Car Salesman Scams Customers, Dealers Out Of Nearly $400,000

Michael McGriff, 41, was a used car salesman who committed all sorts of fraud from 2009 to 2013. While working at Lexus of Rockville Centre and Port Motors Lincoln Mercury, McGriff took 27 down payments from customers and pocketed part of the money. In an attempt to cover his tracks, he altered sale documents to indicate a lower down payment. However, customers noticed that their monthly payment was higher, with the lower down payment, however McGriff would commit fraud and then move on to a new store.

Also at Port Motors Lincoln Mercury, McGriff took cash payment for used vehicles while secretly using customer information to take out auto loans that they didn’t authorize. The result was numerous customer having vehicles that they thought that they’d paid for in full be repossessed when they defaulted on loans that they didn’t even know that McGriff had taken out in their name.

To add to his deceit, McGriff, operating under the alias Michael Glenn, told a consumer that he represented the Titanium Auto Group. The consumer couldn’t figure out where that group was or if it existed but still have McGriff $12,900 to purchase a vehicle for that individual at auction. McGriff instead stole the money and disappeared. McGriff’s actions cost consumers and the dealerships where he worked a total of $381,846. The dealerships where McGriff worked lost a combined $175,000 in profits over the course of four years.

The Nassau County (New York) website reports that McGriff has been arraigned by a grand jury for:

Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, a scheme to Defraud, Falsifying Business Records and Making a False Statement of Credit Terms.

What kind of background check do you conduct at your store to ensure that you don’t hire a former fraudster? Finally, how can the stores where McGriff worked help build consumer confidence that when McGriff left, the fraud left with him?