WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Wichita teen is warning others of a recent car scam after losing more than a year’s worth of savings.
Adelaide Winn is 19 years old. She has spent the last two years working multiple jobs and long hours to save up to buy her first car. Which would allow her to help out her family of five get around.
“I was so disappointed like, ‘hey, I just spent $1,200 on something that I didn’t even get after all,'” Adelaide said.
It all started with an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a 2010 Nissan Altima.
“She would send the car up here for like a five-day trial kind of thing. If we were able to put like the $1,200 on like a hold so we can get the car inspected,” Adelaide’s dad, Adam Winn, explained.
The seller from Oklahoma City said she used eBay for sales.
“We got an email, and it looked official, I mean down to the color and the font,” Adam said. “It was identical.”
The email claimed they would need to use gift cards for the purchase. So Adelaide bought three $400 American Express gift cards.
“We sent the receipts, cards, everything. Then I got an email saying it was confirmed,” Adelaide said. “A few hours later, it said I’d have to pay $1,200 more just to, you know, get the insurance for the car. So I was like, ‘why?'”
Concerned, Adelaide’s dad called eBay directly.
“‘I’m sorry, you were just scammed. I know it looks official, but we’ve been getting that a lot lately,'” eBay told Adam.
After filing a police report and spending hours on the phone, they were told nothing could be done.
“It just broke my heart. There was nothing I could do. They kept telling me there was nothing we could do. This person took her money and is gonna get away with it,” Adam said.
Now, they hope others will learn from their mistake.
“Make sure every aspect of it is 100% accurate and real because to us, it was what it turned out to be nothing but a scam,” Adam said.
“Just be careful overall. I don’t want anything to happen to anyone like this because they could be struggling really bad, and they really need it, and they just spent what they worked hard for nothing,” Adelaide added in.
If you would like to help Adelaide restart her saving, you can click here.