05-14-2009, 11:26 AM
A local business owner tried selling his deli on Craigslist, but despite counting out his payment by hand, he ended up being bilked out of $60,000.
The owner of the Cheremshina European Deli in North Highlands, who did not wish to be identified by CBS13, was asking for $70,000 for his store when he received an offer for nearly $300,000 in cash from two men who saw his ad on the popular site.
The two men claimed to be from a war-torn village in Africa, saying their father was a rich general who gave them cash and told them to buy a business and start a new life in America.
The well-dressed men came to the store every day for two weeks to negotiate the sale before they struck a deal. A condition of the sale was for the owner to give them $60,000 to "secure the deal," which the owner only did after seeing their payment and counting their money himself.
Just before they closed the deal, one of the men spilled his coffee, and during the commotion, the other man allegedly switched the bag with money with another bag filled with shredded paper.
"I want to ask anybody to beware," the store owner said. "With any kind of scam, just beware."
Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives are working on composite sketches of the two suspects, and say they believe this isn't the first time they have pulled off this type of scam.
The owner of the Cheremshina European Deli in North Highlands, who did not wish to be identified by CBS13, was asking for $70,000 for his store when he received an offer for nearly $300,000 in cash from two men who saw his ad on the popular site.
The two men claimed to be from a war-torn village in Africa, saying their father was a rich general who gave them cash and told them to buy a business and start a new life in America.
The well-dressed men came to the store every day for two weeks to negotiate the sale before they struck a deal. A condition of the sale was for the owner to give them $60,000 to "secure the deal," which the owner only did after seeing their payment and counting their money himself.
Just before they closed the deal, one of the men spilled his coffee, and during the commotion, the other man allegedly switched the bag with money with another bag filled with shredded paper.
"I want to ask anybody to beware," the store owner said. "With any kind of scam, just beware."
Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives are working on composite sketches of the two suspects, and say they believe this isn't the first time they have pulled off this type of scam.