EBay tractor never shows up

A Gardnerville woman filed a fraud report with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and the FBI after she spent $7,500 on a tractor which was never delivered.

The victim told deputies she bid $7,000 plus $500 for shipping for the 1996 Ford tractor on eBay and was informed Nov. 24 that her offer was accepted.

Over the next two days her bank wired $7,500 to the listed seller.

The day after the transaction, she was notified by eBay that the seller had been suspended from the auction Web site and she should not pay for the tractor.

Officials from eBay advised her they had no record of the transaction and the seller had created an eBay spoof site.

She said attempts to contact the seller of the tractor, who listed a Minneapolis address, were unsuccessful.

She was referred by the FBI Internet fraud division to the Killeen, Texas, police department where a detective told her several other victims had sent money to the same person.

-- An 86-year-old Gardnerville woman outwitted an overseas lottery scam after she became suspicious about an offer.

The woman told deputies she received a letter from America Sweepstakes Award that she'd won the California state lottery.

A $5,889.36 check accompanied the notification and she was told to deposit the money in her account.

The woman thought the offer over and decided to call the sheriff's office.

A deputy had her call the number included in the letter and a male asked her if she'd made the deposit. When she said yes, he told her he would call her back in 30 minutes. When the deputy cut in and identified himself, the man hung up.

Sheriff's investigators said they'd received complaints about the scam and believed it originated overseas.

In a separate fraud investigation, a 75-year-old woman told deputies she gave bank account information and her mailing address to a woman who identified herself as a Medicare representative.

The woman told the victim she would be sending her a new Medicare card. The woman did not give the caller her birth date or Social Security number.

After she hung up, she became suspicious and called Medicare.

Medicare officials said the agency would never ask for bank account information.

The woman tried to call back and was routed to another number which would cost $7 a minute.

-- Patrons of the World Gym have reported half a dozen thefts since the beginning of February.

The most recent incident occurred last week when a man reported his gym bag was missing which contained a towel, gym shorts, T-shirt, running pants and a sweatshirt.

He valued the missing items at $70.

A couple of weeks ago, a man reported that when he returned to the lockers after his workout, his pants were missing.

Gym officials are working with deputies to stop the thefts.

Patrons have reported missing wallets, cell phones and jewelry.

-- An on-duty deputy discovered a broken electrical power pole Feb. 18 on State Route 208 at mile marker 5.5.

The deputy noticed the broken pole shortly before 8 a.m. He found small pieces of a plastic vehicle grill and oil at the site.

The deputy said the grill appeared to be from an older model Chevrolet truck.

Sierra Pacific Power Co. estimated the cost to replace the pole at $5,000.

-- Damage was estimated at $2,190 to landscaping at the Tillman Center.

Two rose bushes were torn out, three pine trees damaged and several rocks were thrown in the road, according to a caretaker.

-- A Julian Way resident reported Feb. 20 that a $2,500 mountain bike was missing from his front yard.

The 62-year-old victim said the green-and-brown bike was taken from the yard between Feb. 19-20.