CALEDONIA, Mich. — A Kent County man says he lost out on hundreds of dollars after he recently sold a PlayStation 5 to someone who paid with fake cash.
“I went to go count it…and something felt slightly off about the money,” said Josh Quist, 21. “It felt a little too thick.”
It happened last Friday around 6 p.m. at the Shell gas station off of Kalamazoo Avenue in Gaines Township.
According to Quist, that’s where he met the son of the buyer, who he found through Facebook Marketplace.
They agreed to a $540 price tag.
“He pulled up in a black Toyota Supra and he drove up next to me and rolled down his window,” sad Quist. “He had a bunch of 20s in his hand and he counted the money.”
It went well until the moment after their exchange.
Quist explains the cash given to him felt weird, so he studied it and soon realized its lack of value.
“I actually take a closer look at the bills and on the corners, underneath the 20, it says ‘PROP’ in tiny little letters, and red flags everywhere in my head,” said Quist.
The buyer had left by that point though, so Quist couldn’t confront him about it.
He tried to message their account, but the person behind it had already deleted it.
“Things can go wrong in very weird ways,” said Katie Grevious, spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau of Western Michigan.
Grevious says scammers often use social media to target people.
She suggests where someone plans to buy or sell an item, they take the following steps:
- Research the person you’re making a deal with
- Only conduct business on that platform
- Do not share any personal information like your phone number or address
- Meet in a public place with security cameras and witnesses
- Try to use a mobile cash app, but read their privacy policies ahead of time
- Link a credit card to it too rather than a debit card
- Ask questions about the item
If someone takes your money, she says people should report it to the police and the platform where the deal was made.
“You're allowed to ask questions before you buy things and if someone doesn't want to tell you those things, or they're just really pushy for you to make, make the sale or make the purchase, that's a sign that maybe they're hiding something,” said Grevious.
Quist intends to do that next time. He says its been difficult to go without the money.
“I have bills to pay,” said Quist. “I have a car and I'm under 25, so car insurance is expensive. I do give my parents rent, and I help pay for things around here. I pay for mostly my own food and things like that and so that $540 is like a lot of money.”
A police report has been filed with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
Quist ask anyone with information to call detectives at 616.632.6125 or call Silent Observer at 616.774.2345 to report it anonymously.
