Photo credit: Shuservice-Wikimedia Commons CC by SA4.0 DEED
by Debbie Burke
Let’s say you’re an individual who needs a van that’s wheelchair accessible, or a medical facility or senior community that requires a mobility-accessible vehicle.
Custom vehicles are expensive–ranging from $80-100K plus for new models. Therefore, many buyers opt for used ones.
Because such vehicles are relatively rare and hard to find, choices are limited.
So, you go online.
There you find a van that fits your needs. You sign a contract, send payment, receive a bill of sale, and arrange delivery for a van you’ve never actually seen.
If all goes well, the van arrives as promised and you go merrily on your way.
However, if you bought that vehicle from an unscrupulous party or dealership, you may never see the van and you may be out the money.
In December 2023, Edward Scott Rock, 47, a Philadelphia used car dealer, was indicted on charges of mail and wire fraud. According to the U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, Rock allegedly “accepted payment for, but failed to deliver, automobiles to approximately 120 purchasers.”
“The Indictment alleges that between 2019 and 2023, Edward Scott Rock obtained used vehicles from automobile auctions, and then listed and advertised them for sale on the Internet. The majority of vehicles sold by Rock to victims were accessible vehicles equipped for wheelchair-users or people with disabilities. Despite signing bills of sale for the vehicles, and accepting payment, Rock did not deliver the vehicles as agreed upon. In total, Rock defrauded approximately 120 victims across 36 states, and caused losses exceeding $2.5 million. Approximately two-thirds of Rock’s victims were persons with a physical or mobility disability, persons over the age of 65, or businesses which provided transportation services to those populations.”
According to Jalopnik.com, “a 2017 Ford T150 van [was] sold to 13 different people over 11 months...Rock took in $260,000 for the previously mentioned wheelchair-accessible T150 before handing over the van to one of the buyers, without a title.”
In another example from wift.org, a Tempe, AZ dealer wired $25,000 to Rock to purchase two Ford cargo vans. Several months later, the vans had not been delivered and the dealer demanded a refund. Excuses and more delays followed. After two years and threats of legal action, Rock finally refunded the money.
In other cases, “Rock sometimes sent refund checks, but he’d either stop payment on them or they would bounce, the indictment said.”
The U.S. Attorney states: “If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 170 years’ imprisonment, a 5-year period of supervised release, a $2,750,000 fine, and restitution and forfeiture.”
Motorfinanceonline.com quotes a March 2023 survey in which 21% of buyers have purchased a vehicle online, sight unseen. This is an increase from 2021 when only 10% did so.
Scammers are quick to jump on new opportunities to part unsuspecting victims from their money.
Caveat emptor.
~~~
TKZers: Would you ever buy a vehicle sight unseen? If you have, what was your experience?
What a slimeball. I’d lay odds they’re closer to $100k nowadays as wheelchair accessible vans were going for $75k even 10 or so years ago.
I have never nor do I plan to ever purchase a vehicle sight unseen. I hope no one else gets taken in with a scam like this. So sad that people would even think of doing a rotten thing like that. But I guess that verifies what we already knew–human kind supplies endless fodder for stories.
Brenda, you’re probably right about the costs of vans. The models I researched were pretty bare bones.
For sure, we’ll never run out of villains. Thanks for stopping by.
A cautionary tale for sure, Debbie. He had quite the little stolen van scheme going on there. I would only buy a vehicle online if it were through a reputable vendor like the big online one a friend works for.
I did buy my first car through a buyer’s agent back in 1987 connected to our credit union. All very above board. A new compact sedan which turned out to be an utter lemon. My wife and I got our money’s worth on our four year extended warranty. Multiple fuel pumps and the final nail in the car’s coffin nearly four years on—the automatic transmission seized up on a hill on my way to work at the library.
After having the transmission replaced, all under warranty, I traded it in on a new Honda Civic and learned that my lemon had had body damage and been repaired—probably on the way from the factory to the lot it sat in before the agent learned of it. The irony is the first car of that model he found for us was burgundy, and we wanted the dark blue. If we’d gone with red, we might have been spared four years of repairs (all under warranty though).
Dale, we’ve run across our fair share of lemons, too, including a 1984 Lincoln bought new through a “reputable” dealership. Periodically all the interior and exterior lights would go out (unnerving when driving at night), the power doorlocks would latch and unlatch at will, and it once put itself in gear and took off (without me!).
We hired a lemon law attorney who learned the car had been underwater in a flood, cleaned up, and sold as new. As the electronics corroded, it started pulling its stunts.
We named it “Christine.”
Florida has a law, Debbie, that cars that have been underwater cannot be sold or repaired. Unscrupulous dealers ship them out of state.
Good to know, Elaine. Thanks.
Good morning, Debbie. You certainly pick out stories to stir up our righteous indignation. I won’t need as much coffee this morning.
No, I would never buy a vehicle sight unseen. I am very fortunate to have brothers-in-law who know vehicles inside and out, and even buy and fix up vehicles to resell. I always take one of them with me when I go to look at a used vehicle. They’ve found a multitude of issues I would have never seen.
As for Edward Scott Rock’s sentence, I think the judge should have added that each morning Edward Scott would get a breakfast tray that was “scot-free” to the tax payers, empty, and still dirty from the night before.
Have a great day!
Steve, having knowledgable friends/family is invaluable!
Want to volunteer for jury duty on this case?
I wouldn’t make it through jury selection. The defense would throw me out in a minute.
I love your true crime posts, Debby. Often they end up on my mystery question blog. This one is no exception.
I’ve never bought a car online but I have friends who have and so far they’ve lucked out.
Aw, thanks, Patricia! I enjoy searching out interesting crime stories. Unbelievable what some people will do.
Just when I thought there couldn’t be a lower group of people than those who scam the elderly, Mr. Rock has managed to go lower still–scamming the elderly disabled.
I hope he gets the maximum sentence and has to serve his time in a wheelchair.
Kay, your proposed sentences always fit the crime! Wish you were a judge.
Without the wheels . . .
The last two car purchases my husband and I made were sort of sight unseen. We used Carvana and chose vehicles we felt were appropriate for our needs. When the cars were delivered, we were given the option to test drive and accept, then given a 30 day refusal option or trade. The first one was a good car, but didn’t pass the required state inspection within the 30 days. Carvana, or their subcontractor, made good on the repairs needed because the dealership we took the car to had a bulldog employee who fought in our corner. We gave her homemade cookies afterwards. The second one sailed through the process, and two years later we’re still driving it with a sense of awe and satisfaction. This didn’t start out as an advertisement for Carvana, but our experiences with sight unseen buying have been good. Some of our experiences with purchases that we could see outright were less than stellar.
Joe, glad you had good luck with your two purchases. Kudos to those who worked to make the problems right. Cookies are a wonderful way to say “thanks” to someone who goes above and beyond, all too rare these days.
What a jerk, taking advantage of handicapped people. I’ve searched for a car online, but never bought it without an inspection. One looked promising, but I paid a local mechanic to check it out. The Carfax said it had never been in an accident. Turned out the car had never been in a REPORTED accident. The mechanic saw it had been in a front end collision (paint color difference and other indications) and advised against buying it. He was worth every penny for his advice.
Glad your mechanic caught that, Elaine.
Many people don’t report accidents b/c they don’t want their insurance rates to go up. Also, police often don’t respond to accidents unless injuries are involved. That creates lots of unreported accidents.
Nope!
Me neither, Deb. Gotta taste it, smell it, listen to it, touch it, drive it.
Exactly! (reading comments after writing mine LOL)
Wow, the nerve of some people, eh? I would never buy a vehicle sight unseen. Too stuck in my ways not to test drive it first. Plus, I gotta make sure it suits me. Is it comfortable? Do I like the color? The interior? How anyone buys a vehicle online is beyond me. The info is too limited.
Am I surprised a slimball would sell the same truck multiple times? Not in the least.
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date, Debbie! Good to know.
Sue, I wonder how the scheme went on from 2019 to 2023 w/o a customer raising hell.
If the wheels fall off my great old car, I wouldn’t go online to replace it.