SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio woman was scammed of hundreds of dollars trying to sell something on Nextdoor.
Patricia Dorea-Morena wanted to sell her terracotta pots, so she took to Nextdoor to sell them.
"I’ve met a lot of honest people, I’ve met some very nice people, I’ve made friends with several people from Nextdoor," she said.
An interested buyer messaged her to purchase two pots worth $55, letting her know his nephew would come pick them up.
"Before you know it, he says, 'I will pay you, Zelle, because my nephew does not have cash on him,'" Dorea-Moreno said.
The man paid her $55 via Cash App, but Dorea-Moreno said the money never came through.
"He said, 'because I have a business account and you have a personal account and in order for me to send you money, we have to have the same type of account, so you need to send me $300,'" she said.
"So we sent him that. Well, before you know it, it was more money and more money. And the scam continued and he was taking money, and bottom line is, we got scammed out of a lot more than $300," she added.
Dorea-Moreno doesn't believe she'll ever get her money back. She has reported it to the San Antonio Police Department who is currently investigating.
"The attempts happen often, but even then people still fall for these scams," said Officer Ricardo Guzman. "People still click those links and send information that they shouldn't be sending, and that happens often."
Officer Guzman recommends those who are selling online to meet in-person to exchange cash.
"Every SAPD substation has a safe exchange zone in the parking lot of the substations," Guzman said. " That is a great area to meet in person. You're at a police station, it's safe and you can at least interact with this person face to face and exchange items."