People across the globe donate to get Wichita teen a car after being scammed

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Carter Jensen, a Wichita teen, decided it was time for his first car. So, he started working at When Pigs Fly in November.

“I started just saving every paycheck, about 85% of what I made,” Jensen said.

He saved up enough money and bought a truck off Facebook marketplace.

“I found this guy who had a truck,” Jensen said. “It seemed like a good deal for the price. So, I went out looked at it. As far as I knew, it looked fine.”

But he couldn’t even make it home. So, his boss Brian Choy came to the rescue.

“There was just evidence of somebody patched this vehicle up to get it to run down the street a couple of blocks,” Choy said.

Jensen was at a loss.

“Almost heartbreaking to see,” Jensen said. “It was just terrible. I mean, it was like I was I had no idea what to do. It’s a giant block of steel now sitting on my curb that I have nothing to do with.”

Angry and frustrated, Choy took to social media to see if he could do anything to help Jensen.

“All the mechanics I know, all the car guys I know, can we find a maybe like a $1,500 car, and if I got to loan the kid the money or whatever let’s let’s see what we can find,” Choy said.

But, the post reached a much bigger audience.

“In the morning, we had just over a quarter million views, and I had messages galore and comments galore to go through,” Choy said.

Thousands of people from across the globe were offering support, expertise and donations.

“We had, you know, like people from obviously Wichita, all across the globe,” Choy said. “From California to New York, we had people from New Zealand. We had people from the UK. I mean, it was all over the world.”

Contract paralegal Kim Jones is one of the many who offered her expertise.

“That was probably a huge thing to save up that kind of money to buy a vehicle,” Jones said. “And so that just hurt my heart, so I wanted to help him.”

People across the globe donated enough for Jensen to get a different car.

“Just amazed to see all those people who wanted to support me,” Jensen said.

Jones and Choy say they aren’t surprised people in the Wichita community stepped up to help.

“I knew it was going to become like this because I swear to you, I’ve lived in a few different places because of Hurricane Katrina,” Jones said. “Wichita… I immediately knew that this is just how people are in this community. It is unlike anything I have ever seen anywhere.”

Choy said he has been in Jensen’s shoes before, so he wanted to help him.

“I just sympathize with that,” Choy said. “So I get where he’s coming from.”

Jensen says he learned a lot from the experience and wants people to learn from his situation.

Jones has been a contract paralegal for 25 years and says she has seen this type of situation happen a lot. When buying a car from someone, she encourages people to get a car facts report, take someone with them, and use a cashier’s check rather than cash.