A Huntington Beach man, along with several other victims selling electric bikes on Facebook Marketplace and other online platforms, were taken for thousands of dollars by a conniving thief using counterfeit cash made for the movies.
Earlier this month in Huntington Beach, a man identified only as Daniel, was contacted by a person interested in the Talaria Sting MX4 e-bike he’d put up for sale.
“It was a Saturday, like a weekend a half ago,” he explained. “The guy hit me up, he seemed interested. We exchanged messages back and forth a little bit. He called me on the phone and he seemed like a serious buyer.”
Daniel eventually invited the potential buyer to check out the e-bike at his Huntington Beach garage.
“We talked for a while and he just seemed super nice, seemed super trustworthy,” he said. “Clearly, he had been coached very well.”
Daniel’s price tag for the lightly used Talaria e-bike was $4,200.
“He’s acting like he doesn’t know how to use it and, ‘Oh, how do you do this and how do you do that?’ and I’m just kind of walking him through it. He was like, ‘Can I take it for a test drive?’ and I’m like, ‘Sure.’”
Before Daniel let the man take the ride, though, he told him that he would need the cash in hand first. That’s when the thief handed over an envelope full of what appeared to be hundred dollar bills.
“It’s kind of dim in here, it was late in the day on Saturday,” Daniel said of his garage. “I glance in the envelope and see a bunch of hundreds in there, it looks good. So, I’m like, ‘Okay, buddy, do your thing.’”
The suspect took off and never came back.
It didn’t take Daniel long to realize he’d been robbed. After a closer look at the money, he took off looking for the thief.
“It says, ‘For motion picture purposes only’ in real small fine print right here,” Daniel said, showing KTLA’s Omar Lewis the counterfeit cash.
Daniel filed a police report and after posting about the theft online, he received messages from several other victims who recognized the scammer.
“I got it confirmed from a guy in Redondo Beach, a guy in L.A., Escondido,” Daniel said.
Detectives with the Huntington Beach Police Department told KTLA they are working to catch the suspect. In the meantime, Daniel is warning other online sellers across Southern California to be cautious of this counterfeit criminal who is still on the run.
“I’d say, ‘Quit while you’re ahead, bud, because the walls are closing,’” Daniel said when asked if he had a message for the suspect.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Huntington Beach Police Department.