Attempted Fraud Reported in Lafayette Hill

A 47-year-old Lafayette Hill woman reported attempted fraud to the Whitemarsh Towship Police Department after she was allegedly sent a fraudulant Amazon.com bill of sale from for a vehicle that she planned to purchase over Craiglist.

According to the victim, she almost purchased a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with low mileage for $1,880 in February from a person who was “going through a divorce and just wanted to get rid of it,” police said.

The arrangement of the sale was that the woman was to make payment through MoneyGram, and the vehicle would be shipped to Lafayette Hill. The woman would have five days to decide if she wanted to keep the car, and if she did, the money would then be sent to the seller. If not, the money would be returned and the seller would pay to ship the vehicle.

When the woman received an e—mail from Amazon.com payments describing the sale, the woman called Amazon, and found that the person on the bill of sale was not an employee, and that it was a scam.

On March 1, the woman received an e-mail from the person, with the e-mail address maria.parker@comcast.net, inquiring “where the money was.”