12-05-2025
Lenexa landscape business owner scammed through Facebook Marketplace
LENEXA, Kan. – The Lenexa Police Department has had multiple recent cases involving stolen items for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
Ryan Ross thought he struck a good deal on a piece of equipment for his landscape company on Facebook Marketplace. Little did he know it was stolen from a retailer before it was listed for sale.
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'He thought the sale was legitimate. Turns out it was actually a stolen piece of equipment from Home Depot, and we had to sadly go and repossess that. So now he's out of the piece of equipment, and he's out $10,000,' said Lenexa PD Public Information Officer Danny Chavez.
Ryan Ross is the owner of Ascend Lawn & Landscape. Like many others in the industry, he uses Facebook Marketplace regularly to buy and sell equipment.
He was shocked to learn that the Ditch Witch he bought had been stolen before it was listed for sale.
'Everything you buy off Marketplace, equipment-wise, you pay for in cash. And it's crazy because we've had it for a while, and then the police officers showed up at the job site, and there was a tracker in it, and it had been stolen from a Home Depot, I think they said in Colorado,' Ross said.
Ross says the seller was from out of state.
'It was a good deal, and there are a lot of good deals to be had. So they said they would bring it down here, so I bought it,' Ross explained.
He's now unable to find the seller's Facebook account.
'I actually had a phone number too, and we were texting back and forth. I screenshotted all the texts, which was great, but that phone number is no longer in service. So these people know what they're doing,' Ross explained.
Ross said it was challenging for his small business to lose the equipment and the money, but they were over.
He hopes his story helps other people avoid similar scams.
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'Everything you're buying that has significant value has a serial number, model number, etc. What I learned through this was that you can take that serial number and usually run it through the manufacturer's system or somebody's system and try to find if it's stolen,' He said. 'Probably the biggest takeaway is that if it seems too good to be true, maybe it is.'
Lenexa police talked to FOX4 last week about safety tips and ways to avoid scams when using online resale sites. You can find those tips here.
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