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Florida man charged with odometer fraud targeting soon-to-be dad in Georgia

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  November 18, 2024 8:17pm EST
Carroll County
FOX 5 Atlanta

Carroll County dad victim of odometer scam

A Carroll County father is trying to figure out how he got wrapped up in an odometer rollback scam. He paid $9,500 for a car he found on Facebook Marketplace that was rolled by at least 100,000 miles.

The Brief

    • A Florida man was charged for rolling back the odometer of a 2013 Ford Explorer he sold on Facebook Marketplace to a soon-to-be father in Georgia.
    • The buyer, Ethan Lands, thought he was purchasing an SUV with 105,000 miles for $9,500. He discovered the true, higher mileage when attempting to register it.
    • The Douglas County Sheriff's Office advises potential buyers to invest in a Carfax report, verify sellers' identity, scrutinize paperwork, and be cautious of deals that seem too good to be true to avoid such scams.

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. - A Florida man with ties to Gwinnett County has been charged in Douglas County after a Facebook Marketplace sale went sour.

32-year-old Quinn Rosse appeared in court Monday morning for a bond hearing after being charged with rolling back the odometer on a 2013 Ford Explorer he sold to a Carroll County man. Investigators say Rosse rolled the digital odometer back 100,000 miles, inflating the true value of the SUV.

Ethan Lands of Bowdon thought he was buying an SUV with 105,000 miles. He says he needed a larger vehicle without a lot of miles on it to accommodate his soon-to-be born child. Lands says he did not realize the true mileage of the vehicle until he tried to register it.

Ethan Lands says he bought the SUV to prepare for his soon-to-be-born child. He says he had no idea the odometer was rolled back.

"I was trying to buy a decent, reliable car," says Lands. "No telling what else they did."

He paid $9,500 for the Ford Explorer he no longer trusts driving.

Douglas County Sheriff's Office investigator Thomas Puckett says picking up red flags is key to keeping this from happening to the next victim.  He says before you buy a big ticket item online, investigate.

"Spend the money on a Carfax report," said investigator Puckett. "If it had been on this one, you would have seen the discrepancy."

Ethan Lands says he bought the SUV to prepare for his soon-to-be-born child. He says he had no idea the odometer was rolled back.

Investigator Puckett says get a picture of a driver's license, go over the paperwork carefully for errors or sloppiness, and if the seller is uneasy about the requests, you should consider stepping away from the deal.

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is," says Investigator Puckett.

Quinn Rosse

Lands says he did a lot of legwork that helped investigators crack the case, including finding a previous owner of the SUV.  He says that's when he learned the suspect had just acquired the vehicle and flipped it to him.

"He bought it Monday, and sold it to me on Friday with miles turned down, and made $5,000 off of me," says Lands. "I think it's pretty messed up that I got scammed."