Pamlico and Craven County auto shops warn others of new tire scam

PAMLICO COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - In this WITN Safety First Alert, a warning is being shared about a new scam hitting businesses in both Craven and Pamlico counties that looks to take money from its target: auto shops.

There’s a new scam going around Craven and Pamlico counties, hoping to cost auto shops thousands.

“All and all we’re about $5,800 out of this transaction,” Diversified Auto & Tire owner David Drexler said.

Drexler says two weeks ago, his shop received a call from a man using the name Ken Wolf, looking to place an order for eight tires. Drexler says after the man provided credit card information over the phone, the transaction was complete.

A few days later, there was another call from the same man, looking to order eight more tires. Once all 16 tires were ready for pickup, Drexler says a van came to get the order, but something felt off.

“I kinda just had that sinking feeling,” Drexler said.

Drexler says he realized it was a scam after the cards used turned out to be fake.

Blake Frames at Craven Tire and Automotive Repair says his shop almost fell victim to the same scam. Frames says on Friday the shop received a call from a man, also using the name Ken Wolf, trying to order 28 tires.

“It was kinda suspicious buying that many tires at one time so I wanted to look into it,” Frames said.

Frames asked the man, who said he was from a local church, to come in and show identification, something he refused to do. That made Frames realize it was a scam.

If he had gone through with the order, Frames says his shop would be out $7,500.

“There’s really not a lot of profit in tires so it would have been a huge hit,” Frames said.

Auto shops are now warning each other and taking extra precautions to ensure no more shops lose money to scammers.

“I’m upset about it and they did try to call all the tire shops around,” Drexler said. “I spoke with other tire dealers to try to warn them of what was happening and they all said yeah they also got phone calls.”

Some of the steps the shops are taking include working with bank and credit card companies, requiring more identification and making changes to the credit card machine that will ask for more information on a phone sale.

Drexler says he has been in contact with the Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office regarding the scam.

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