SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) - A local man scammed out of $200 is on the hunt for the con-artist who stole his money.
The victim only gave News 8 his first name, Justin, because the con-artist who took his money Monday in Kearny Mesa is still out there.
Justin claimed the man flagged him down in a parking lot and told him he had extra televisions and speakers for sale.
Justin said he thought the man was selling him a flat screen television and surround sound speaker system.
"He opened up one of the boxes and you could see through the side and it looked like there was a TV in there," said Justin.
It looked like a good deal, but after Justin gave the man $200, he opened the box and discovered there was no TV, only a set of cheap speakers.
"I pulled it out and I am looking around and I'm like, where is the TV?"
Justin said he hopped in his car and started looking for the man and actually found him; pulling the same scam in another parking lot off Miramar Road.
"I reached out, grabbed my phone and zoomed in and took a picture of his license plate," said Justin.
News 8 used the photo to identify the truck's owner, a 41-year-old Orange County man. News 8 will not identify the man because he has not been charged.
Justin, however, was able to immediately recognize photos of the man from Facebook.
"Instantly I knew that was the guy. Even in one of the pictures he's wearing the same style sunglasses that he was wearing when it all happened," he said.
Justin said he has learned his lesson. "Buy your electronics at an electronics store, not from some schmuck in a Toyota Forerunner."
News 8 tried to contact the man that Justin identified, but he did not respond to messages.
Justin has reported the man's name to the San Diego Police Department.