Beware of Tractor Thieves!

Learned a hard lesson.Needed money to pay wifes hospital bill, so it was decided to sell 2 of our restored tractors. I listed them on YT several people came and looked. A man from Ill. came looked had no problem with the trctor or price.( The tractors were listed for a lot less then we had in them!). The man wrote a check showed the wife his driver license, gave a phone number, and left with the tractor. Monday we payed on the hospital bill Tuesday we got a phone call the check was no good! Called the bank in Ill. The bank person said no such customer no such account. The banker said people will go to the phone book look up a bank, print checks on a computer and use them, and I was not the first person scammed ! Reported it to the police. The drivers was fake also! Called the police back nothing they could do, and the insurance company said that thier was no thief because the tractor was sold! So I have lost my tractor. If you sell your tractor take cash ony!

well ya, when its someone you dont know point him towards the bank and let him get you the cash or bank draft. just because he showed a drivers licence and phone # dont mean he has money. even if he would have showed his bank statement dont mean there is still money in the account.some people sure have a lot of nerve, and make it hard for the honest people.

Old61,

I'm so sorry to hear about that. I guess thieves come in all sizes and ages.

I hope something turns your situation around.

Tom in TN

I would hound the insurance the tractor was not sold it was stolen by fraud.

It sure was stolen. I would not roll over on this one with insurance co. If they do not consider that stolen then they are thieves themselves.

Try to remember as much you can about the vehicle he was driving and his physical description. This probably isn't the first time he pulled this.

Lots of folks on this site,from a wide area. A lot of them buy tractors, How about posting, location,tractor description, rig hauling tractor etc, for guys to watch for. He might even try selling it to someone helping you look for it. Just a thought!!

The guy that stole it is not likely a farmer, and stole it to sell. If you have a photo and the serial number and list it on this form and others it might turn up the thief when he tries to sell it to an honest buyer.

(quoted from post at 13:25:23 08/06/11) It sure was stolen. I would not roll over on this one with insurance co. If they do not consider that stolen then they are thieves themselves.

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There is prolly a gullability clause................. Sorry for the guy getting screwed over but get real..... no bill of sale with info on it to compare, prolly no way of even claiming ownership of the tractor except "call bubba and ask him".........

Sure hop you get your stuff back tho....

Dave

Sorry to hear about the theft. That is why I deal in cash only. If someone I don't know wants anything done. It is cash up front and I return any money that I did not need. May sound odd to some,but it sure cut down on me being ripped off.

I'm so sorry to hear of you and your wife being taken advantage of. These people prey upon good folks like you and steal from you by counting on your faith in people. Thank-you for warning us all to keep our guard up and don't trust anybody these days.

-Jim

When I am dealing with someone that I don't know I use my cell phone camera to take a picture of the vehicle and the person. Most times they don't even know it because they think that I am just checking for a massage.

I can put up with a lot, but when people steal something of mine that person is a definate bottom feeder. I had a car stolen one time it leavs a real hole in your life. Anyway hope the wife is doing ok from the operation. At least they can't take it back. You need to do what they did when I sold some scrap aluminum. I stood by my truck with the aluminum and a picture was taken. My driver license was photo copied, Truck license was copied, I had to leave my thum print. I had to wait 4 days for my check. Hope some how you get your tractor back. Stan

I"d let them know you were taking a picture. Might prevent them from going through with a shady transaction.

thief sure went to alot of trouble. something doesn't sound exactly right about this whole story! either there's alot more too it and someone is telling a fib!

I work in insurance but not this type of insurance. I would do the following to preserve your ability to file the claim and get paid.

Demand a copy of the policy you have bought and read it real close. Pay close attention to the definitions of fraud and stolen.

File a report with the local sheriff or the state police. Then go to the states attorney. Get a copy of the report for your insurance company.

File a claim with the company, ignore any advise you get from the agent. My experience with agents is most do not have a clue what is going on or what your policy says.

Force an adjuster from the company to come and take a report and then deny your claim in writing with the cause stated clearly. Never withdraw or take a no from the insurance company over the phone. When they send a letter simply reply that you disagree with their findings and will be consulting an attorney. This will keep the claim open and give you time to decide what your next step is.

Remember the insurance adjuster is not your friend nor is the company or the agent. Be very careful what you say and be accurate with all statements.

Post any information you can about the thief on here maybe someone here can identify them or the tractor. The SN of the tractor would be nice to know as well as make and model.
Theft by deception is still theft!


gramps

sorry to hear the bad news, about wife and tractor.....a few months ago there was a thread about people and checks, just can't trust some anymore,,,hope you can find this bas$%^d and hang him from a tree....if the person wants any thing i sell, i tell them, in god I trust, all others pay cash.... "what is this world coming to?".

This is called, ( Theft by Fraud ) you tell that Insurance company, if they don't pay up, you will get an attorney and make them, and ask for attorney fees along with the action.

Apparently you don't buy and sell much or you wouldn't have ever taken that check.CASH only on anything unless you know the person well, also Cashiers Checks and Certified checks can be faked.
Education is expensive these days.

But you also need to be careful taking cash. Too many fake bills have been printed.

PayPal is my preferred method. DOUG

Isn't a new problem. Guy I use to chat with sold a Ford Compact Utility to a guy from out of state. Guy showed up with a certified check and loaded the tractor. Then went home and canceled the check. When the seller called the guy he was told "I'm from outta state you got nothing on me. The guy was wrong as the state police in his state when notified by the sellers state police of the theft by deception they went and arrested the "buyer" who told the cops "it's hidden, you will never find it". Wrong again.....seller got his tractor back even if he had to drive several hundred miles to get it and the Buyer spent some time in jail.

1, Your agent if thats who you talked to most likely has about 6 weeks training to be an agent. He most likely don't know what he's talking about! I had to go to a year of school and pass a test to be a licensed adjuster! Not all adjusters have to be licensed if they work for the company, the company license covers them so you may get bad advice there! If you know a lawyer nows the time to ask questions!

Case in point. A local kid took a test drive in a truck his uncle was selling. During the test drive the kid ran a stop sign and teeboned a car. The uncle had no insurance! Being a no fault state the other guys insurance covered his loss. The uncle demanded the kid pay for the truck. His mom was told by the agent that their insurance would not cover. Poor kid was working 2 part time jobs to pay his uncle and still trying to go to college! Mom had called her agent. On my advice she called the toll free number on her insurance card about a year after the accident and talked to the company not the agent........company paid the claim!

2. Read your policy!!! Read their description of theft and fraud! If nothing else contact your state insurance commissioner! If you have the cheapest insurance you can find you may have painted yourself into a corner! Ya get what ya pay for!!!!!


Rick

Old tanker is right on. Theft by deception. Have another talk with your ins co.

Too late to do anything now, but one thing I learned a long time ago was to write down license number of anyone buying something even with cash. That is not always good either. if you can get someone to take a picture of buyer that is good too.

taking a picture is a good idea, but keep in mind that in some states, like here in wisconsin, it is ilegle to take a pic of someone or their property without their permission. On the other hand, them refusing to "pose" for a pic should be a BIG red flag to the seller.

This raises another question in my mind: if something of ours was stolen such as a tractor, implement, four-wheeler, tools, etc., how would be able to prove it was ours even if we located it? If you just went and got it, you could be arrested yourself. If your tractor is fairly new you might have a serial number somewhere, but some of these old tractors don't have a readable number. Other tools, even if they have a serial number, we probably don't have a record of it.

Even if you had a photo of yourself standing by your tractor, would that convince some sheriff or judge that it was yours? I dunno. Seems there needs to be some kind of universally-accepted method of ID'ing stuff that doesn't have to be registered with the state.

I realize that it may be a bit more of an inconvenience, but I have thought for years that states should issue a title for farm tractors and other self propelled farm equipment. thusly when selling said equipment the title would be transferred to the new buyer legally. Of course this would not eliminate bad checks, so cash only there, but it would make stolen equipment easier to locate, (if law enforcement did their job properly).

In some states tractors have to be listed on the policy or insured for comp/collision just like a car. I really don't see the insurance company paying unless they were on a policy.

There could be some coverage under personal property in the home owners policey.

Rick

If the guys a crook the plates are probably
stolen also.As far as pictures goes, he could say you took that at a fmaily picknick.

I bought a set of metal stamps, small size. Every machine of value that I own has my initals ans drivers lic number stamped in soft metal in a hidden location. I have a list of when purchased, from who, for how much, and serial and model number, and location of my marks in the safe and everything is listed on my farm owners insurance by year , model and serial number. if I get anything stolen, I think I could prove it's mine.

Had a ring of equipment thieves working in our area. They were caught because of one farmer who wouldn't give up looking for his haybine. Found it in the thieves field. Knew it was his because he could describe to the cops exactly where all the welds were that he'd put on it. Trucker came later to repo the remaining equipment, the theive's son tells him "wish you'd came after chores... we need to use the [stolen]skid steer..."