Jolene Tanke / Michelle Palmer
Complaint 158175 Details

On September 12th, 2012 I responded to an add on Craigslist for a 2007 Kawasaki Brute Force ATV. The email was sent through Craigslist, not by personal email. She in return contacted me via my personal email address. After conversing back and forth several times, she provided me with a scanned copy of the title and VIN #JKAVFDB117B515177. Jolene requested that the transaction be carried out through eBay and Western Union. I received an invoice from "eBay" with the information, VPP Transaction Case ID and Invoice number. The invoice appeared legitimate with eBay letterhead and formatting. I drove to the nearest Western Union and transferred $1000 cash plus $70 handling fee to the "eBay Financing Center Agent" - Chris Setter, 194 Bishopsgate London, Zip EC2 M4NR United Kingdom. Once the wire was complete I faxed confirmation to (616) 855-6741 with the MTCN number. "eBay" again sent me an email after they received my fax and payment and said the ATV would be delivered Monday night to the address I had provided them. The next day, "eBay" emailed again and said they would need the rest of the payment - the remaining $800 - in order to deliver the ATV. At this time Jolene emailed me saying she had received this notice also. I repeatedly asked Jolene for the shipping company and a tracking number however she never provided one. I began searching the internet to provide any information I could gather on "Jolene". The fax number is a landline in Grand Rapids Michigan according to White Pages. I found that on scambook.com other victims have been scammed by a woman named Michelle Palmer using the exact or very similar scenarios, some of whom have also lost money due to her scam. The ad continues to be placed on Craigslist in different areas of the country - southern Iowa, southwest Kansas, etc - same info and pictures. I have filed reports with my local sheriff's office, the FBI and the FTC.