I got scammed big time.

[Shuttleworth]

Fingerprints? When did we turn this into a CSI thread? If the victim can get the police interested, then perhaps they might find fingerprints useful.... but the victim.. ?

Bizarrely I wasn't implying the victim could do something himself with the fingerprints, unless he has access to the police's database it'd be useless to him. However it may come in handy when he gets the police involved and the scammer says "never seen it before", only to have his grubby pawprints all over the fake box.

 

[snberk103]

Bizarrely I wasn't implying the victim could do something himself with the fingerprints, unless he has access to the police's database it'd be useless to him. However it may come in handy when he gets the police involved and the scammer says "never seen it before", only to have his grubby pawprints all over the fake box.

Sorry, I understood your post to be saying that the victim should make copies of the fingerprints, instead of the police if/when they get involved.

 

[IWantItThatWay]

This remind me of a story lol:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/15622/ - it's called "How I Caught a Counterfeiter With a Little Help From My Friends"

 

[rkdiddy]

While this story really sucks and upsets me - I think you have to chalk this up to a good lesson learned.

In all reality it is only $300 and the amount of time you've already put into "investigating" this and your safety - has to be worth more than the $300 you lost.

 

[o2xygen]

OP, any updates? I think scamming is disgusting, no matter what value. I really hope you take this guy down (lawfully, not physically).

 

[Gregintosh]

While this story really sucks and upsets me - I think you have to chalk this up to a good lesson learned.

In all reality it is only $300 and the amount of time you've already put into "investigating" this and your safety - has to be worth more than the $300 you lost.

Well that assumes that the spare time the OP (or any of us for that matter) can be put to a higher value use.

Unless the OP is foregoing generating money in favor of investigating this, then it could be worth the while. $300 is quite a bit to some people as well, so maybe it is worth chasing. I assume if someone was looking for bargains on craigslist they didn't have the money to buy a new unit or it would have presented a hardship.

The lesson here is though, consider your options carefully. A lot of people, and who can blame them, try to get the most bang for their buck and are especially tempted by the amazing deals that come along (which usually border on sounding too good to be true). In all aspects of life though, the cheapest option isn't always the best option, in fact it rarely is. Usually its a better idea to pay the extra few bucks and be guaranteed of your choice.

In the end things usually balance out financially, and the cheaper option usually costs more in time and hassle.

In this case, attempting to save $300 cost the OP a Mac Mini. The next $300 worth of bargains the OP will get in his life, assuming they all work out, will only balance out the loss incurred here in this one incident.

I too was really cheap once, thinking I'd save a few bucks, so I got a taxi cab to help me move my stuff instead of a proper moving service (I didn't have a lot of stuff, just one car load worth). I saved maybe $20 over hiring a private moving service for the hour, but one of my bags must've fallen under the seat of the Taxi and I am missing two miniDP to VGA/DVI cables, a few USB cables, and some blank CDs.

The cost to replace the items is far greater than the $20 I saved by being cheap and getting a cab instead of a moving service. I have no doubt had I hired a moving service/van none of my bags would go missing cause they'd all be in one place.

The same goes for buying used cars versus new cars. You save money now, you pay extra in repair costs and hassles later -- unless you get very, very lucky, but that's rare.

 

[maverick72]

Friend named Rocky and a baseball bat. Always does the trick and he would think twice before scamming.

Police?? Are you kidding. He will get a slap on the wrist + a "its bad" to do that.

 

[baypharm]

I have done many craigslist transactions in person and have always had a great experience 100 per cent of the time. Whether or not your transaction is civil or criminal depends on the state you were in at the time. Some states say it is civil others say criminal. You did not tell us where it happened. In the future get a license plate number, driver license number (making sure the photo matches the guy or girl who handed it to you), and you should be set. Also understand that craigs list is haven for unloading stolen computers, electronics, etc. You can buy a new sealed Macbook Pro for less than a thousand dollars. These transactions should be avoided. Dealing in stolen property is a felony in all states.

 

[mikeinternet]

So what was taken out of the mini to fit the weights? Everything?

Just curious why he would do it that way. Where do you get mini cases??
He must have had a mini that was shot or something. Scrapped out what parts still worked and added the weights.

Not likely this will be a repeat scam.

What I don't get is... What could those parts be worth? Why didn't he just give you a dud mini. Then you may not have even realized it was a scam and just assumed the mini was not happy with your monitor or something.

 

[o2xygen]

So what was taken out of the mini to fit the weights? Everything?

Just curious why he would do it that way. Where do you get mini cases??
He must have had a mini that was shot or something. Scrapped out what parts still worked and added the weights.

Not likely this will be a repeat scam.

What I don't get is... What could those parts be worth? Why didn't he just give you a dud mini. Then you may not have even realized it was a scam and just assumed the mini was not happy with your monitor or something.

I guess buying a whole bunch of old broken CD mac minis and then selling them as new working C2D mini's would bring in a nice healthy profit. He could probably sell the broken parts as working for a bit of extra cash aswel.

 

[jra81984]

You met at a Gas Station? They have Surveilance cameras EVERYWHERE I am sure you can get his plate info and his appearance quite easily. I would speak to the police again about this.

 

[Kardashian]

So, 350zman, what progress have you actually made?

 

[Pixellated]

So, 350zman, what progress have you actually made?

It seems that he's given up... Like in Britain, the police in America seem to bee absolutely useless.

 

[coogee]

No disrespect intended but couldn't the OP be someone scamming to try and get some information on a, probably stolen, Mac via its serial number.

The original request is for an Apple employee to look up a Serial number.

i called apple with the serial number from the guys comp the mac guy said on file is a name and address but due to privacy laws he cant help me.

Call me a cynic (cynic!) but my instinct says the OP is not what they declare themselves to be and are trying to get access to some Apple Database information for reasons unknown.

The original 'story' of the scam seems far too pat to me. Weights in the Mini? Gas station location? The switch? The quick notation of Serial number?

Just going on what seems most likely, the scam story doesn't seem most likely to me.


I'm happy to offer the paranoid angle at the very least.

 

[Chrycopsycho]

I love all these comments about "the cops will arrest you for stealing a candybar" etc. I AM a police officer, so here's the scoop; this is NOT a civil matter, it's theft. Intent was proven by virtue of passing off a weighted box purporting to be a thing of value (computer) in exchange for something of value (your cash). Contact a shift supervisor and tell him or her this situation.IF you STILL run up against a wall, contact your local D.A. As for the serial number issue, a simple search warrant will force Apple to provide police with owner information. This really isn't rocket science, and it's irritating to have an entire group of fellow officers who DO work diligently lumped into the "'cops won't do anything for anybody" category because a few of us are too lazy to do what they swore they would do when they accepted the badge.

 

[jsw]

No disrespect intended but couldn't the OP be someone scamming to try and get some information on a, probably stolen, Mac via its serial number.

We've seen a fair bit of that as well. The lack of any included pictures, the somehow-being-able-to-plug-in-a-monitor-and-run-it-all-at-a-gas-station, the furtive copying of the serial number (why?)... it's not like the story doesn't have its holes.

That doesn't mean it's a scam, but there are definite red flags.

@Chrycopsycho: good post. If the OP is being truthful, then he certainly has other avenues to pursue. Thank you for what you wrote.

 

[3lutz3toe]

This is a good suggestion and I’d follow this if I were u!
$300 or 400 these days is no chump change!

(interesting that the cop didn’t even offer any suggestion to go about it. Maybe the person was supposed to handle so of course they didn’t have one)

I love all these comments about "the cops will arrest you for stealing a candybar" etc. I AM a police officer, so here's the scoop; this is NOT a civil matter, it's theft. Intent was proven by virtue of passing off a weighted box purporting to be a thing of value (computer) in exchange for something of value (your cash). Contact a shift supervisor and tell him or her this situation.IF you STILL run up against a wall, contact your local D.A. As for the serial number issue, a simple search warrant will force Apple to provide police with owner information. This really isn't rocket science, and it's irritating to have an entire group of fellow officers who DO work diligently lumped into the "'cops won't do anything for anybody" category because a few of us are too lazy to do what they swore they would do when they accepted the badge.