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So, it turns out I'm an idiot.

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Drozmight

Member
About a month ago, some dude sold me a home theater system out of the back of his car. He had some story about how he needed to get rid of them because the supplier gave him too many. At first I thought, wow, they're stolen... but he showed me a business liscense and an invoice showing that he had bought them... the UPC's matched up and everything. So anyway, I end up dropping $250 on one of these things... only to find they aren't worth anything near that on the internet later. I guess it's some nation wide scam.

I can't help but give props to this guy, because it's one hell of a scam, for sure. I'm the idiot for falling for it.

I talked to another guy in my town who dropped $750 on the same thing, so that makes me feel a lot better.

Edit: I ended up selling them later for $100. So my total loss is $150.
 

LakeEarth

Member
Drozmight said:
About a month ago, some dude sold me a home theater system out of the back of his car. He had some story about how he needed to get rid of them because the supplier gave him too many. At first I thought, wow, they're stolen... but he showed me a business liscense and an invoice showing that he had bought them... the UPC's matched up and everything. So anyway, I end up dropping $250 on one of these things... only to find they aren't worth anything near that on the internet later. I guess it's some nation wide scam.

I can't help but give props to this guy, because it's one hell of a scam, for sure. I'm the idiot for falling for it.

I talked to another guy in my town who dropped $750 on the same thing, so that makes me feel a lot better.

Edit: I ended up selling them later for $100. So my total loss is $150.

You're not the first. You're not the last.
 

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Damn those fuckers are good. They even got my dumb ass brother years ago.
 

Drozmight

Member
Gek54 said:
DTS and DD?

They were just speakers... supposedly, really really really good speakers. LMAO. My friends and I had a good long laugh over it. They did sound really good though.

In my defense, I hadn't eaten or slept in the 24 hours leading up to my encounter with this guy, so my judgment prolly wasn't at it's peak. I was on my way into the grocery store to buy some food when he just came up to me.
 

Outlaw

Banned
Someone tried to sell me some speakers, probably the same as yours, with the same story. That they sent him an extra set blah blah blah.....I made him go all the way down to $100 and I still didn't by them :lol

Where do you live? I live in Houston.


I was on my way into the grocery store to buy some food when he just came up to me.

Same place that happened to me :lol
 

Scoobert

Member
Lol this is one of the oldest scams in the book. The speakers aren't even worth $5! And did you say they actually sounded decent? Oh man, you need some new ears or something. lol
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
heh. I saw this scam on tv 3+ years ago.
 

jenov4

Member
I was in a parking lot trying to get out and then some dude in a van drives up to me and asks me if I want to get some speakers. He keeps going on and on about how good they are and that they're really cheap and stuff. I told him no thanks and drove off...

Me +1
Speaker Dude -1
 

SlickWilly223

Time ta STEP IT UP
Sorry to hear it drozmight... it happens to a lot of people, don't feel like an ass.

But thanks for the headsup... if anyone ever tried to pull shit like this, I'll know just what to say to them...








"...I'll take 2!"
 

BuddyC

Member
Drozmight said:
About a month ago, some dude sold me a home theater system out of the back of his car. He had some story about how he needed to get rid of them because the supplier gave him too many. At first I thought, wow, they're stolen... but he showed me a business liscense and an invoice showing that he had bought them... the UPC's matched up and everything. So anyway, I end up dropping $250 on one of these things... only to find they aren't worth anything near that on the internet later. I guess it's some nation wide scam.

I can't help but give props to this guy, because it's one hell of a scam, for sure. I'm the idiot for falling for it.

I talked to another guy in my town who dropped $750 on the same thing, so that makes me feel a lot better.

Edit: I ended up selling them later for $100. So my total loss is $150.
I too fell for a similar scam about three years back. Thanks for reminding me, jerk.
 

Mashing

Member
Meh, just tell them to get out of your face of you'll call the authorities... stolen or not they can get arrested for fraud. They'll leave well enough alone after that.
 

BuddyC

Member
EakeLarth said:
Heh, I was trying to remember who made a similar thread years back.
Well, believe it or not, it wasn't me. This was well before my time at GAF. Hell, it even preceeds my stint on LiveJournal.
 

SuperPac

Member
Guy in a yellow pickup made me roll down my window to tell me about this awesome deal he got on a home theater system so I could take advantage of it too. I thought, "who the hell gets a good deal on something and then drives around telling people about it instead of going home and hooking up their speakers"?

I live in Houston and after I said, "uhm, no" I watched as this guy drove around ahead of me stopping people in the same way.
 

ManaByte

Member
Discharger said:
http://www.scamshield.com/Feature.asp?id=1

I just found out about this a while ago

It's funny, because apperantly it's active my town as well

I would never buy that type of equipment unless I could get a warranty on it myself

HAHA

As I pulled into the Jimbo's / Red Robin / El Pollo Loco parking lot, a guy in his 30s nodded at me as if to ask directions. He asked if I wanted some speakers, to which I immediately and smartly replied "Sorry, I already know that scam." He was a total ass though and after his expression changed to being annoyed, he retorted, "It's a hustle, not a scam" and he drove off. I should have played into his game and got a better description of the guy and his car and license plate!

This one is great as well:

I was pulling into a strip mall parking lot when this guy yells at me "want to buy some speakers?" Knowin of this scam I shined him on. The pitch was word for word as described here. I talked him down from $1000 per speaker to $200 for a pair. I then said I would have to get my brother to bring me the money and it wouldn't take lone since he was a police officer and he was on patrol in the area. They turned white and said that they couldn't wait and had to get to the job.
 

BuddyC

Member
The drivers generally tell the person that they have fallen into an unbelievably fortunate situation. They present themselves as delivery drivers and/or installers who have just finished a job, telling the score that by inventory error, they have extra hi-fi speakers unaccounted for. They often tell the score that they need to get rid of them before they return to the warehouse and have to give them back to their boss.
They justify this claim with colorful ads in audiophile magazines or slick brochures listing a very high retail price. Even the web sites displayed prominently on the box justify the high price for the speakers. When the potential buyer begins to walk away, the driver then asks what the person is willing to pay for the "high-quality" speakers. Buyers have paid anywhere from $200-$1000 for a pair, thinking they made a great deal. The drivers have commonly been known to ask for extra "beer money" for giving the buyers such a great deal.
These people may assume because they got such a great deal, they could recoup their costs by selling the speakers to a friend or to someone on eBay, only to discover that it is easier said than done with the product's lack of name-recognition and poor reputation.

Yup, that website just about sums it up.

Litigation Manuel, you never read this.
 

Papi

Member
The logical thing to do is assasinate the dude that sold it to you. Then you would have swindled him back nicely.
 

Prospero

Member
Some scammers like this were working my town a couple of years ago--I actually ran into them three times within the space of a month, at the local shopping center.

The first time, I listened to the scammer's spiel and walked away (especially because the scammer offered to drive me to my local back so that I could draw out the cash to pay him).

The second time the white van pulls up next to me as I'm walking through the parking lot into Target:

Scammer: "Hey, you're never going to believe this--"
Me: "Aw, come on, guy. Are you going to try to sell me some speakers?"
Scammer: "What? What'd you say? Am I going to sell you some sneakers? Yeah! I got a bunch of sneakers in the back here. You wear a 12EE?"
Me: "No."
Scammer: "Oh, that's too bad then." (*peels off*)

The third time I actually see the guy working another mark in the same shopping center and decided to intervene for the good of the country. I stand about fifty feet away until I see the mark stop talking to the scammer, and then, when the mark leaves to go to his car, I approach him.

Me: "Excuse me, sir."
Mark: (rolling down window, looking irritated because he has to get to the bank ASAP) "Yeah? What?"
Me: "Did those guys in the white van over there just try to sell you some speakers?"
Mark: "Uh... yeah?"
Me: "And did they tell you that the speakers are really nice and that they're meant for a nightclub, but that they only take cash, because they have to get back to their boss by the end of the day today or someone will catch on that the inventory's wrong?"
Mark: "How'd you know that?"

So I explain the scam to him. But instead of driving off and leaving the scammers to twist in the wind, the mark turns around and goes back to the van to tell them he's changing his mind about the deal. This escalates into a screaming match. Meanwhile, the scammer is giving me hateful looks while I'm standing on the other side of the parking lot, watching the fun. I haven't seen those guys around here since, though.
 

beerbelly

Banned
Seriously, I remember reading this exact same thread with the exact same situation a few months ago. It's like deja vu.
 

Pfucata

Member
"Excuse me, do you speak Italian?"
me: "no, sorry"
"How about english?"
me: "uh, yeah" (continue walking to my car)
"Would you like to buy some italian leather jackets?"
 
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