Is this a valid serial number?

[modyouup]

Got a deal cookin outside ebay. Says he'll sell me a Powerbook G4 17" for $1450 and it's brand new. Says he's selling cheap because he recieved his stock from a company that went backrupt.

I asked for photos and he said he didn't have any but provided me with the serial number: FGF55451D62

Oook so how do I know if this is real? Is there any way to validate this thing?

 

[Maclarny]

Could you call Apple Support and ask if it is valid? It's worth a try.

 

[modyouup]

Hmmm would I call the Applecare number for that?

 

[jxyama]

there's been a scam that was posted here about a guy who's selling some macs cheap "because his company went bankrupt and needs to liquidate the assets."

don't fall for this. $1450 for a brand new 17" PB will not happen. if the story is really true, then the seller would know better to put a bigger price - the 17" PB would sell even at $2500.

this is stupid, man. i know you are trying to "save" but this is such a ridiculous deal, you should just avoid it, period. you are making someone "eat" more than half of the cost of the laptop. why would some random joe eat ~$1700 himself and pass that savings to you? what difference does the serial number make if he never intends to send you the machine anyway..?

 

[Mudbug]

Originally posted by jxyama
don't fall for this. $1450 for a brand new 17" PB will not happen. if the story is really true, then the seller would know better to put a bigger price - the 17" PB would sell even at $2500.

I tend to agree with this - what would this seller stand to get if he offered you such a massive discount on a "new" machine? Your chances are pretty high that this is a scam, and I'd walk away now while you can.

On a related note, does the seller have an ebay history you could check? Maybe that would give you some background info that could help you with this.

I bet it's a scam... but if it's not, see if he has some others

 

[modyouup]

Well one of the more convincing factors is that even though this is OFF ebay, this guy has sold tons of stuff on ebay. He has over 1100 comments 99.8% of which are positive. Kinda makes you wonder WHY he would decide to become illegal.

 

[Powerbook G5]

I agree that it is pretty dangerous. It's almost a given that if they sell super cheap or have some kind of an excuse like that it's because they are trying to pull a fast one on you. I've got quite a few friends who fell for it and got burnt trying to get cheap xbox games and ended up losing quite a bit.

 

[edesignuk]

Does it sound to good to be true? Then it most probably is. End of.

 

[Powerbook G5]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the seller history is sometimes not the best way to check reliability. Sometimes they sell a bunch of little stuff to build up a history for the big scams to make money or they will sell back and forth with their friends so they will increase their positive reviews to make themselves seem like a good bet. Just be careful, I'd hate for you to get burnt for $1500.

 

[modyouup]

Yeah I would hate that too. His username is luatmaine. I was wrong before about the 1100 he has over 3500 comments.

If his story is true, then that would explain the price. He says he's gonna do more $1700 buy it nows but if I wanted it I could have it for $1450.

 

[jxyama]

Originally posted by modyouup
Well one of the more convincing factors is that even though this is OFF ebay, this guy has sold tons of stuff on ebay. He has over 1100 comments 99.8% of which are positive. Kinda makes you wonder WHY he would decide to become illegal.

hijacked account? or as PB G5 wrote, "faked" comments?

unless he can send you pictures of the actual laptop and accept escrow.com, don't pursue this.

give it up. you will end up just $1500 in the hole.

 

[Horrortaxi]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
Sometimes they sell a bunch of little stuff to build up a history for the big scams to make money or they will sell back and forth with their friends so they will increase their positive reviews to make themselves seem like a good bet.

Or they spam ebay users with messages that appear to be from ebay asking for personal information such as password. "
we're updating our records and need this information or your account will be deactivated." I get those at least once a day. Anyway, a small number of fools must send in the information. Once somebody has your username and password they can do whatever they want.

 

[marcsiry]

Definitely a scam. We've seen the same thing on these boards tons of times. Don't you remember the fella who actually tracked down his scammer? Same deal- "too good to be true" on a laptop.

If you go ahead and send the money, make sure you come back here with your tale of woe so we can add it to the list of people who have been scammed.

 

[Sun Baked]

This may be the moron the other Pakistani moron was using when he trotted by an talked about the same story.

His Mac magazine was liquidating the machines.

Turned out to be a scam behind a scam.

The Pakistani said "his" company was liquidating it's inventory, and offering the machines for sale.

He was buying machines to resell.

then he said, "I was scammed by someone on eBay." And "lost" the money.

 

[hugemullens]

1450 for a new 17 inch powerbook. Why on earth would a person sell a computer $1,000 below what it could easly get on any auction? Scam. 100%.

 

[GeeYouEye]

I think the PowerBook is real, but the deal is not. The SN has the right number of digits, BTW, but that's all I can tell you about it.

 

[Kwyjibo]

how does he want payment? will he accept escrow if you pay the fees?


if hes asking for western union...its a scam. If he thinks that escrow is out of the question or unreasonalbe or whatever bs excuse he has... then hes scamming you. Please don't be naive...its way to easy to fall for the low price.

 

[Mal]

Invalid

I just checked the s/n in GSX and it comes up as invalid. Whoever it was probably just switched a few digits hoping to fool someone. Give it up.

JW

 

[Jerry Spoon]

Has anyone ever asked about a "too good to be true"ebay auction that the majority of people actually said was probably legit?

 

[iJon]

im not at work but i will give you my opinion. i cant say i recall an apple product ever beginning with f. most laptops, if not all of them contain UV and desktops, at least powermacs are xb. its a scam.

iJon

 

[Powerbook G5]

My PowerBook starts with QT, but then again, it's a few years old.

 

[MacAztec]

Scam dude. I already have spoken with this dick. He is in Germany, or out of the country right? He had a partner. Its bull****. Dont fall for it.

 

[QCassidy352]

Originally posted by Jerry Spoon
Has anyone ever asked about a "too good to be true"ebay auction that the majority of people actually said was probably legit?

well... one time, when the 800 mhz G4 Tibook was top of the line and selling for 3k or so, I saw an auction with a "buy it now" of $1750 for that powerbook with maxed RAM, applecare, and an airport base station. The seller had ~50 feedbacks for mixed items; seemed like a regular guy, not an online store. I was amazed and intrigued, so I checked back on the guy's feedback a few weeks later. Both the buyer and the seller had left positive and enthusiastic feedback for one another...

so the point of my little story is, there *are* amazing deals out there, once in a great while. This one i mentioned got snatched up about an hour after it was posted. BUT, there are usually warning signs about these things being fake, and this auction you talked about had lots of those warning signs.

there's one sure way - ask for escrow with escrow.com (ebay's service) and *no other escrow service.* Any reasonable seller will understand and agree; the scammers will have a dozen dubious reasons why that "won't work for them."

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
My PowerBook starts with QT, but then again, it's a few years old.

yeah i knew it couldnt be all of them. the thing is is that i dont reconize f as beginning one. it just doesnt stand out in my head like the others. and if that doesnt give it away wabout about them selling it at almost half price. nobody sells a new powerbook that cheap, even if they are dirt poor.

iJon

 

[Powerbook G5]

I've had enough experience with eBay both from myself and my friends to know not to trust much from there. The only real positive experience I've had was when my friend and I bought an old used NES system and a few games (all three Marios, Zelda, Dr Mario, and Tetris). Since the system was old and not much money anyway, we figured if we lost $40, then oh well. They worked with Paypal and even said not to worry about paying until they actually shipped it and we could track it so we wouldn't be burnt. Really, the biggest thing to look out for is what they want you to do to pay them. If it isn't the normal payment method (like they want you to wire it to them through Western Union) then it's a scam 100%. If they make excuses whenever you request a reasonable business deal or question with them, there is a good reason for it. $1500 is not pocket change, so I wouldn't trust just handing it over unless I knew it would result in me getting the product that I paid for.