Police seize $6000 in counterfeit cash after Facebook Marketplace scam
Sergeant Pam Dravitski said police found $6000 and the 'equipment used to manufacture these notes' while executing a search warrant at an Ōtara, South Auckland property.
It comes after reports of a
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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
'Seasoned' Facebook Marketplace scammer imprisoned
A "career" criminal is back behind bars for dishonesty after he duped people into handing over their vehicles in a Facebook scam. A police prosecutor said during Adrian Colbert's sentencing in Tauranga that he seemed to offend "very well and very easily" and was sceptical that another stint in prison would deter him from his "chosen career path". According to the police summary of facts, the 31-year-old used several aliases on Facebook Marketplace, including "Age Edward", "Lorenzo Matthews", "Adrian Edwards" and "Adrian James". Between July and December last year, he used the social media platform to deceive people into thinking he had bought the cars they had listed for sale in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Tauranga. The cars included a Nissan Skyline, Toyota Aqua, Suzuki Swift, Honda CR-V, Toyota 86, Subaru Impreza, Holden Colorado, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Polo and Mazda CX5. The Colorado and Golf were both "purchased" on the same day in November last year, both in Tauranga. Colbert would negotiate, agree a price and, when he turned up to collect the cars, would show the seller fake or altered bank statements as proof that he had transferred money for them. When the sellers went to check their accounts after Colbert had left, the money would not be there. They would chase him up, and he would either make excuses or not respond. While he mostly targeted people selling cars, he also duped someone who was selling an iPhone 15. None of the 10 cars was recovered, nor the iPhone, and the total amount owed to the victims, based on what Colbert had agreed to pay for each car, was nearly $125,000. Despite this, no reparation orders were made at sentencing, given the unrealistic prospect of Colbert being able to make payments. His lawyer told the court he already owed $63,000 in reparations. Fake items for sale, and accommodation theft Colbert also deceived people looking to buy through Marketplace. He advertised a Dyson vacuum cleaner and a Samsung Galaxy Fold 6 for sale, promising to post them once payment was received. But he never did. In August last year, he rented a three-bedroom Airbnb for a couple of nights in Porirua. One of the rooms was locked, but Colbert found a way in. He stole $300 headphones, cash in a range of currencies, including euros, pounds, yen and Singapore dollars, and about $200 in mixed coins. Last November, he checked into the Novotel Auckland Airport Hotel, paying part of the $379 owed when he arrived. While he was there, he racked up more on his account through dining, drinks and extra nights at the hotel. By the end, he owed $995. When he checked out, he told staff he couldn't afford the amount due and left without making any attempt to pay. A record that's reached 'a solid eight pages' Colbert pleaded guilty to the raft of charges, the bulk of which were "obtains by deception", and was sentenced in the Tauranga District Court last week. Judge Thomas Ingram said Colbert had obtained a "great deal of money" by deception, and he had a "long and bad record at 31 years of age". "You've been involved in [this type] of offending fairly consistently since you first started appearing in courts back in 2016." He had amassed a "huge number" of convictions in that time, and his record ran to a "solid eight pages", nearly all of which involved obtaining by deception with a "sprinkling of failing to comply with court orders and breach of release conditions and the like". Judge Ingram said it "seems to be the life you have led for over a decade now". The scale of the offending and time over which it occurred led to an "inescapable conclusion" of a prison sentence. Colbert's lawyer, Jaiden Manera, sought a starting point of two and a half years' imprisonment. He pointed to Colbert's engagement in a restorative justice conference as indicative of some remorse and advocated for minimal increases for previous offending. He pointed to drug abuse as an underlying cause for the offending. However, Judge Ingram agreed with police that a higher starting point of three and a half years was appropriate. Sergeant Richard van Arendonk had earlier remarked that this was "generous" for Colbert. "The amount of offending he's done, and that's just what we've caught him for," van Arendonk said. "He's a seasoned campaigner. I don't think anything is going to make much difference for him in his chosen career path. He seems to do it very well and very easily." Judge Ingram imposed a six-month uplift for Colbert's previous offending, and a further three months because he offended while on parole. That led to a sentence of four years and three months, but Colbert was given a 15-month credit for his guilty plea and remorse. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and was not given leave to apply for home detention. The judge said it was not a case where he had any "realistic hope" that Colbert would pay "even one dollar" of reparation, given his record and the amount of reparation outstanding. Therefore, no reparation orders were made. Tauranga's Area Response Manager, Senior Sergeant Scott Merritt, said Colbert was a "prolific scammer" and police were pleased to hear justice has been served with a three-year prison sentence. He urged the public to be aware of online scams, particularly through Facebook Marketplace, and take precautions: • Meet in a public place, with a friend, to conduct transactions. • Examine the item before completing the transaction. • Do not go into the person's house, or allow them into yours. • Do not deposit money into another person's account before you have received the item. • Trust your instincts – if it's too good to be true or sounds like a scam, it probably is. - Hannah Bartlett, Open Justice reporter
RNZ News
6 days ago
- RNZ News
Gold Coast man's spine broken after alleged Facebook Marketplace dispute
By Mark Rigby , ABC News The 52-year-old man was taken to hospital with a suspected broken spine. Photo: ABC News: Liz Pickering A 52-year-old man is in hospital with a suspected broken spine after allegedly being thrown through a verandah balustrade during a dispute over a car sold on Facebook Marketplace. Police and ambulance crews were called to the man's home at Stapylton, on the northern Gold Coast, around 1pm on Saturday. Superintendent Brett Jackson said three people had gone to the man's home looking for a refund on a car one of them had bought from him several days earlier. He said an argument broke out on the front verandah, which then turned into an assault. "That involved one of those people pushing or throwing the occupant from a first-storey balcony," he said. "It's also alleged there was a follow up assault with a piece of broken balustrade, with the victim being struck." Supintendent Jackson said the man was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital and investigators were yet to speak with him. He said witnesses at the man's home had helped officers identify the alleged offenders, but no arrests had been made. "The information we have from doctors is that the injuries to his spine are significant and it'll be some time before they can fully determine what recovery looks like for him," Supintendent Jackson said. "We are canvassing CCTV footage to identify their (the alleged offenders) mode of travel to the address and our investigations will continue." A Princess Alexandra Hospital spokesperson said the injured man was in a stable condition. Police are rarely involved in online sales disputes, unless a crime has been committed. Photo: ABC News: Lucas Hill The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission states that most consumer guarantees do not apply to private sales between two people. That means getting a refund can be difficult, if the buyer and seller disagree. Superintendent Jackson said while disputes over private sales appeared to be more frequent with the popularity of online selling platforms, disagreements over the sales of second-hand goods were a long-standing issue. "We're probably more aware of these sorts of things happening because they are reported more now than they were in the days of the Trading Post," he said. "However, to use violence against someone, there's never justification for that. "That's where police will step in and take appropriate action." He advised buyers and sellers to put "safety measures in place when engaging in online sales." "Have someone else with you if you're buying or selling something," he said. "If at all possible, meet in a generic, public location when you're selling something just to protect your home address." -ABC
NZ Herald
31-07-2025
- NZ Herald
NZ waiting for US tariff letter due today
The new drug trade - Behind the illicit items found on Facebook Marketplace NZ Herald senior investigative reporter Michael Morrah has been looking into the array of illicit items popping up on Facebook Marketplace, and joins us today on The Front Page.
