In mid-September, Lance Knigge was the victim of a scam involving the internet sale of a motorhome from an individual claiming to work for Elite Motorsports. Knigge, who drives his ‘67 Nova in a variety of classes and is the owner of Wyoming Safety Supply, suffered a loss of $20,000 from the incident.
In an effort to help bring awareness to these types of scams, Knigge sat down with Drag Illustrated to explain exactly what happened, and offer possible warning signs to watch out for to help others not fall prey like he did.
Drag Illustrated: How did you first hear about the RV you were looking to purchase?
Lance Knigge: We saw the motorhome for sale on Facebook, and it was exactly what we were looking for. It was within our budget, and everything looked great. It was posted by someone named Justin Coughlin, with their profile covered in JEG’s pictures. I know the Coughlin family is involved with Elite Motorsports, so I messaged him and he told me that Richard Freeman was handling the sale. He sent me what was supposed to be Richard Freeman’s number, and I called him. I’ve only talked to Richard a couple of times, but it sounded like him.
DI: How did the conversation with the individual claiming to be Richard Freeman go?
LK: When I talked to him, he gave me the rundown and told me that he was selling it for a family friend, and that he was doing it outside of his business to help her out. We came to an agreement on a price. In the meantime, he had been telling me that Lyle Barnett was also trying to buy it. I was just trying to jump on the deal to make sure we didn’t lose out on it, so I wired him a $20,000 deposit.
DI: And this individual sounded knowledgeable about Elite Motorsports and their products?
LK: Yeah. It was crazy because he had all these stories about what Elite was doing and where they were, talking about some of their drivers. He seemed like he knew exactly what was going on and was knowledgeable about the race cars. And it was a 405 number, registered to Bethany, Oklahoma, which I think is in southern Oklahoma just like Richard Freeman is. Everything seemed legit and reasonable; there weren’t any red flags at the time that it wasn’t him. He maintained contact with me until the day I was supposed to pick it up. We got to Elite at 9 a.m., and that’s when I talked to the real Richard Freeman and found out this was all a scam.
DI: So when you got to Elite and talked to Richard, he obviously didn’t have the RV there for sale. What were your next steps once you realized what had happened?
LK: Right after we found out that it was a scam, Richard called the sheriff’s office for us. They came and took down my story, and promised they would be able to find out who it was so we could pursue them to get our money back or take legal action. But a couple days later, they called me and said they couldn’t help us; that I had to file a report with our local police in Wyoming because that’s where I wired the money from. I called our local police, and they were completely unwilling to help too. I had to submit a form to the FBI, but nothing’s happened from that either. It’s crazy because it seems like the perfect crime that anybody can get away with. It’s up to us to make sure we don’t fall for it.
DI: You mentioned how you didn’t really notice any red flags at the time. Looking back on it now, with hindsight being 20/20, is there anything you noticed or would’ve done differently?
LK: Definitely. The story of wiring money to somebody else’s account is a huge red flag, so I would never go that route again. Another red flag was the email he used for the bill of sale was a Gmail account, and a company like Elite Motorsports isn’t going to use Gmail. I would also definitely recommend that anybody making a major purchase online vet the information – regardless of who you think it is. All I had to do was call Elite Motorsports and ask for Richard, and I would’ve known instantly. Or even just look up his phone number, because they list them on the website. I should have done that. But I didn’t question it because I felt like I knew who I was talking to. That’s the most dangerous thing about it.
DI: It seems like with a purchase or a deposit of that amount, they would want you to come do it in person instead of wiring it from home. Would you typically wait to make the deposit once you’re there?
LK: I’ve sent deposits with wire transfers before. Another red flag with this, though, is that he didn’t have a set amount for the deposit. When I asked him what a reasonable deposit would be, he said 50%. That wasn’t in my budget, so I said, “I can’t do 50%, but I can send you $20,000.” And he said, “Yeah, that’ll work.” From what I’ve seen on the internet with scams, it’s always small-dollar stuff. I never knew anybody would have the guts to try and pull off such a huge scam.
The other part about the wire transfer for the deposit was that banks don’t verify the information. I never knew that. When you send a wire transfer, you have to provide who you’re sending it to – their address, the bank’s address, all that stuff. So I gave that to my banker, and they sent the money. Afterwards, I learned the name and address weren’t even legitimate. They get away with it by making you believe you’re wiring money to a bank account. But what I really wired money to is a prepaid credit card account. You wire the money and they instantly go around swiping the card, burn the money out of the account, and it’s gone. There’s nothing you can do.
DI: For someone who might find themselves in a similar situation, what would be your biggest piece of advice to avoid getting scammed?
LK: I think it’s important for everybody to understand what people can do with scams, and how easy it is to fall for it. And it doesn’t have to be a wire transfer for it to be fraud – it could happen with cash, cashier’s checks, any of that. It’s really important for everybody to do their research and make sure they’re one hundred percent covered, and to consult with their banker.
That’s definitely the goal of spreading this information. Because upon talking to Richard, it’s amazing how many times this same guy has gotten away with it, and everybody’s hands are tied. The police can’t seem to help because they either don’t have the resources, or they’re not ready to dedicate their time to helping. And the FBI…with a case like mine, while it’s a substantial amount of money to me, it’s not big enough to get them to do anything. It’s unfortunate for us because I’ve had a really successful racing season, and this has put a huge damper on it.
This story was originally published on November 4, 2024. 
