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Dozens of suspicious cellphone purchases at three Missouri Walmarts
- Thread starter M52B28
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Al-ibn Kermit
Junior Member
It's not uncommon for someone to buy phones here and sell them overseas when they go on trips to see family. I know someone who sold 50 iPhones when he went back to Iraq for summer vacation.
SpookyFries
Member
Back when I was still just a teenager working at Walmart I remember Homeland security coming in and briefing me on these guys who were buying prepaid phones and what to look out for and who to call if I saw it happening. It was pretty intense for an otherwise uneventful place
newdayrocks
Member
Stringer Bell teaching them how it's done.
Venus Van Dam
Neo Member
I have no clue why someone would need that many cell phones. Do you have any idea why?
Average Missourian on Facebook is saying IEDs for the war on America, but come on, that's a tad bit unrealistic.
Al-ibn Kermit
Junior Member
Did they tell you to watch out for someone who comes in every week to buy a single prepaid phone/sim or whatever and who always pays in cash? The type of person who would save money just getting a phone plan? That makes sense and is probably a drug dealer/terrorist or someone who doesn't want to get wiretapped.
This story sounds like somebody buying the phones to resell them. Maybe the reason why they paid in cash was there were multiple friends investing into it.
Any other explanation sounds too dumb to be true. Unless these weren't even smartphones.
LucidMomentum
Member
Resale, using the components for something, or maybe they run a business (legal or otherwise) where these phones would come in handy.
Is it a bit of a red flag? Sure. But saying that you're calling the feds about it because someone "looks foreign" instead of just because they're buying a bunch of phones seems a bit off.
What if a Caucasian man did the same thing? I'd hope they'd call regardless of who did it, because that many phones in the span of a week seems a bit sketch.
Hmmm...I guess I shouldn't buy lots of prepaid cellphones to give away to the homeless at soup kitchen this christmas season.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/upshot/fighting-homelessness-one-smartphone-at-a-time.html?_r=0
http://2machines.com/162649/
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/upshot/fighting-homelessness-one-smartphone-at-a-time.html?_r=0
http://2machines.com/162649/
actually I don't do this. But now I'm on a watchlist. yay!
this was my first thought
cpp_is_king
Member
The person who reported is quoted as saying the reason is because it was unusual to buy so many phones. It was the sheriff who brought up the topic of their nationality.
Do prepaid phones even work overseas?
BronsonLee
Member
Was it Jason Bourne? He does that a lot
RedNumberFive
Banned
I bought a stupid amount of burner phones last year during that Best Buy GCU exploit.
It's unusual behavior and was rightfully reported. Speculation is fine but better to confirm than wonder.
chicko1983
Member
I'd report it too if I worked there.
Obviously it could be fine and they were bought with good intentions, however, my first thoughts would be they bought them as burners for some sort of gang related crime coming up. But that is because I have watched the wire.
I would think that it could be terrorist also, but more likely drugs.
I would have also questioned it if I was working at the check out where they walked though. Something casual like "are these Christmas presents?" Or something of he like. If there was a good reason then and there I might have dropped it.
Obviously it could be fine and they were bought with good intentions, however, my first thoughts would be they bought them as burners for some sort of gang related crime coming up. But that is because I have watched the wire.
I would think that it could be terrorist also, but more likely drugs.
I would have also questioned it if I was working at the check out where they walked though. Something casual like "are these Christmas presents?" Or something of he like. If there was a good reason then and there I might have dropped it.
Skellig Gra
Member
Probably works for the Patriots.
Whatever happened to those people that stocked up on ps3's back in the day. Seems suspicious to buy more than one. And don't get me started on Amiibos. There's chips in them, ya know.
chicko1983
Member
What, your first thought if someone was buying 50 phones is that he is giving them away at a soup kitchen?
cheststrongwell
my cake, fuck off
If some middle-eastern looking dude bought 50 burners at a place I worked, I'd probably alert someone.
BronsonLee
Member
not specifically a soup kitchen, but to charity, yeah
chicagocubsfan
Member
Hahaha. I was just about to post this.
It seems Jefferson City is joining the fun as well.
http://www.abc17news.com/news/fbi-investigating-suspicious-purchase-at-columbia-walmart/36877514
Don't get shot. Gun violence is getting a little out of hand in Columbia. Glad to have moved, though I wasn't in the greatest of areas, apparently.
http://www.abc17news.com/news/fbi-investigating-suspicious-purchase-at-columbia-walmart/36877514
Don't get shot. Gun violence is getting a little out of hand in Columbia. Glad to have moved, though I wasn't in the greatest of areas, apparently.
Zoe
Member
Organizations wouldn't be paying for those in untraceable cash.
My point with the initial post wasn't necessarily about soup kitchens, no. But a cell phone is one of the most useful tools to donate to a large number of charities in order to benefit the poor, destitute, or yes, homeless. It is hard to do anything without a phone these days (and there are fewer and fewer pay phones available)...search for a job, get a job interview, find a place to stay for the night, connect with necessary helping hands, etc.
That's a good point. I guess it really depends on how much money worth of phones was purchased. I could see an individual buying 10ish phones for charity with cash if that is the way they pay for stuff regularly (like my parents use cash for everything). Any organization would definitely pay with another form though.
Sounds like these folks have never heard of Slickdeals.
Or the fact that cheap prepaids make for decent:
MP3 players
Dashcams
Free phone calls (via Hangouts)
Mini tablets for kids
Chromecast remotes
Fodder for upgrade deals (VZW was running a $300 upgrade offer when you traded in an old cell phone)
etc. etc.
Smokey_Run
Member
I would expect someone doing something like that to pay with a card and not with cash.
Ya, I think I have a handle on what areas to avoid, I'm actually hoping to move in the next 6 months. I work near Columbia College and the frequency of gunshots when I'm heading home in the evening is more than I feel comfortable with.
PumpkinSpice
Banned
Probably just a scalper.
yanipheonu
Member
"So what about all these suspicious gun purchases?"
"Eh, they're fine."
"Eh, they're fine."
Sniffynose
Member
Red flag deals should be a crime!
They should report massive amiibo sales too imho
They should report massive amiibo sales too imho
LucidMomentum
Member
Thanks for clarifying. Still though, not sure if I'm pleased it was the LEO who brought it up instead of the person making the call...
RockTurtle
Member
I buy prepaid phones and send them to dr to be reset with chips over there all the time
Also very likely. As an example, Best Buy had the VZW Moto E on sale for $10 over Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That phone comes with an unlocked SIM slot so it can be used on VZW as well as ATT and TMO. Or sold overseas.
Those things are currently flooding CL and eBay.
Resellers and flippers love cheap prepaid cell phones because they're easy profit.
If GSM, yes. The aforementioned Moto E will get voice/data anywhere the is GSM coverage as well as LTE data if the local network is using one of the supported bands.
All VZW LTE handsets ship with an unlocked SIM slot.
About the only network that phone won't run on in the US is Sprint because Sprint hasn't whitelisted the ESN.
My first thought would be that he/she found a great deal and is probably flipping them for a profit.
This is why a lot of stores will limit prepaid sales to two handsets per person. It's also why Tracfone goes to absurd lengths to lock down their handsets. They're not worried about terrorism. They're worried about profits.
Verizon isn't making a profit by letting Best Buy sell Moto Es for $10 a pop. It's losing money on those sales and hoping to make it up when people become prepaid subscribers. Anyone who bought the phone for $10 and is either using it on another network or resold it for use overseas is costing VZW money.
Zoe
Member
If someone is so profit oriented, they should be using credit cards to maximize the return.
DurielBlack
Member
We had someone come in and buy dozens of phones from us every couple months or so when I worked at Target. They would literally purchase $5k+ in phones.
It was for a church that was giving pre-paid phones away to homeless people.
Eventually we were told not to allow that, since this one person would clean out our entire inventory. They started sending people out to multiple stores to buy like 10 phones each.
It was for a church that was giving pre-paid phones away to homeless people.
Eventually we were told not to allow that, since this one person would clean out our entire inventory. They started sending people out to multiple stores to buy like 10 phones each.
People used to leave their doors unlocked at night too. How many ps3's reportedly have been a key tool in terror attacks btw?
excelsiorlef
Member
To create panic and fear
What if they were white?
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
These weren't iPhones. These were burners.
I don't care who you are. You buy 17 burners at one time while paying in cash and I'm reporting your ass.
andythinkpad
Member
People who hang out on slickdeals who have heavy foreign accents. Plus they probably brought the burner phones in regular price, not Black Friday price.
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