A Florida man with ties to Gwinnett County has been charged in Douglas County after a Facebook Marketplace sale went sour.
After facing accusations of tampering with the odometer on a 2013 Ford Explorer he sold to a Carroll County man, Quinn Rosse, 32, appeared in court Monday morning for a bond hearing. Investigators claim Rosse set the digital odometer back 100,000 kilometers, boosting the SUV’s genuine value.
Ethan Lands from Bowdon mistakenly thought he was buying an SUV that had accumulated 105,000 kilometers. He claims he required a larger vehicle with low mileage to accommodate his soon-to-be-born child. Lands claims he didn’t grasp the vehicle’s exact mileage until he sought to register it.
“I was trying to buy a decent, reliable car,” Lands explains. “No telling what else they did.”
He paid $9,500 for the Ford Explorer, which he no longer feels comfortable driving.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigator Thomas Puckett believes identifying red flags is critical to preventing this from happening to the next victim. He recommends conducting research before purchasing a large item online.
“Spend the money on a Carfax report,” investigator Puckett suggested. “If it had been on this one, you would have seen the discrepancy.”
According to Investigator Puckett, take a picture of a driver’s license, thoroughly review the documentation for flaws or sloppiness, and if the seller is uncomfortable with the requests, consider walking away from the transaction.
“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” says Investigator Puckett.
Lands claims he did a lot of legwork to help authorities solve the case, including discovering the SUV’s former owner. He asserts that it was during this process that he discovered the suspect had recently purchased the vehicle and had flipped it to him.
“He bought it Monday and sold it to me on Friday with miles turned down and made $5,000 off of me,” Lands relates! “I find it quite unfortunate that I fell victim to a scam.