I couldn’t live with knowingly keeping stolen property
A Yonkers man, who operates a small Pokemon card trading and selling business, fell victims to a group of Pokemon Card Crooks. This is another example of how the buyer needs to beware of purchasing on Facebook Marketplace.
He writes, “On May 6th I unknowingly purchased stolen PSA Pokémon slabs through Facebook Marketplace for $5,550.
“At the time of the transaction, I had no idea the slabs had been taken during an armed robbery in New Jersey earlier that evening. After the purchase, I opened Instagram and immediately recognized the slabs from posts circulating in the Pokémon community.
“The moment I realized what had happened, I went directly to the Yonkers police precinct where the deal occurred and voluntarily turned everything over. I filed a report and contacted the detective handling the case so the slabs could hopefully be returned to their rightful owner.
“Doing the right thing was never a question for me, but the reality is this loss hit my business extremely hard. I’m a small Pokémon vendor, and losing $5,550 in one night is devastating financially.
“I couldn’t live with knowingly keeping stolen property.
“I created this GoFundMe because I’m trying to recover from the loss while continuing to run my business honestly and transparently. Even sharing this post helps more than you know. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and shown kindness during this situation.”
This person’s GoFundMe page link is at https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-a-pokemon-vendor-after-a-tough-loss.
We spoke to him on the phone, and he explained that he understood the risk involved and conducted the transaction near the Yonkers Police Station on Grassy Sprain Road. But that did not stop the crooks, who were able to sell this man the cards before they were identified online as stolen.
He also told us about another unfortunate case of one of his friends in the Pokemon Card business who was robbed at gunpoint when he met with another group of Pokemon Card crooks. Whether the two thieves are related in unknown.
