Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

I got scammed big time.

If all you need is his address, isn't that where you met up with him in the first place to to see if the mini was working?
 
Sorry you got taken. It seems to me that the police go after scam artists all the time... I'm really surprised they're completely unwilling to do anything about it. Perhaps you should try again and emphasize that you're reporting a scammer rather than you're reporting having been ripped off.
 
yeah i know i thought they would at least help but the cops around here suck, about a month ago my roommates window in his car got smashed and a 300 dollar radar was taken and they didn't even come out.. No we met up at a local gas station.
 
You don't happen to have a description of the car or his license plate?

I'd call the police back, and report it as a scam, and ask if the gas station has any surveillance video. That would come in handy for the police.
 
do you have his phone number?

i recently sold my mac mini also for 300, i provided the guy my phone number to the seller and told him if he needed anything, to let me know. he hasn't call me since so i assume all is well.

sorry to hear about that man
 
no no phone number whats wierd was it was all email the guy seemed really cool nothing fishy but o well, yeah i know the car the plate was hidden in his window i recall that. But i called up apple the guy on the phone was really cool he told me all the info is there he even told me it was registered to the area im in so i know it was def his.

the reason the apple guy could not release the info was because of privacy purposes. i wish i knew someone that worked there.
 
that's an awful story. but i guess the lesson is don't trust Craigslist sellers/buyers until the deal is completely finalized.
 
It is a con game, of course it is a police matter.

If he simply sold you a non-working machine, and said it was working, it would be a civil matter.

Since he did an elaborate game of showing you one machine which you were buying, and then swapping it for another one while he wraps it up ... moves it into the con game arena and a minor crime.

---

Nice scam though, and all it takes is buying all the dud and broken Minis you can lay your hands on.
 
yeah i mean the guy was smart he gave me his working mini to try then told me hell pack it up he then switched it with the broken one and boxed it up for me he was smart.
 
350zman said:
yeah i mean the guy was smart he gave me his working mini to try then told me hell pack it up he then switched it with the broken one and boxed it up for me he was smart.
Click to expand...

do it again as i assume he will list it again right. this time have your friend be the buyer. then have the cops on alert or reqest, nah i dont need it packed up lol
 
honestly we were thinking that and he did respond to emails to met him again but should i call cops to come?
 
350zman said:
I called police they said its civil mater and cant help.
Click to expand...

Yeah, steal a $.75 candybar from a store and the cops will be all over you. Yet get ripped off for $300 (or more) and they don't care.

I bought a car once and discovered the odometer had been tampered with. The car had double the miles it was showing (I confirmed by tracking down service records). The police, the DMV, and state officials didn't do a thing to help me. I had to do it all myself through the small claims process.

Grrrr. I think I'll go steal a candybar...
 
mikeinternet said:
If you met at a gas station, where did he plug in the mac that he had working?
Click to expand...
inverters to plug into the cig lighter.

damn, that sucks you got scammed. next time bring along a buddy to help you out, that's what my friends do. take pics of items and his plate #.
 
This is why I never look at buying stuff from people.

I would just go back to where you tested it and look around for anything that you saw him use (car etc). Or just order another one from him, (im sure he'll do it again)

Order it to be on a different location, when you see him thats when you address the problem. If he doesnt want to give it back just knock his a$$ out.
 
trevpimp said:
Order it to be on a different location, when you see him thats when you address the problem. If he doesnt want to give it back just knock his a$$ out.
Click to expand...

aka, put an even bigger weight in the Mini and toss it through his windshield (back window in states with free replacement), when he comes to sell one to your buddy.

Which gives the cops an incentive to pull the vehicle over, if you also take a bat to his tail lights.
 
It seems like you got scammed by a professional. I'd put up a notice and see if anyone else got scammed in the same way you did. This guy definitely thought this through and it is unlikely that your his only victim.

Write down everything you can remember about him, like height, skin color, hair etc. Also try to remember everything about the car, color, model, make etc. The more information you have the more likely you are of finding him and recognizing him if you see him.

In most cases the cops are useless, file a police report, but after that I'd take the matter into my own hands. Go to your local sports store and pickup a wood baseball bat. It's gonna come in handy 🙂
 
Make a nice printed note to tape to the case and put it on a shelf as a reminder to yourself about being careful. Sorry, but that's probably the highest value it will ever achieve.

However, this story did remind me of a situation back in the 80's, when a hard drive company (Western Digital?) was attempting to fool investment auditors by putting bricks in cardboard boxes to show how much valuable inventory they had in the warehouse.
 
That would be amazing But so true cops will arrest u for candybar but not a 300 dollar mini such bs tax dollars at work
 
Send another e-mail to the craigslist ad using a different e-mail account (Obviously he replied so you should have a real e-mail address), arrange another meet up, photograph him and his car before you approach him and tell him if you don't get your money back or a working mini you'll call the police. Then call the police no matter what he does.
 
He def knew what he was doing in the box was iLife disks power supply everything. I ended up selling the iLife disk so I didn't loose out 300 like 240 but still I'm mad I can prob part everything out and stuff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back