Con Artist Steals Car From Los Gatos Residence Through Online Fraud

A Los Gatos man had his car stolen by a con artist who walked up to his residence and drove away with the vehicle through a fraudulent transaction on Craigslist.

According to Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police, the 57-year-old victim advertised the sale of his old Mercedes Benz on the classified advertisement website sometime in mid September.

He waited a couple of weeks and then a suspect, whose exact age and identification are not confirmed by police yet, contacted the victim wanting to "buy" the car.

The thief arrived at the victim's Shannon Road home the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 24 to "purchase the vehicle" presenting a fictitious California driver's license and took off in the car, police said.

"The suspect possibly fraudulently used another person’s form of identification to make the transaction and identify himself to the seller," said Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police Sgt. spokesman Clinton Tada.

The victim and the suspect used a third-party source of payment website which declined the "initial payment" by the suspect, Sgt. Tada added.

Further investigation is ongoing with the payment company to determine the thief's identity and the reason why the funds were declined, Sgt. Tada explained.

It's unknown the exact value and condition of the vehicle, but it was originally "sold" for $1,600, Sgt. Tada said.

Police said they have leads as to the suspect's identity and whereabouts and said the investigation is ongoing with detectives actively pursuing the case.