Letting a well-known company advertise on your car to make some extra money seems simple enough, but some participants were wrapped up in a scam.
April Sloan tells 6 News that she was offered $500 to turn her SUV into a rolling billboard. The offer and check came in the mail. "They sent a check for $2,500 and want me to send the $2,000 to the car specialist who is supposed to wrap the car."
The check was fake but used a real company name and though the check was deposited, Sloan fortunately didn't spend any of the money. "Then I would be on the hook to my bank for $2,500."
A professionally installed wrap is going to be installed in an environmentally controlled area. Omaha's SpeedPro Imaging said it takes eight hours or more to carefully wrap a vehicle, and that it's a red flag if an email offer doesn't ask what you're driving.
"One of the emails I looked at says you are supposed to contact a designer, an unnamed designer, to come to your house to install the wrap, which is not how it works," John Ferguson explained to 6 News.
The offer sent to Sloan lists Wrapify based in California, but employee James Heller said says scammers are misusing the company image. "And they're saying you need to cash the check and pay for a portion of the wrap. Definitely not Wrapify. Wrapify does not send out checks."
The scammers continually text Sloan demanding $2,000. She says won't pay, but leads them on because she's not ready to wrap it up just yet. "Well I figured they catfish me, so I might as well return the favor," she said.
Wrapify has received 20 complaints, so the owner is advising those who receive the offer to check the email domain name for Wrapify.com and note that the company does not solicit on Craigslist or through email.