2 Tijuana Men Arrested In South OC, Charged With Scam

IRVINE, CA — Two men were arrested this week on suspicion of using a social media scam to steal a car in South Orange County, a growing trend in SoCal, authorities said Thursday.

The victim responded to a Facebook Marketplace ad looking to hire someone to move cash, the Irvine Police Department reported. The victim drove from Oxnard to meet a suspect Wednesday afternoon in Irvine near Michelson Drive and Royce Road.

The suspect told the victim that he needed to borrow the car to pick up the cash and when he drove off and didn't return, the victim called police.

Police suspected the thief was headed to Mexico, so an alert was sent out to the California Highway Patrol and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and border patrol officials found the stolen vehicle at the San Ysidro entry point, police said.

Two men in the car were arrested. Abel Cortes, 21, and Christopher Hernandez, 20, both of Tijuana, were booked on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle, police said.

Police say the trend is on the rise and targets Spanish-speaking residents.