‘It was chaotic’: Alleged Facebook Marketplace scam caught on camera
An alleged Facebook Marketplace scam is caught on camera in Clifton. "It was chaotic
By Rachel Hirschheimer
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CINCINNATI (WLWT) — An alleged Facebook Marketplace scam is caught on camera in Clifton.
“It was chaotic,” Clifton resident Milo Moraine said.
A Clifton couple found out from their leasing office a person was allegedly luring people to a location near the Clifton Colony Apartments to purchase a posted phone after messaging about it on Facebook Marketplace. When the man would show up to pay for it, he would allegedly run away with the device.
Moraine and her fiancé, Bear Heroux, came up with a plan.
“We buy a fake iPhone online, it’s like $29 and we end up posting it online,” Moraine said.
The man in question messages them back on Facebook.
“The profile reaches out almost immediately and was like, ‘Hey, I really want this phone. What’s the battery life? What are the details? When can you meet me,” Heroux said.
With cameras rolling, Heroux meets this person outside the Clifton Colony leasing office.
“He said, ‘Hey, are you here about the phone?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I am,” Heroux said.
Once Heroux takes out the phone, that’s when the man takes off.
“He literally reached out, grabs it, snatches it, and then books it,” Heroux said.
Moraine watched the whole encounter.
“I called 911 and was shaking because of the adrenaline and I sounded trembly,” Moraine said.
Cincinnati police has confirmed there have been multiple thefts near the Clifton Colony leasing office, but no suspect has been identified.
“Somebody could potentially get shot, hurt, stabbed like it could end in death,” Moraine said. “Be careful when you reach out to somebody online or when somebody reaches out to you because people can portray themselves, especially in this time, as somebody that they’re not and you would never know that.”
Police recommend doing a Facebook Marketplace exchange in a police parking lot, or near one so all parties stay safe.
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