Some things never change.
Bait-and-switch con artists still open with a line like, “Hey, man, wanna buy a ...,” and gullible people still fall for the ruse.
Grand Prairie police today issued an e-mailed press release warning of confidence tricksters scamming their marks with bogus Apple products, namely iPads and MacBooks.
According to the release, a car containing two, maybe three or four, people pulls near a mark in a convenience store or shopping center parking lot. One of the passengers opens with the classic, “Psst, hey buddy” line and offers the iWants for a stupid low price — $300 for one or $500 for both.
Psst, hey buddy, hear that? That’s the too-good-to-be-true warning bell going off.
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The mark agrees, forks over the cash — and who carries that much green? — and the crooks hand him or her a sealed FedEx, maybe a Best Buy, box and head off trolling for the next dupe.
Meanwhile, the victim opens the package and finds a painted-wood or loose-leaf notebook with the Apple logo on top covered in bubble wrap. Imagine the disappointment.
This scam has been around for years — speakers, stereos, steaks, name it — with opening lines also including, “Hey, this may sound crazy but …”
From the GPPD: “Grand Prairie has had over a dozen such crimes committed since January of this year... The vehicles used vary in most cases. There appears to be several groups of thieves and sometimes the suspects never even get out of the car.”
Don’t be a victim or a P.T. Barnum stereotype. Buy those deep-discounted electronics from trusted sources on CraigsList.com.
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He did, though, buy his favorite pool cue of all time from the trunk of some guy’s car. That was years ago when people were trustworthy.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of NBC, NBC 5, NBCDFW.com or its employees.
