{"id":1984,"date":"2026-06-13T06:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T06:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1984"},"modified":"2026-06-13T06:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T06:34:18","slug":"phoenix-area-nurseries-say-scammer-stole-thousands-in-ficus-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1984","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix-area nurseries say scammer stole thousands in ficus trees"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 A thief is targeting Valley nurseries, allegedly scamming them out of thousands of dollars in ficus trees using stolen credit cards and the same black SUV.<\/p>\n

Read more Fans in Tucson hope for long World Cup run as US dominates Paraguay in opener<\/a><\/p>\n

Three nurseries confirmed they fell victim to the same crook, which starts with a credit card sale over the phone, followed by a pickup in a black SUV and a trailer.<\/p>\n

When a customer called AP Nursery in Gilbert to place an order for ficus trees using a credit card over the phone, manager Chris Colvin said they took the opportunity for a sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy\u2019s a little rough right now and business is down. So, you know, you\u2019re trying to make sales and trying to make a living,\u201d Colvin said.<\/p>\n

Their surveillance video captured what seemed like a typical pickup on June 2. A man in a white T-shirt loaded about 40 ficus trees onto a trailer towed by a black SUV.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until Tuesday that Colvin said they got a notice that the purchase was reversed. The credit card used was stolen. He said their losses total $5,000. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working hard growing these trees, then you have somebody come in and just take them out from under you. It\u2019s kind of a slap in the face,\u201d Colvin said.<\/p>\n

Similar pattern at multiple locations<\/h2>\n

Arizona Wholesale Growers reported a similar story. General manager Shawn Cox said in late May a man using the alias of a local landscaping company paid for a ficus tree order using a credit card over the phone.<\/p>\n

Their cameras captured what looked like the same man, this time in black, picking up the trees and loading them into a trailer. He pulled away with $2,100 worth of product.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusinesses are already hurting for sales, then stealing money out of your pocket on top of it, is just kind of an insult to injury,\u201d Cox said.<\/p>\n

Cox said he\u2019s heard of eight nurseries hit by the same scam so far in the Valley, including Whitfill Nursery in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump says US military strike killed leader of Tren de Aragua gang with help from Venezuela<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe bought over the phone, and he billed himself as a new landscaper, kind of getting his feet started, trying to get on his feet in the industry,\u201d Matthew Whitfill said.<\/p>\n

Although Whitfill didn\u2019t have surveillance video, he recognized the same black SUV.<\/p>\n

\u201cA ficus tree like this, without exaggerating, is about like a 10 year, 12 year investment of our time and our water. To get it up to this size and just to be out, that is, it doesn\u2019t feel good,\u201d Whitfill said.<\/p>\n

Each of the nurseries filed reports with separate police departments because they fall into different jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

The Maricopa County Sheriff\u2019s Office said the fraud case is waiting to be assigned to a detective.<\/p>\n

The theory is that the thieves are either reselling the trees, possibly on Facebook Marketplace, or planting them as part of a long-term job.<\/p>\n

Nothing is confirmed yet by police, including the identity of the man caught on surveillance video.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Heavy police presence at Tucson apartment complex<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valley nurseries say a thief used stolen credit cards, a black SUV and a trailer to steal thousands of dollars in ficus trees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nPhoenix-area nurseries say scammer stole thousands in ficus trees - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1984\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phoenix-area nurseries say scammer stole thousands in ficus trees - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Valley nurseries say a thief used stolen credit cards, a black SUV and a trailer to steal thousands of dollars in ficus trees.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1984\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-13T06:34:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1984#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1984\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Phoenix-area nurseries say scammer stole thousands in ficus trees\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T06:34:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1984\"},\"wordCount\":582,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1984#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ef241d0ce57c879e6d0b2e8347f76216.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1984#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1984\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1984\",\"name\":\"Phoenix-area nurseries say scammer stole thousands in ficus trees - 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