A resident of Strathmore is warning others after a thief targeted his ATV and a portion of the reward he had offered for its return ended up in the hands of a suspected scam artist.

Grant Wallace’s Polaris RZR side-by-side ATV and trailer, worth an estimated $17,000, were removed from the driveway of his home in the early morning hours of May 15.

A surveillance camera recorded the theft and Wallace posted the video to social media and Kijiji in the hopes of identifying the culprit. The video has been viewed over 53,000 times.

“It was uninsured so I offered $2,000 for the return of the ATV and, just out of a little bit of bitterness, I offered another $500 for the arrest of whoever took it.”

Days after the theft, Wallace was camping and unable to answer a call to his cellphone. His voicemail included his office phone number and his 78-year-old business partner soon received a call from someone who said they had seen the posting. The caller said they had bought the ATV without realizing it had been stolen for $500 and would be willing to return it to Wallace in exchange for the amount he had paid.

The business partner agreed to the caller’s terms, sent him half of the money by email transfer and arranged to meet in person. The caller had phoned from a private number and was never heard from again.

RCMP are investigating the thefts. According to Cst. Denzil Morey, citizens should be on guard and trust their instincts whenever anyone requests money under questionable circumstances.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it typically is,” said Morey. “If you ever have to pay something to get something back that belongs to you that may have been stolen or involved in crime, the best thing to do in those situations is contact police.”

Wallace continues to await word on his side-by-side.  “I just want my machine back. That’s all I want out of this,” said Wallace. “I hope people don’t fall for similar types of scams as this. Don’t send anyone any money until you have something in front of you.”

Anyone with information regarding the ATV theft is asked to contact local police.

With files from CTV's Jordan Kanygin