Like many luxury, hypercar, or supercar owners in Georgia last summer, Travis Payne was the victim of an elaborate hacking scam operated by two men. By hacking the communications portal of a transportation company, the hackers changed the delivery address of cars being transported to have Payne’s 2020 Rolls Royce Cullinan delivered to themselves.
Payne bought the $500,000 SUV in Arizona on a Thursday and arranged to have it delivered to his home in Atlanta, Georgia the following Monday.
When Tuesday came around and he didn’t receive the car, he immediately became suspicious.
“I called the transport company and asked, ‘Dude, where’s the car?’ And they told me that the driver’s in the hospital,” he told VinWiki. “And then they told me the driver never picked up the car, and my heart just sank. I thought, ‘Oh, no, this can’t be happening to me.’”
The dealership he bought it from said it was picked up by the ‘transport company’
After learning the truth from the transport company, he decided to call the dealership in Arizona to see what happened. When he asked if the Rolls Royce was ever picked up by the transport company, the dealership confirmed it.
Payne asked for the confirmation slip, that showed the driver’s name and where it was to be delivered. That’s when things began to spiral.
“I looked at the documents they sent me, and I’ve never heard of the transporting company in my entire life,” he said. “What’s worse is for the delivery address, instead of my name, my company, and my address in Georgia, there was no name, no company, and a Los Angeles, California address.”
Payne then called the phone number that was on the slip, and naturally, no one answered. So, he called the business next to it to ask if they’d ever had a Rolls Royce delivered. Another punch to the gut came with the company’s response.
The neighboring business said he wasn’t the first person to call about a missing car
“I called the business close to the address and asked about the Rolls and if they had it delivered to them, and then they said, ‘No, but you’re not the first person to call us, a person was asking about a Ferrari, a Mercedes, a couple of Bentleys,’ and I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’, And they said, ‘Well, they say their cars were dropped off here but we don’t know anything about it, we don’t have the cars.’”
Payne decided to text the California number on the documents, and told the thief – a guy named Mike – they wouldn’t involve the cops, he just wanted his car back. And he responded, “Nice car motherf***er.”
The police subpoenaed AT&T to track the car’s cell connection, but that and the manufacturer’s tracker were removed. He ended up getting connected with other vehicle owners who were victims of the same scam, which inspired Payne to continue his investigation.
“I started to try and track down other vehicles that were stolen by the same people because I’m picturing if I can find one, I’ll find mine in some giant warehouse or something. Sadly, that wasn’t the case,” he said.
Then the Rolls Royce popped up in a Mexican dealership
Payne decided to take a rest from his search in September after he figured he’d never see the car again. Then, a random person on Instagram messaged him saying he found his car.
His interior was unique to his Rolls, with white seats, red trimming, and black accenting. The white seats wouldn’t normally come with the black paint, so he knew he would be able to identify his car based on what the interior looked like. That’s how a good Samaritan was able to find Travis’ car.
“Someone sends me a TikTok of someone in Mexico walking around a Cullinan, and at first I didn’t think it was mine because it was white, but then I noticed the mirrors were still black, parking sensors were still black, and the wheels were different, but the interior was the exact same,” he said.
“And I see that it was posted by an Alvarez Exotics logo on it, and Canelo’s logo, and he’s a famous boxer. The dealership is owned by his family, and then a while later the same page posts that the Cullinan was sold.”
It was bought by a famous singer, who called him a liar
When he contacted the dealership in Mexico using a translator, they seemed cooperative, as they bought it from someone they weren’t comfortable disclosing. But they’d said if they were able to confirm the VIN from his title to the VIN in the car’s computer, they’d send him video proof and get it back to him.
Of course, they didn’t. Instead, they blocked his number, took the post down from their channels, and moved on. However, Luis Conriquez, an affluent singer in the country, began posting videos of him enjoying Travis’s car.
“It’s on his Instagram story right now, he was drinking champagne from the back of it last night after his concert,” he said. “And he’s got pictures of Canelo and his brother at the dealership, so obviously they all know each other, I tried to contact his lawyer and I got no cooperation. All I got was, ‘How do we know it’s your car?’”
As of January 29, his car is still in Mexico being driven around by a famous singer who refuses to believe he’s in a stolen car. Since it’s in Mexico, police can’t do anything to get it back for him – despite the proof.
