ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. -- St. Johns County is being "inundated" with online con artists right now, according to Chuck Mulligan with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office (SJSO).
Mulligan said it’s nearly impossible to find the con artists because technology today allows them to disappear without a trace online.
That wasn't what Robert Taylor was hoping to hear from SJSO after losing $1,500 to a bogus offer on Craigslist last Thursday.
"I’ve been working overtime, to get my money back, Fridays, Saturdays," Taylor said. "It was just good enough of a deal that I wanted to jump on it."
He found an ATV for sale with additional tires thrown in for free. He started texting the seller, who told Taylor “I need some help on your end." The seller told Robert to load the money onto a "Green Dot Card" then share his account number with them over the phone to pay.
With the payment accepted, Taylor made the trek from St. Augustine to Gainesville to pick up his new ATV, but when he arrived, there was no one to meet him and now the seller is unreachable.
He has since found multiple other posts connected to the alleged con artist on Craigslist.
SJSO gave him some disappointing news when he filed the report.
"This kind of scam they said has to go to an office up north somewhere on a stack three feet high," Taylor said.
Mulligan said the amount of time, resources and money it takes to find these con artists can sometimes outweigh the amount of money they actually steal.
"Most of them create accounts in other countries then it becomes multi-jurisdictional and we have to get subpoenas on each account to find their location," Mulligan said.
Mulligan said them have made this their career, taking thousands of dollars from people online every week then leaving without a trace and creating a new account elsewhere.
Mulligan said they are called con artists for a reason; "con" from the word “confident”; they will gain your confidence, he said.
Mulligan said the Green Dot Cards are one of the most common "scams" they see. Authorities advise paying in cash and only when you actually have the item you have purchased. They also highly recommend meeting in a busy, public location.
They urge the public to make their Craigslist meet-ups at SJSO because it will test the legitimacy of the seller.