MCLEAN Va. (WJLA) Car repair scammers show up in parking lots or even your own driveway claiming they can fix the dings and paint scratches on your car at little cost. But if you let down your guard you could end up with even more damage and an empty wallet.
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Matt McCollum and his damaged Infiniti. (WJLA photo)At a distance Matt McCollum s Infiniti looks flawless but get a little closer and the damage is apparent.
There s just nicks and dings all over the car McCollum said.
The damage on McCollum s car is worse than it was when he bought it.
He spray painted here and it s all sticky and it s just a big nasty mess there now he said.
McCollum s car is now a patchwork of sanded scratches sloppy patches and mismatched paint it s work left behind by a so called mobile car repairman he found on Craigslist.
He goes Leave everything don t touch anything wait three or four days go to the car wash and then everything will be perfect buddy McCollum said.
Not quite McCollum is now out more than $400 in what experts call a classic scam.
These people are slick said Eric Friedman with the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection. Keep in mind if they were not convincing they d have to get a real job like the rest of us.
Why would they want to when Friedman says car repair scammers can steal hundreds of dollars and disappear
These guys will do terrible work they re unlicensed shoddy work wrong materials he said. They ll probably cause more problems. They ll take the money and run.
Catching these crooks is nearly impossible because the scammers constantly switch their ads on Craigslist using different names and phone numbers. They also won t give you much information when you meet them in person.
7 On Your Side took our hidden camera to see how these companies work calling one man whose ad we found on the web. In just a 60 second scan he determined he could fix all our scratches for $400.
I could fill it with a primer put a nice coat of paint on there and make it look really nice he told us.
But when he couldn t provide a business card driver s license or business license so we d know he was legitimate we opted out. Friedman says many consumers don t.
If someone just drives up to you they re gonna drive away and you re never gonna find them again Friedman said.
Sometimes Friedman s office does it helped bust two men mobile repairmen who approached an 89 year old man in a shopping center charging $500 for sloppy repairs that cost even more to fix.
A lot of times consumers will say But I thought I could trust the guy Friedman said. Well they hope that you get that impression and they re good at doing that that s why they re called scammers.
McCollum didn t catch his scammer but he hopes his pricey lesson can be a warning for someone else.
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