Craigslist scammers buy woman's car with $1K in counterfeit cash in Cinnaminson

CINNAMINSON, N.J. (WPVI) -- Kimmy Caruso-Wolbert walked into a bank Sunday morning with an envelope full of cash, ready to make a deposit. However, she walked out the victim of a scam.

"There were about six $50 bills that had the same serial number and not one of the bills they gave me was real," she said.

Caruso-Wolbert got quite the shock as she tried to deposit the $1,200 into her account the day after she had sold her 2002 Hyundai XGL on Craigslist.

The keys, title and an envelope of money were exchanged and the three buyers took off.

"They didn't seem like there was a care in the world. No jitters no nerves," said Caruso-Wolbert.

All of the cash they provided was fake.

That's when the Cinnaminson Police Department got involved.

Police say this counterfeit scam typically has multiple victims.

"They're going to try and sell it online and get real money in exchange and then that person will go to motor vehicles and they'll realize they have a stolen car," said Cinnaminson Police Lt. Richard Calabrese.

With a booming online market, incidents like these are exactly why the Cinnaminson Police Department instituted an "exchange zone" in their parking lot. Everything that happens in the exchange zone is captured on camera.

"They may not even show up if it's a scam," said Calabrese.

As police work to track the thieves, the search is on for the vehicle, which may be recovered as stolen property from an unsuspecting buyer.

"When I do get the car back, if that's the case, I'm going to give half of the proceeds to the person that got burned with me," said Caruso-Wolbert.

Police said they wouldn't be surprised if the car is already posted on online selling platforms. They also issued a reminder: if a sale seems too good to be true, it likely is.

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