Kansas Man Charged with Swindling Eagan Man in Online Scam

A Kansas man has been charged with swindling an Eagan man – who thought he was buying a 1970 Chevy Chevelle online – out of $7,000.

Thomas M. Lee, 57, of Wichita, Kan., is charged with felony theft by swindle, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police were contacted in June 2010 by a resident who said he’d been the victim of an Internet scam.

The victim told police that two weeks earlier, he had seen photos of a 1970 Chevy Chevelle 350 SS online, and he had shown some interest in the vehicle.

About a week later, he got an e-mail from someone who claimed to be the car’s owner, who said the car was still for sale and that he was ready to sell it on eBay. The victim clicked a link in the e-mail and then clicked a button on the page that said, “Click to buy it now.”

The person claiming to be the car’s owner told the victim to pay via wire transfer to a Wichita credit union, promising that the money would not be released by the credit union until the Eagan man had received the car.

However, the victim told police, he made the $7,000 wire transfer, but never received the car.

The victim e-mailed the purported seller, and the man gave different excuses about why the car hadn’t yet been shipped, the complaint says. When the victim became suspicious and contacted eBay, he was told that the item number he provided didn’t exist.

The victim was told that he’d been directed to a fraudulent page that wasn’t associated with eBay.

The victim told police that he had contacted the Wichita credit union and was told that the account number to which he had wired the money was active, registered to Lee. Credit union employees also told him that Lee had already withdrawn $5,200 of the transfer.

Eagan police contacted Wichita police, who contacted Lee and asked him to come to the police station for an interview, but he refused.

Wichita police learned from the credit union that Lee had withdrawn almost $6,000 of the victim’s money. They also checked the Chevelle’s vehicle identification number and discovered Lee did not own the Chevelle and was not authorized to sell it.