Case dismissed against a woman who investigators say put a rental car up for sale
HUMBLE, Texas - A Houston woman allegedly pretends she owns a rental car and tries to sell it for thousands of dollars online. The man who nearly bought it is stunned that the woman, who was already out on bond for a different crime, has now been released from jail.
"We will have thousands and thousands of people like her doing the same thing to good citizens like me and you, if no one’s going to be punished for it," says Mohamed Korra, who was nearly scammed out of thousands of dollars.
BACKGROUND: Woman attempts to sell the car she rented in Humble for $10K
"It just did not feel right," Korra explains. He nearly forked over $16,000 to buy a 2022 white Toyota Camry.
"But I did not feel comfortable. I felt something’s off," he says.
When Mr. Mohamed saw the Camry on Craigslist for about $6,000 less than market price, he immediately contacted the seller who provided him with what turned out to be a fake title, and she without negotiation, dropped the price by another $2,000 to $14,000. Ultimately, she ended up dropping the price to just $10,000, but she insisted on cash.
(Photo courtesy of Humble Police Department)
"Something is wrong. So I tell her, listen, I don’t feel comfortable to do it now," Korra explains.
He pumped the brakes on the sale, but ultimately met back up with the woman, recording everything while police watched. He first flagged down an officer and showed him a screenshot of what the seller said was her driver’s license, which lists her name as Alexis Ford.
"And the officer ran it, and came back negative. Nobody exists by this name, by this license number," Korra says.
Through the Vehicle Identification Number, Humble police found the real owner of the Toyota. Turns out, she rented her car out to a customer on Getaround.com, a car sharing company.
"We ran that guest through all of our verification steps, our fraud assessment steps, and there were no flags raised. It was a legitimate guest from our perspective, and then the bad guy who recruited the guest to book the trip, took the car, and attempted to sell it," explains Getaround Vice President of Customer Experience Ruth Yankoupe.
Getaround, which typically costs less and even rents hourly, says it vets customers thoroughly.
"We validate their driver's license. We check driving history. We make sure there aren’t any fraud flags," explains Yankoupe and she says the company takes extensive safety measures when necessary.
"We can see where the car is. We also can disable the starter. So if the guest turns off the car, they’re not going to be able to turn it back on," says Yankoupe.
The woman, who investigators say put the car up for sale, who was already out on bond and who’s been charged with a different crime every year since 2018, was arrested by Humble police for attempting to sell the rental car. But a judge dismissed the case, saying there’s not enough probable cause to move forward with charges.
"It’s extremely sad for me to know that. Somebody was willing to put me in jail. Somebody was willing to take somebody else’s property. Somebody who was willing to scam me out of my hard-earned money should not be released. If I had gone through with the deal, I would have been in jail and having to explain that I didn’t steal the car. I would have been out of $10,000," says Korra.
The owner of the Toyota says she’s grateful to Mohamed Korra for contacting the police and keeping her car from being stolen. She has now put her little white car right back on the road as a rental. She says it's still up for rent with Getaround.com.