A woman thousands of people after making a first purchase online. He came up with the idea for the distributor in Wisconsin, but the address on the online page had been spoofed.
MILWAUKEE – A woman lost tens of thousands of dollars after making a first online purchase. She contacted the dealer in Wisconsin, but the address on the online page had been faked.
Sindy Castillo said it was a strategic investment. Instead, it temporarily headed south.
“Basically, they took my money,” he said.
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Castillo lives in Rosamund, California, where his family made a living selling cars and heavy equipment. After her father retired, she sold the assets of her business and followed in his footsteps by employing the money from the sale of the assets. Buy a backhoe at an auction site. I was thinking of promoting it.
“They were going to give me the equipment,” Castillo said.
backhoe
The backhoe arrived. Castillo lost more than $47,000.
“I call and call all day, send emails. Nothing,” he said.
Castillo said he discovered the company, GRTC Repo Time, on Facebook. He said the online page disappeared some time after sending money. Contact 6 called his phone number, but no one answered.
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The Better Business Bureau issued an alert related to the company, a directory and a company in Wisconsin. Contact 6 went to check.
The address listed on the GRTC Repo Time Castillo invoice is 2501 West Beltline Highway in Madison. At this address, Contact 6 found a shopping mall called Arbor Gate. Its asset manager calls it “a multi-tenant construct that has about 20 separate tenants at any given time. “
This is not a community where you would expect to locate yourself promoting heavy machinery.
MIG Commercial Real Estate, LLC, is a co-owner and asset manager of Arbor Gate. Christopher Konz, MIG’s vice president of finance, told Contact 6, “Since opening in 2008, Arbor Gate has leased any area to tenants participating in the sale. of heavy machinery. “
Arbor Gate Statement
Konz wrote in an email, “MIG and Arbor Gate have never done business or heard of a company operating the so-called GRTC Repo Time. “
BBB said the website’s URL appears to be from Hong Kong.
“These are scammers or scammers hijacking valid addresses,” said Lisa Schiller of BBB Serving Wisconsin. “They got their money back and moved on. “
Casillo tried to get a refund from his bank, but was told that because he had legalized the wire transfer, it was his personal responsibility.
BBB Study on Fake Vehicle and Machine Ads
Fake car and machine listings are discovered on internet sites and social media platforms. A 2020 BBB study claimed that “scammers simply post pictures and descriptions of cars used in other advertisements and then ask interested buyers to pay cash. . . It’s almost getting money back. “
Castillo would have liked to know the address before sending him money. All you can do now is tell your story.
“I’m angry. I’m angry,” Castillo said. “It seemed legit. “
If you’re buying a car, boat, or even a backhoe online, BBB recommends some Google searches. First, look up the address to see if the location makes sense. Then, check to see if the phone number has any complaints online. Then, look for the ad’s symbol to see if it was copied from any other ad.