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Scammer passing bogus bucks targets yard sales

Posted at 7:38 PM, Nov 30, 2017
and last updated 2018-11-21 17:46:25-05

Lisette Salazar helps a guy who just helped himself to her stuff at a yard sale. She doesn't even know he's ripping her off. "I didn't think anything of it. I didn't think he was a bad guy," said Salazar, who held a yard sale a couple of weeks ago to get rid of old belongings before she moved out of her home.

A tall, husky guy in a white Mercedes Benz showed up and bought about $21 worth of stuff. "He's like 'Oh, I don't have change for $100. Do you have change for a hundred?’" Salazar said. 

Salazar gave him $79 change, but her friend noticed something is off. "She said this is not right. This is not real," said Salazar, who tried to stop the man. "He goes 'No, it's real' and took off."

A guy fitting the same description last month did the same thing to Babriel Bruno at his yard sale. "I got rooked out of $70," Bruno said. "He says 'You got change for $100?' I gave him the $70."

Bruno said the same guy ripped off a neighbor at her yard sale moments before he got scammed.

Last winter 13 Action News told you about a scammer  in a white Mercedes Benz who tried to used fake money to fleece some girl scouts selling cookies. But a heads-up mom wasn't buying it.

RELATED: Man attempts to cheat local Girl Scout troop

Salazar and Bruno believe it's the same guy. Salazar wants him behind bars. "I just felt cheated," Salazar said. "I hope the cops get you before other people do."

Thirteen Action News called Las Vegas police to ask them if the same guy is targeting yard yards and what they are  doing to catch him. We are waiting for a call back.

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