Cautionary Craigslist Tale

[deeddawg]

Ran across this on CL. I feel for the poster, he (she?) got scammed by someone who clearly had it planned out. Note: I am not the victim, I just saw this on CL and figured it would be a good reminder to pass along as we head into the holiday season (which seems to generate a higher amount of this stuff)

Edit: To clarify, my point isn't to suggest people avoid Craigslist. There are scammers everywhere and CL can be a perfectly safe place to buy and sell stuff. What I'm getting at is that no matter what venue you use, pay attention to your instincts and if something doesn't seem to add up, there's probably a reason.

Original post at: http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/sys/2046394644.html

Text (in case it gets taken down):

Tony Jenkins Macbook Pro Thief (Atlanta Mall west end)

Date: 2010-11-06, 8:04PM EDT
Reply to: sale-gaf9k-2046394644@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Ok.... so heres the deal. You can ripped off on Craigslist. I just did. I blame myself for allowing this guy who called himself Tony Jenkins (tonij17@yahoo.com) to manipulate me into a situation that I was not comfortable with right from the start. I sell and buy a lot of stuff on craigslist and most of the people I meet are great honest people. This guy was not.

So I meet him (Tony 404-457-1529) in a pizza place there and then he says he want's to go plug it in. Big read flag right there because it ran off the battery. He gave me a sob story about how he bought one and it didn't work so he needed to check it out. So we go into the mall into a place called America Deli. He says his Aunt owns it and its got great food. Then he say he wants to plug it in in the back office. This is were I really screwed up. I let him take the thing and he got out a side door and is gone. There is no back office. I ask the people working there - they don't know him. I ask the guy he said hello to and he didn't know him either.

So I feel like a dumbass but he is a thief. I filed a police report and they have lots of video there. I don't expect to get it back but perhaps my tale of woe will help someone else from getting ripped off. Most people are honest. Obviously this guy is not. Another thing I thought of is I'll start taking photos of people I meet as well.

So never never never let anyone take your computer without paying for any reason. If red flags are going off there's probably a good reason. Always take photos of the other person in case he turns out to be a thief. Starbucks are still one of the safest places to meet.

He also tried to get me to meet him at 1000 Mall Union City, GA 30291

Here are the specs:

Model A211
2.33 Ghz Macbookpro 3,1
Serial number W86469ULW0H

 

[frankingmachine]

I feel so sorry for this victim. Lesson: Do not easily give your trust to a stranger! If i were the seller, i wouldn't have this guy plugged in my laptop in the back office (back door) without me. These kind of people are evil. They should be punished!

 

[Consultant]

Thanks for the info.

Whatever I am selling do not get out of my sight until money is confirmed.

 

[shyam09]

i am also sry for the victim.. but as i read this i remembered a recent thread i just read:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1044855/

the link to the Craigslist is now gone so i do not know if the details between the stolen MBP is the same to this MBP, but yeah.

weird huh?
but i must say that time and circumstances make you do funny things- "karma?"

 

[DylanLovesPorn]

had a similar cl story some dude wanted to buy my nikon 80-200 2.8 by cheque. he even offered to show me a slip of his recent bank balance.

 

[stevento]

I'll call that number and bug Tony (if that is his real name, probably not), just to be a jerk.

 

[Littleodie914]

I'll call that number and bug Tony (if that is his real name, probably not), just to be a jerk.

Yea, if you have his phone number, why not hand that over to the police as well? Certainly they can determine either the billing address (if a cell phone) or the home address (if a land line) and track the guy down.

 

[andiwm2003]

Yea, if you have his phone number, why not hand that over to the police as well? Certainly they can determine either the billing address (if a cell phone) or the home address (if a land line) and track the guy down.

I can't imagine the number is real. i would guess a stolen phone.

Aside of that I would never let somebody walk out with a $2000 MBP. Even if this was legit he could drop it and then say it never worked or that scratch was there before....