Jim Marsh, a Las Vegas car dealer, says he became the target of a real-estate scam earlier this year involving a 42-acre plot of land in Colorado.
Marsh, who owns Kia, Jeep and Chrysler storefronts in Nevada, originally intended to use the land as a vehicle auction site but began looking for a buyer after the plans fell through. However, in early 2023, an individual claiming to be the 89-year-old car dealer convinced a real estate agency to list the site for $900,000, well below market value. The car salesman said he was unaware of the scam until a title company informed him via a letter that a buyer had already signed a contract for the plot. Marsh claimed that when he called the company, the representative expressed that she had suspicions about the deal before attempting to contact the owner.
While Marsh was able to correct the record, the same location was again targeted in a scam involving a separate real-estate agency. In both instances, the scammer used a forged driver’s license with a real photo of the car dealer. Private investigator Scott Hunter, who was hired to identify the scammers after the initial attempt, stated, “People are willing to go to great lengths to pull these scams off.” Scott also noted that he had been looking into a separate instance of real-estate fraud when he was contacted by Marsh.
The car dealer still maintains ownership of the property and hopes to sell it for the appropriate price. Marsh told the Las Vegas Review Journal that while there are many scams taking place, “You never think of yourself being one of them.”
