We are all saddened by the recent loss of Haroon Khan who was murdered on Wednesday, October 1, 2008 by suspects who posed as buyers for his Evo that he was selling. My deepest sympathies and prayers go out to Haroon’s family, friends, and loved ones. It is good to see all of the support of evolution.net members, on the loss of a fellow Evo owner. Haroon, please rest in peace.
Haroon’s story can be found here (
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=802636) as posted earlier by member lizzys6/4 in this thread (
http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=373655).
Haroon’s story strikes a special chord with me because I was recently (August 2008) carjacked at knife point when I was trying to sell my Evo. Luckily, my Evo was returned unharmed, and I only received scratches and bruises during the carjacking, however, my situation could have been avoided if several precautions were taken.
If you, a friend, or family members are ever meeting another person(s) to sell your car or car parts, please take these safety precautions:
1) Never meet the buyer alone. Always take one or more person(s), that you know and trust, to go with you to meet the buyer. It doesn’t matter if you are taking them for a test drive or not.
2) Always let family members, and/or friends know about your appointment to meet potential buyers, let them know when you are going, and when you plan on returning.
3) Meet the buyer at a well-populated and safe location, where many people can witness and help if something goes wrong. One example is a large shopping mall parking lot. Also, try to maintain a path on your test drive that is in a well-populated area.
4) DO NOT meet the buyer at your home or residence. Often, if someone is intending to steal from you, they will try to find your residence to come back and steal whatever vehicle or part you are showing to them. They also may return to your residence later just to rob your home.
5) Ask for a copy of their driver’s license, valid phone number, and proof of car insurance, and the license plate tag. (My attackers called from an unlisted number and gave me very generic names.)
6) Make sure that they buyer is not carrying a concealed weapon if you take them for a test drive. If the buyer is trying to hide a weapon from you, this will at least let them know that you are watching to see if they might be stashing a weapon somewhere.
7) If you are taking a test drive, do not stop along the drive to let the buyer look at the car, or for any other reason.
8) Only meet a buyer when during the daytime and not when it is dark outside and if you get the feeling at all that your buyer is suspicious, cancel the meeting with them.
9) Be very aware of any personal information you post on a website to sell you car, such as autotrader.com, cars.com, craiglist.org, or any automotive forums. It is true that you need to post contact information to sell you car or part, but too much information can make you a target to predators that surf these websites just to steal from other people.
10) Try to keep personal protection, like pepper spray, on you at all times and in a separate location from your car keys, and also keep your house keys separate from your car keys.
Below is a list of mistakes that I made when selling my car, which you should avoid to make yourself less of a target to carjackers and/or thieves:
1) Though my family knew I was meeting a buyer for a test drive, I went to meet the buyer alone. This was by far my biggest mistake.
2) My attackers called me from an unlisted number and told me that it was a military phone with an unlisted number for security. Do not agree to meet the buyer unless they call you from a valid and listed phone number. No excuse from the buyer is acceptable.
3) I met the buyer at my apartment parking lot. I happened to be moving within the next two days, but this was still a big mistake, because they could have come back to steal more items from me, or do more harm to me.
4) I did not make sure that we drove through well-populated areas on the test drive. This was exactly what my attackers were hoping for.
5) I did not ask for proof of identification, and they both gave me very generic first names only. I did not record the license plate tag of the car the buyer came in, and I agreed to meet them, even though they called from an unlisted phone number.
6) I did not specifically look at the buyer and his friend to see if they had any concealed weapons, and I did not ASK THEM either.
7) I did stop along the test drive, in an area with very few people to let the buyer look at the car. After I got back in the front passenger seat, I was attacked. Luckily, a family drove by the location where I was being carjacked came toward the end of the carjacking, and scared my attackers away.
8) I was suspicious of the buyers friend, but I did not cancel the test drive. I should have acted on my gut feeling
9) I had no personal protection - like pepper spray - on me. If your state allows you to carry pepper spray, do so, and keep it separate from your car keys so that you can use it if someone takes your car keys.
