There's two possibilities to your question: That the person riding it bought it secondhand from someone who stole it, and that the person buying it bought it fr

There's two possibilities to your question: That the person riding it bought it secondhand from someone who stole it, and that the person buying it bought it from the (first) owner, who then calls in Vanmoof to steal the bike back for them. 1) Receiving stolen property is illegal, and the bike is still property of the original owner and they can take it back anytime. The person riding it is culpable to the extent that they knew it was a shady deal, which can range from "Not at all, but stuck holding the bag of having to sue the thief for fraud for selling them a stolen bike" to "Charged in conspiracy". There's a big range there, but as it's incredibly hard to prove if they were found riding it around, they probably just lose the bike. If they are found with it in a chop shop... that's a different story. 2) Selling someone something with the intent to steal it back is fraud. If you have a receipt from the seller, you can tell VanMoof to fuck off, or surrender the bike to them and sue in small claims court. VanMoof doesn't want to deal with that and will roll over fairly quickly. The (fraudulent) first owner will be very easy to find because they have a contract with VanMoof. They can probably pull this scam once without repercussions, but VanMoof will, presumably, quickly turn over evidence to your police report of the scam to avoid ruining their reputation.