Crime & Safety

Fake Justin Bieber Rep Scams OC Business Out Of $200K Electric Vehicles

A Newport Beach rental business was scammed by someone posing as a member of Coachella headliner Justin Bieber's team, reports said.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — An Orange County rental business was scammed by someone posing as a member of Coachella headliner's Justin Bieber's team, KTLA reported.

The owner of Newport Beach Moke told KTLA the scammer used Bieber's name to make a last-minute request seem legitimate, but now, four electric Mokes are missing.

"The night before, we get a call for a last-minute request — four cars to go to Coachella for the headliner," owner Chad Marta told KTLA. "Which is not an out-of-the-ordinary request at all. We've done it a lot of times."

Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The cars were delivered to Palm Desert, but the $20,000 deposit never cleared — and within several hours, something seemed off, Marta said.

"[GPS signals showed] that we have a moving vehicle going down the 10 Freeway west. I realized, they're not going 30 miles an hour, they're on a flatbed," he said.

Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.