A man posing as a repo driver in a convincing white tow truck is terrorizing Southern Californians. On April 30, a woman, who opted to remain anonymous, woke up to find her 2010 Hyundai Elantra missing. She’d parked it in front of her apartment, where she usually parks it without issue, and became confused.

Thinking quickly, she checked security footage. Around 2 a.m., she spotted a man in a white truck outfitted as a tow truck taking her car away. She first assumed someone was repossessing her Hyundai and didn’t blame her neighbors for not reacting.

“I was shocked because he looks like a repo guy. He looks like a repo man, and if anyone was on the street and they saw someone’s car being towed, of course, they’re gonna automatically assume that someone’s car is being repoed,” she told ABC7.

She called the LAPD to see if a legitimate company had towed her cr, but their answer shocked her.

“They told me to call other tow facilities. I called other tow facilities. They told me they didn’t have my car,” she said. “That’s when I panicked, and I was told that there’s a possibility that my car was stolen.”

Police found her car, but it was in bad shape

That evening, she filed a police report. Police found her car the same evening, though it was worse for wear. Someone abandoned her Hyundai on the freeway after stripping it of key engine parts and the catalytic converter. The car’s battery was also missing.

To get it back from the police, she had to pay $368, and is now facing repair costs between $878 and $1,028 to have the catalytic converter replaced. The thief sawed it off, so a mechanic will have to weld a new one on.

“It’s going to be really expensive to try to replace this catalytic converter. I never thought I would be a victim of my catalytic converter being stolen from my car by a repo tow truck or whatever,” she remarked.

She launched a GoFundMe to cover the repair costs. Until she’s able to fix it, she urges other Southern Californians to be especially careful.

“I just want to let everyone know, just be careful, be vigilant out here, you never know. Even though it may look like a repo person, it may be shady, but you just never know,” she cautioned. “It’s horrible. You don’t know the lives that you’re destroying.”

Viewers expressed sympathy and told similar tow truck stories

Disguising oneself as a tow truck to steal people’s cars is, unfortunately, becoming more common. One viewer from Georgia said the very same thing happened to them.

“This happened to me here in South Fulton, Georgia,” they wrote. “A tow truck came at 3 a.m. I called the finance company, and they said it was not them. I filed a police report, and they mentioned this happens frequently.”

Someone else noted that the effort thieves put into coming up with new ways to steal cars could be directed.

“They’re working overtime to come up with new schemes,” they wrote. “Too bad it can’t be used for good, like at a job.”

Another said they’re going to have to ramp up the security on their car.

“Dang, I’m going to have to boot both wheels on my truck now,” they said.