thought.

I have not gotten to the end of the thread yet but you said you drove 100 miles home. This means the fraud took place in another jurisdiction then where you live so the police report needs to happen where you bought it.

For those who have said speedometer fraud is a federal crime? Good luck finding a prosecutor for a one off like this

I laugh heartily when smart internet people say that.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

$16,000 cash? As in a briefcase of currency? On the bright side you're well positioned to make a Youtube video on how not to buy a car. It should be a hit.

Says a person who has never held $1000 in cash apparently. It is not that big.

 

[jLB]

The odometer hold in it's ram. These guy's, buy salvage low miles combination meters (dash) and swap out.
Perhaps, found a way to reprogram.

If I understand correctly the dash panel has an EEPROM similar to the ECU’s EEPROM, that stores the key information for the immobilizer. The process would be similar to “virginizing” the immobilizer on the ECU.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Again: Don't do that.

Even if you did, what's your plan? If you don't tell them about the rollback, you're now the one committing fraud. And if you do tell them, they sure as hell aren't going to register it with the odometer as it is.

Not really. There is a place on most forms that says the mileage is not accurate or actual or in excess of mechanical ability of the speedo.

if I'm not mistaken, the ECM had to be re-programmed to do this

I would be curious what techstream shows.

Joshua Bailey
DL: D7701090
3554 Rosecrans st
STE 114
San Diego, ca, 92110

View attachment 3830956

View attachment 3830958

Nice.
@CJF - do your thing
I lost my special powers this past June

Is this true that it won’t be able to be registered with a roll back?

No.

Of course. Have you called the police and DMV yet?

No. Unless that is some BS in Cali. Register it at my house in GA. I don't care.

I feel so dumb about this. It’s embarrassing.

Naw. Shouldn't be. Scammers gonna scam. You overpaid, sure. But the mistakes you made were not super dumb. Don't blame yourself. That is what rape victims do.
I have not read that it is a reconstructed vehicle yet

Ok, since we're all playing detective here is my theory:

You are in fact the 5th owner.

You bought it from the 4th owner who is a complete mystery man (and obviously a scammer). This is because he never registered or titled the vehicle when he bought it from the 3rd owner (Joshua Bailey). This is illegal - it's called jumping titles. The title in your screenshot should never be in that state with only seller information filled out without buyer information.

3rd owner is obviously Joshua Bailey. If you are lucky you can contact him and figure out the scumbag he sold it too, but I'm sure the scumbag covered his tracks as he specifically requested Bailey to just complete the seller info and that he would fill in the buyer info "later". Bailey screwed up complying with this request.

4th owner then resets the odo, fudges all the docs, probably uses a burner phone, claims he is Bailey and resells at a huge profit from where he bought.

Anyways, I could be completely off base. But stuff like this is why some states (like here in North Carolina) we require the seller's information on the title to be notarized. The notary also verifies a buyer's information is present on the title as well before they approve it.

Pretty decent assesment.
Oh - and Bailey might have a case for ID theft if he was bored.

 

[jsphaguirre]

I got a phone number lead to someone named Fadi, his number is 619)804-7777. I called the last reported service shop.

The shop said he was the one who serviced the truck on 5/16/24 in spring valley. The guy said he sells vehicles and goes in periodically.

I’m not sure if I should be the one to call. Thoughts?

Naw. Shouldn't be. Scammers gonna scam. You overpaid, sure. But the mistakes you made were not super dumb. Don't blame yourself. That is what rape victims do.
I have not read that it is a reconstructed vehicle yet

I feel like I got raped, dry haha.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Have the interweb sleuths all googled the phone numbers you have gathered and Facespaced?

There has to be someone on here with TLO, Lexis Nexis or one of those to run all the info you have gathered.

Anyways....

If you have a bored detective (nonsuch thing) this is the way it goes for an LEO:

Take a report in the right jurisdiction.
Run numbers in fonefinder.net to see if they are burners
Drop subpoenas for the phone
subscribers for the numbers you have.
Maybe get lucky.
Try to ID the names you have and the show you some pics of the guys he thinks it is.
Check the addresses developed to see if they match the images you have.
Backround on those addresses to get DL pics to show you.
Cop will need to interview previous owners to determine actual mileage or if they were source of fraud.
IF he gets a hit off an image, he could get a warrant, arrest the dude who would be out on bond in a few minutes and after 5 or 6 court appearances that YOU attend in San Diego or where ever, dude pleads to a misdemeanor and is ordered to pay you some money that you never get.

Then you sue and get a few bucks that do not cover your time.

Sucks but go as far as you want. Unless you have a detective in your pocket or are willing to go to jail over this by beating the dude up I think you are kinda stuck.

If I am wrong and the outcome is different I will bow to you.

 

[reduc]

I am reaching out to seek advice from anyone who has experience with their Land Cruiser because I am in a hole.

I just purchased a 2000 Land Cruiser in CA that was advertised as a single owner with 70,000 miles for $16,000. The ODO on the vehicle reads 70,000. But after purchasing we found a car fax report that says the vehicle has 281,264 miles and 3 owners. The seller had a carfax report and invoices from Toyota that showed the mileage that he advertised but it seems to be fake after pulling our own carfax (we effd up by not looking at this before purchasing..I know).

I am now in a dilemma.. I have a truck with significantly more miles than I thought it would have and repairs may be 10fold. Do I sell the truck and try to get back some money and take a loss? Or do I keep the truck?

I plan to take it to Toyota to get a full inspection on it so that I have a list of said repairs/ maintenance. At what expense is too much to continue on with the truck that has 281,264 miles on it? What are red flag repairs?

I was under the impression that the vehicle was well maintained but now I feel violated not knowing if it was taken care of.

The s*** thing is, the truck is in beautiful shape inside and out. Yet, didn’t catch the fraudulent odometer and falsifying the amount of owners.

I bought this vehicle as a family car to have daily for my 10 month child. I thought I was buying a well maintained machine because I need reliability. I sold my 2009 access cab Tacoma for this to upgrade to a 4 door and now I feel absolutely effd.

Can anyone offer any sort of advice so that I can think clearly on what do next in this situation? Do I continue with maintenance/ repairs for the truck with high mileage or do I sell now and cut my losses?

Thank you,

JosephView attachment 3830134View attachment 3830135

I am reaching out to seek advice from anyone who has experience with their Land Cruiser because I am in a hole.

I just purchased a 2000 Land Cruiser in CA that was advertised as a single owner with 70,000 miles for $16,000. The ODO on the vehicle reads 70,000. But after purchasing we found a car fax report that says the vehicle has 281,264 miles and 3 owners. The seller had a carfax report and invoices from Toyota that showed the mileage that he advertised but it seems to be fake after pulling our own carfax (we effd up by not looking at this before purchasing..I know).

I am now in a dilemma.. I have a truck with significantly more miles than I thought it would have and repairs may be 10fold. Do I sell the truck and try to get back some money and take a loss? Or do I keep the truck?

I plan to take it to Toyota to get a full inspection on it so that I have a list of said repairs/ maintenance. At what expense is too much to continue on with the truck that has 281,264 miles on it? What are red flag repairs?

I was under the impression that the vehicle was well maintained but now I feel violated not knowing if it was taken care of.

The s*** thing is, the truck is in beautiful shape inside and out. Yet, didn’t catch the fraudulent odometer and falsifying the amount of owners.

I bought this vehicle as a family car to have daily for my 10 month child. I thought I was buying a well maintained machine because I need reliability. I sold my 2009 access cab Tacoma for this to upgrade to a 4 door and now I feel absolutely effd.

Can anyone offer any sort of advice so that I can think clearly on what do next in this situation? Do I continue with maintenance/ repairs for the truck with high mileage or do I sell now and cut my losses?

Thank you,

JosephView attachment 3830134View attachment 3830135

Exact same thing happened to me back in Sept. San Diego area. Maybe the same guy? Reach out to me if you'd like to discuss further. I have been contacted by an investigator from CA DMV Investigations after filing my report, and would happily share my details with you.

 

[FxFormat]

I got a phone number lead to someone named Fadi, his number is 619)804-7777. I called the last reported service shop.

The shop said he was the one who serviced the truck on 5/16/24 in spring valley. The guy said he sells vehicles and goes in periodically.

I’m not sure if I should be the one to call. Thoughts?

What ethnicity was the seller? Fadi sounds like a middle eastern name, joshua Bailey sounds like a Caucasian name.

 

[kbfj621989]

In the first set of pictures, is that the car in your possession with the original seller’s plates still on it? Looks like the plates do match the car/vin. The bill of sale does not match the plate number, close but wrong.

I can almost make out the house number (1312??) in the picture with the tailgate open. What city did the seller say he lived in?

 

[Stiles]

Step 1: file a police report. Their advise on followup will be sound.

At the mileage and condition, you paid a fair price for what you got. Doesnt seem like you got screwed over, just deceived.

 

[jsphaguirre]

What ethnicity was the seller? Fadi sounds like a middle eastern name, joshua Bailey sounds like a Caucasian name.

The seller had an accent, over the phone it sounded middle eastern but in person I couldn’t tell. He claimed he was from Russia.
Seller description:
Male
5’10-5’11
Thin ~150
Age 25-30
Brown/black hair
Fair skin
No tattoos visible