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My friend just got scammed on craiglist

the expenses that your friend will incur by trying to take legal action will outweigh any benefit of the outcome. The price difference is say about $100? Thats assuming the court rules in your favour( the burden of proof is on you guys to prove that he misrepresented the item and even if you were to prove that you wouldnt be able to prove that you didnt make a seperate deal on the side with a seperate phone) next time check your sht before you buy something plain and simple
 
donrsd said:
Whenever I sell my iPhones, I use eBay......Ill gladly pay the fees instead of letting someone hold/touch my iPhone and possibly dropping it.
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I'd much rather let someone hold/touch my iPhone than risk getting a PayPal payment reversed.
 
One other tip, you ALWAYS want a picture of the product. In fact, even if the poster has already included 20 pictures, I will always ask for one more.

This way I can assess how responsive they are, their demeanor, and if they actually have the product.

I gladly comply with such requests when I'm the seller.

No picture of actual item = no deal.
 
Email that advert again from a different email address, tell him you are a reseller and would like to buy the phone for $600. See if he bites, when he does bring the police with you to meet up with him.

Out hustle the hustler.
 
You bought a phone off Craigslist. There aren't any warranties or guarantees. :rolleyes:

I have real issues with folks like this on Craigslist. Your friend didn't get scammed, he's a dumbass. He was scammed out of brainpower.
 
Chalk it off as a life lesson learned.

I have only met CL sellers in the Federal Courthouse plaza nearby... Never had a problem or felt uncomfortable.
 
donrsd said:
Wont happen. List is as NO RETURNS :)
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LOL have you ever dealt with PayPal disputes? They really have the seller by the short hairs when it comes to them not being satisfied. One reason I rarely sell on ebay (4 times in the past 4 years) vs 320+ purchases.
 
1)What about the model # on the back? My iphone 4 has one

2)What model was the box for?

Sucks... but you have to do research. Cut your losses and learn from it.
 
donrsd said:
Wont happen. List is as NO RETURNS :)
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If we're talking ebay I've heard that doesn't work. They still can convince Paypal to reverse the charges.

Ebay is a scary place for a seller to sell stuff that scammers like, Paypal from what I understand almost always takes the buyer's side. Enough so scammers have figured out how to use that to their advantage.
 
The incident itself is not funny, but him calling the Police is funny :D, come on what are the cops going to do ? the guy didn't put a gun to his head, he willingly bought the phone,he had the chance to inspect it , it was an as is sale

some people have no morals at all , I couldn't do something like that, people sell fake stuff, lemon cars, rob you , murder you

that's humans for you :D
 
you got scammed because you were stupid. No other way to put it. Should have checked to see that it was an actual 4S.

You made a mistake and got burned. Now you and your friend will probably never make that mistake again. Lesson learned, now move on with your life.
 
tomi156 said:
My friend found a guy selling iPhone 4s on craigslist for $350 and they agreed to meet up and made a transaction
He asked me to go with him and we met the seller yesterday. He gave my friend the iPhone, in box and with all accessories. The phone was indeed new and just had few scratches on the sides.
My friend bought it but then today he called me, saying that the phone is actually an iPhone 4, and it is not worth the price. He looked like a zombie this morning when I met him to talked about this situation

What he got from the buyer is the name (probably fake), phone number, email, address (not sure if fake..)
Also the fingerprints on the box, the phone, and the pen to write down that seller's address

He called the police but they said they cannot help w the situation like this.
Do you guys have any suggestion?

Thanks alot
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My friend was on Craigslist trying to find a 4s last week and the first two people he met up with had the iPhone 4 trying to pass it off as a 4s The second guy even jailbroke and had Siri on it and kept insisting that it was a 4s because it had Siri. If you don't know how to tell the difference by looking at it then just look up the serial number on Apples website and it will tell you whether it's a 4 or 4s.
 
Sold my iPhone 4S this past Friday--whenever I'm selling ANYTHING on CL, I add pics--If I'm BUYING something on CL, I don't bother with it if I cant see pics, so why would I do the same with someone else?
The buyer STILL wanted another pic--& I liked that he was so thourough--I knew early on that he was weary, but not stupid--and these are the people I'd RATHER do business with. Since we "spoke" via text messaging, I screen captured our conversation and sent the pic which also showed him that the phone was in working order (The buyer knew from earlier in the week that i was using the 4s as my regular phone until i purchased the 5).
Even though this SHOULD have been enough, you never know! and I like that this guy had constant questions. again--this is the kind of person I WANT to do business with--and since I had nothing to hide, I had no problem answering all his questions. When we met up, he had someone with him (another smart move) and I had informed him PRIOR to meeting up that he could inspect everything right then and there--and that I had no problems with him doing so. When there, he could see that the numbers on the box matched the numbers in the phone which he knew enough to check when he inspected it. We met at his job, he knew where mine was--and he knew my email address as well as my phone number.
It sucks that CL is a haven for scammers, but not everyone is there to rip people off, which is a good thing.
 
I just sold my 4 for $350 on Friday, like an hour after the UPS truck showed up with my 5. Looking on my local craigslist that seemed like a fair price to me and the buyer didn't argue or try and talk the price down. It was a 32GB though.
 
There are physical differences between the 4S and 4. On the 4S there is a antenna break right above the silent/vibrate switch. The 4 does not have that.
 
Reply to the same ad with a different address / name to see if there is a response. He may have more than one.

If your friend traded e-mails report it to the seller's e-mail host (Yahoo!, gmail, etc.).
 
Want300 said:
Thus far, every CL transaction I have made has been in the parking lot of my local Police Station. I pop in the door and tell them what I am doing (The clerks know who I am now) and they have no problem with it.
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That is a really good idea. Never thought about doing that. Good thing to remember!
 
If one has time, and is so inclined, I guess one can get maximum return on craigslist first, then ebay second. At least that's what I've been told.

I choose to give mine to family or friends. It's nice to help someone out, and give it to someone who truly appreciates an iPhone that looks like new.
 
ixodes said:
If one has time, and is so inclined, I guess one can get maximum return on craigslist first, then ebay second. At least that's what I've been told.
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It depends. An unlocked iPhone can go for higher on ebay due to bidding war (especially if you allow international bidding). On the other hand, people expect to pay less on CL because of lack of bidding war/fees. It might be a wash.
 
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