Stomper can't get $1,000 back after paying deposit to rent BMW for CNY from man who goes MIA
It was for Chinese New Year.
A man paid a $1,000 deposit to rent a BMW X6, but after returning the car, he couldn't get this money back.
Stomper Z said the person who rented the car to him ghosted him.
He recounted: "In early February, I had contacted a guy named Darren via a Carousell to rent a BMW for CNY visiting.
"I was told to contact Darren via WhatsApp and I did so. It all went rather normal. He told me about transferring $100 to him to book the car.
"He later called me on WhatsApp to tell me that the car has been booked and informed me that there is refundable security deposit of $1,000 I had to transfer to him via PayNow. He also required a snapshot of my IC and driving license, which are the standard documents needed to rent a car, to draw up the rental agreement.
The Stomper followed the instructions and went to collect the BMW at Block 113 Jalan Bukit Merah. The keys were placed on a wheel.
"After inspecting the car, I transferred the $1,000 to him," said the Stomper.
"From then on, his replies to me started to get slower and slower, and stopped for 10 hours till the next day when I returned the car. He replied once and that was it.
"I returned the car to the exact place where I collected and placed the keys exactly where he told me to, took a video of everything he asked me to and sent it to him.
"From then on, he ghosted me and stopped replying. He ignored all my calls and text messages for a month. I have reported the case to Carousell and the police.
"His account on Carousell was subsequently suspended. I did some googling and found reviews in SGcarmart about this guy named Darren. I regretted not doing that earlier as I would have avoided this scam."
The Stomper is sharing what happened to him as a cautionary tale.
"I would like to warn everyone to be careful in future and do not follow in my footsteps," he said.
Stomp has reached out to Darren for more info.
