Facebook Marketplace warning as woman loses $10k after accidentally buying stolen car

Leanne Roney’s “heart dropped” when a woman appeared at her door and announced the car in her driveway was stolen.

But her quest to recoup the $9,000 she paid for it and the $1,000 she spent on registration and upgrades has since left her stunned at every turn.

Ms Roney, from Port Sorell in northern Tasmania, inadvertently bought the stolen Fiat Ducato van off Facebook Marketplace in April.

In June, the man who sold it to her — 41-year-old Michael John Bowerman — pleaded guilty in court, where he was ordered to pay $97 in costs and received a 12-month community correction order and a six-week suspended prison sentence.

He was never asked to repay the money.

“It’s atrocious,” Ms Roney said.

While Ms Roney said she contacted the courts and police multiple times after his sentencing, police apologised and lodged a restitution order with the court only after the ABC contacted them.

She said it was money she could not afford to lose — saying a car crash in 2018 had left her unable to return to her 35-year career as a chef.

“That’s half a year’s rent,” she said.

Consumer groups warn stories like Ms Roney’s are too common and believe the federal government needs to do more to compel tech giants to vet advertisements on platforms like Facebook Marketplace.

‘Everything looked legit’

Ms Roney, who “loves tinkering with cars”, first saw the van on Facebook Marketplace and thought it would be perfect to convert into a camper.

After a test drive, she did a Tasmanian Vehicle Registration Check, which showed it was registered in Bowerman’s name.

“Everything looked legit,” she said.

“So I went ahead with the sale.”

But she said after one outing, the dash flashed with error messages, and it broke down.

Ms Roney said she remembered an electronic device in the van when Bowerman showed it to her, which she questioned — and he explained he used it for work.

She now believes he had used it to wipe the error messages temporarily.

The ABC has seen a letter from a mechanic who looked at the vehicle that states the “previous owner may have had a code reader and had been clearing codes to get the van to her to sell”.

‘Not his to sell’

Ms Roney said the knock at her door came two days later.

She said the woman, who she said was from repossession company Derwent Mercantile, told her the van in her driveway belonged to a mainland company called Asset Rental Group, which had leased it to Bowerman under a rent-to-buy program.

“And look, honestly, my heart dropped to my feet,” she said.

She said the repossession company then tried to take the van.

“I said, ‘No, you’re not taking the van. I’ll get a solicitor,”’ she said.

She said a lawyer advised her “not to let the van out of her sight” as it was her only bargaining chip.

Van towed away

Ms Roney said she then parked another car in front of the stolen van to prevent the repossession company from towing it away.

She said for two months it always had another car parked in front of it, until one day, she forgot.

“I’d been gone … 20 minutes and I had a phone call [from a neighbour saying] ‘There’s a tow truck in your driveway stealing the van,”’ she said.

“So they must have been watching me.”

She said the feeling “creeped” her out.

Derwent Mercantile said it could not comment on the case due to privacy concerns.

Car registered in non-owner’s name

Meanwhile, she said she also spoke to the van’s owner, Asset Rental Group, and asked how Bowerman had registered the van in his name.

It is understood that under the company’s rent-to-buy model, vehicles are registered in the customer’s name so they receive any tolls, traffic infringements, parking fines and other liabilities.

But this meant that when Ms Roney did a Tasmanian Vehicle Registration Check — which shows whether a vehicle has been reported to police as stolen or is in another name — it came back clear.

It is understood the company is now reviewing this policy.

Ms Roney said the company also said the van had a tracker on it, which it suggested she remove before hiding the vehicle so that she could keep the van and they would get paid out via insurance.

When asked about this suggestion, Asset Rental Group did not respond.

“I thought, ‘Well, I can’t do that because that’s illegal’, and I didn’t want to get into any trouble,” she said.

She also said the company told her Bowerman was six months behind in rent before it took action.

An Asset Rental Group spokesperson said it was “aware a vehicle we recently took repossession of had been illegally on-sold to a third-party by one of our customers”.

“We acknowledge the situation has caused distress to the buyer,” the company said.

Call for tougher anti-scam laws

Stephanie Tonkin, Consumer Action Law Centre CEO, warned there was no perfect system to protect those buying second-hand vehicles, especially off platforms like Facebook Marketplace.

She said it was disappointing the platform would be excluded from the federal government’s new Scam Prevention Framework, set to be fully implemented early next year.

“[The platform] is making money out of this whole transaction and taking no steps to verify the ads that they’re hosting up there,” she said.

“They’ve got the resources, they’ve got the technology to be able to do this.

“There isn’t the will, and they need to be forced to by our government and by these laws.”

Federal Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said while the new framework was initially targeting banking, telecommunications companies and certain digital platforms, it “will not hesitate to bring additional sectors into scope where needed”.

Meta, the operator of Facebook Marketplace, has been contacted for comment.

Fight for repayment continues

Bowerman was eventually charged with dishonestly acquiring a financial advantage and pleaded guilty on June 22.

Ms Roney questioned why he did not face charges relating to her allegations about the scanner.

“Tasmania Police considers it has investigated this matter appropriately, leading to an arrest and conviction,” a spokesperson said.

Ms Roney points out it was only after the ABC contacted police that an application was made for restitution, set to be heard in court on August 24.

“If [ABC] hadn’t contacted them, I still probably wouldn’t hear from them,” she said.

But she worried Bowerman might no longer have her money and couldn’t pay.

“I’m not holding my breath,” she said.