I have said for years that every high school student should spend a semester working as a bill collector. The training alone—learning to ask questions, verify information, listen for inconsistencies, and help people solve real financial problems—would prepare any young adult for the world far better than most classroom electives.
At the October California Credit Union Collectors Council conference, I attended a training session that opened my eyes to how effortlessly scammers can create fake social media pages—and how easily those pages can push people into dangerous financial decisions.
As a long-time collector, those instincts have protected me from financial trouble more times than I can count. And recently, they saved me from losing $450 to a very convincing online scam. Here is the story.
How It Started: The Tailgate Incident
One morning at 4:30 a.m., while navigating the long-term parking lot at the airport, I backed my truck into a barrier. The gate had no working ticket dispenser, so I was trying another lane—and in the process, put a nice, clean gash in my tailgate.
For context, I have spent hours repairing rust, sanding, painting, and keeping that truck bed alive. So, messing up my tailgate really hurts.
Finding a used tailgate for a 2012 Ford F-350 is not exactly easy. Thankfully, my neighbor—my personal Yoda of auto repairs—is always scouring the internet for parts for his vehicles and mine. A few weeks later, he stumbled onto a Facebook page advertising tailgates for older trucks. A miracle, right?
I messaged them asking if they had a 2012 F-350 tailgate in Oxford White with the built-in step. A few hours later, they responded with pictures of the exact tailgate I needed. Down to the optional step. Down to the color. Down to the details.
It looked perfect.
The Alarms Start Ringing
They quoted $900, which seemed reasonable, and asked for half down with the rest due upon delivery. They claimed to be located in Rochester, NY, and said they could deliver it to me—in Kentucky—by Monday.
That delivery timeline raised the first red flag.
Then came the second: They only accepted Apple Pay or Apple gift cards. They even told me I could just text them a picture of the gift card.
That is when my collector instincts kicked in.
Verification Step #1 – The Business Search
I looked up the company in Rochester. No business by that name existed. When I pushed back, they admitted the Rochester address was a “mistake” and said they were really in Evansville, IN.
Another red flag.
Verification Step #2 – Physical Address Check
They gave me an Evansville warehouse address. It was a large industrial area with no signage or reference to the company. I told them I was near Evansville and could pick it up.
Suddenly the tailgate was back in Rochester again—but now at a different warehouse address, which also led nowhere.
Verification Step #3 – Inspecting Their Facebook Page
This is where my recent training really paid off:
- The page had 2.5K followers, but the page was created October 15, 2025. That is a suspiciously fast rise for a business selling used truck tailgates.
- The followers looked fake—profiles from countries where owning a lifted F-350 is… unlikely.
- 30 reviews were posted:
- Half on October 15
- Half on November 15
Apparently mid-month is the best time to buy a used tailgate.
- Then I asked ChatGPT for pictures of a 2012 F-350 tailgate for sale.
The exact same images—cropped—were on another website showing the tailgate had been sold months ago.
That sealed it. I messaged them to say there was no credible evidence that their business was real.
Their reply? “Okay, have a good day.”
No defense. No argument. Just a quick exit—classic scammer behavior.
I reported the Facebook page. By early December, it was gone.
The Lesson: Why Collector Skills Matter Everywhere
Collectors are trained to be cautious, to verify, to listen for inconsistencies, and to ask the questions most people do not think to ask. Those skills protect us not only at work, but in everyday life—especially online.
There may not be a huge market for used truck tailgates, but scarcity is exactly what scammers exploit. When people think they have finally found that impossible-to-find part, excitement takes over, and the red flags get ignored.
Anyone—not just the elderly—can fall for a scam designed to look legitimate.
Had I not dug a little deeper, I could have lost $450 in minutes…
and no tailgate would have shown up on Monday.
Final Thought
Collectors spend their careers protecting the financial well-being of others.
Stories like this are worth sharing because they remind people—especially friends and family who are not trained collectors—to slow down, verify information, and look for the signs of fraud.
If one person avoids sending money to an online thief because of stories like this, it is worth telling.
And, if anyone actually has a 2012 F350 Oxford White tailgate available, let me know.
Author: Ken Evancic
Ken.Evancic@ResourceManagement.com
Ken Evancic is a Vice President at Resource Management Services, Inc. Ken Evancic is a collections veteran with over 25 years experience. He has managed all phases of collection, including all levels of delinquency, automated dialer units, early out agency management, recovery, and skip tracing. In addition to collections operations management, he has lead initiatives in the areas of performance management, collections strategy development, collector and manager training, collector desktop design, collections reporting systems, and risk and compliance.
As a consultant for Resource Management Services, Inc., Ken has specialized in developing and completing third party compliance and performance audits for collections agencies and collection attorney firms for many top credit grantors and debt buyers. He has leveraged his 25 years of experience to develop multiple collector and collection management training classes designed to maximize collector performance. In addition to collection training, Ken helped develop and facilitates the RMS Third Party Vendor Auditing training.
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