SCAM ALERT!!! - Mobile Mechanic - "Derek Spaar"

Tustin CA

Description

BUYER BEWARE!!!!! I was just scammed by someone posing as certified mobile mechanic. This person may change his modus operandi, but the crux of what this scammer did was pose as a certified ASE mechanic who is mobile with an expertise in Diesel, which was odd as I was not asking for a repair on a diesel vehicle. Anyway, the personal called me based on my CL posting and had an impressive knowledge of car mechanics. I have turned wrenches on cars over the last 30 years, so my opinion is this guy is no stranger to automobile repair. He is very convincing on the phone and as a matter of fact, he will talk your ear off if you allow it! He come off very genuine and caring of your needs and offers a lot of technical "advice." I think what threw me off was the fact that this guy talked my ear off where most scammers are going to say only enough to execute their scam and then bounce. It could be this clown is more sophisticated than I am giving him credit for. But, I feel this is part of the scam. He comes of as genuine and then asks for a parts deposit. Yeah, I am an idiot and Venmo'd him the parts money. He is able to succeed at what he does by bad consumer decisions such as this. Venmo offers NO buyer protection. Demand Paypal (not Trusted Person or Friends & Family). I knew better but was lax with this jackass. Anyway, he will talk the talk and get you all warm and fuzzy before asking for the "parts payment" because he does not front the money to acquire the parts for the repair. If this is requested, immediately hang up and move on. He goes by the name of "Derek Spaar" which is an actual person based on my research (albeit after the fact!). This name is attributed to be a person based out of Arizona but claims be in Glendale, CA with a La Cañada Flintridge, CA area code). It turns out, his number belongs to a burner phone. He picked up his phone every time I called prior to my foolish parts deposit. Once money was sent, he oddly communicated via text only and that was sparse. I'm actually not sure why he even bothered texting after he got my money. His Venmo was @derek-spaar-3. This doesn't hold too much relevance as anyone can create as many scammer Venmo accounts as they want but I bring this up for one reason only.... This may be Derek Spaar, who based on public arrest records has a drug problem, or it may be someone playing off this person's purported reputation as a Diesel mechanic. I guess I will never know. I was scammed and it was my own dumb fault. I write this in hopes of others seeing it and avoiding this guy or anyone with a similar M.O. He talks the talk. He's very technical in conversation. He comes off as very cordial and polite and he is very responsive - prior to getting paid! Don't fall for it like I did. Demand Paypal (which comes with buyer protection), or better yet, pay ONLY after services are rendered regardless of the "deal" or their sob story that they can't front the cash for the parts in fear of getting burned by the buyer. His name and story can change but his scam is all about getting you comfortable via phone conversations and then getting your money in the form of a "parts deposit" prior to the service being rendered.