Eureka Police are investigating a fraudulent transaction that started on Facebook Marketplace and ended at a Eureka gas station, where a 34-year-old Rolla man bought two iPhones that turned out to be fake, Capt. David Wilson said.
At about 8:30 p.m. April 10, police were called to the QuikTrip gas station, 290 E. 4th St., in Eureka. The victim told police he thought he had purchased two 11 Pro Max iPhones for $1,300, and after buying the phones, learned they were fake, the report said.
The man said his girlfriend had set up the transaction through Facebook, and he met the seller at the gas station at 7 p.m. Before meeting the seller, the man told police his girlfriend had received an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, which all mobile phones and smartphones have, to make sure the phones had not been reported stolen, according to the report.
The victim also said the seller, an unidentified man traveling with a woman, turned on the phones before he was paid for them. After the seller left the gas station parking lot, the victim said he tried to log into iCloud with the phones, but couldn’t, the report said.
Then the man noticed other problems with the phones. Also, the phones had different IMEI numbers than the seller previously provided, according to the report.
Police said fake iPhones can be purchased for about $90 on the internet, according to the report.
As of April 24, police had not identified the man who sold the phones or traced the car he was driving when he met the victim in the gas station parking lot, Wilson said. He asks anyone with information about the incident to call Eureka Police at 636-938-6600.