Calgary man selling vehicles online rolled back odometers, say police
A Calgary man has been charged with fraud after police say he bought vehicles at auction with high kilometres and then rolled back the odometer.
Calgary police say more than 54 vehicles were sold to unsuspecting buyers through websites like Kijiji, Craigslist and Auto Trader.
"The offender was purchasing vehicles from the auction house — at which time he would take those vehicles and maybe have small repairs done to them, maybe tune-ups … change some parts out — and take them to auto repair facilities where we believe the odometers were rolled back," said Staff Sgt. Kristie Verheul.
In one case, the odometer was rolled back approximately 208,000 kilometres.
The investigation was launched when a credit card company tipped off police in January that "locally skimmed cards" were being used to service the vehicles and buy parts.
A 28-year-old man faces one count of fraud over $5,000.
Police say the approximate value of fraud is $300,000, with the number likely to increase as more victims are identified.
