“I was going to even cook him some dinner,” Victim and Sheriff's officials warn of Craigslist scam

SKYWAY, WA - King County Sheriff’s Officials are warning the community about a local scam and asking for help to find the suspect.

Investigators say a man from Craigslist offered home improvement services to a Skyway woman, but instead he made off with her TV.

“I was going to even cook him some dinner,” said Pam Williams.

A Texas native, Williams planned to show some southern hospitality to a stranger she welcomed into her home to do a job. Williams says she needed some floor work done and found someone on Craigslist to do the work for a reasonable price.

However, she says instead of saving some money she's out about $2,500 worth of goods.

“I’ll tell you what, my guts was irking,” she said. “You trust someone to do something like that, and they turn on you,” Williams added.

Williams said she left the hired hand at her home for about 30 minutes. There was another adult at the house during that time, but that did not stop this suspect from stealing her television, a heater, an external hard drive, and the keys to a rental car.

He also tore up her floor and did none of the work.

Williams had the suspect's phone number and called him back. She says that he laughed at her over the phone. She also showed Q13 several voicemails he left her after the theft, where he calls her names and uses profanity toward her.

“There’s a really good possibility this guy is still up to his fraudulent activity, and he’s probably going to do it somewhere else,” said Sergeant Ryan Abbott with the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Abbott suggests always using a reputable business instead of Craigslist.

Williams says she wanted to save a few dollars, but instead learned a costly lesson.

“My motto is trust no one after that happened,” said Williams.

Investigators say the suspect drove a grey Toyota Matrix with a Florida license plates.

If anyone else has been the victim of similar scam, or has information on the suspect, please call the King County Sheriff's Office at 206.296.3311 and reference case C20005047.