A man who bought a van on eBay discovered he had been cheated by a Bluffton-based seller when the same vehicle showed up for sale again on the site.

The man paid $4,000 for the van, but the seller -- whom he only knew as "John Brown" of Bluffton -- changed his phone number and email address before he could pick it up, he reported to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

Then he saw the van re-listed on eBay, Sgt. Robin McIntosh said.

Investigators learned the vehicle identification number the victim had been given was invalid. They'll track the site to see if any listings give away identifying information about the con artist, but "there's not a whole lot of information for us to go on," McIntosh said.