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

White iPhone 4 Prototype purchased from eBay

Very sorry this happened to you. I just have to ask, why did you just ship it off to some stranger? Did you know the guy personally? Was there any signed agreement or proof that the motherboard is yours, before sending it off? Honestly, I'm not sure if there's much anyone here can do for you. You may have to show up at his door step or involve law enforcement.
 
Sorry to hear what happened OP, but i'd say chances are slim if he hasn't responded in over A MONTH :eek::eek:
 
Yeah its not looking good, he's only had 12 posts. Was last on 4 days ago. i wouldn't have sent jack to him. Cant trust everyone, sorry OP but this is a learning lesson.
 
phillyphill said:
Yeah its not looking good, he's only had 12 posts. Was last on 4 days ago. i wouldn't have sent jack to him. Cant trust everyone, sorry OP but this is a learning lesson.
Click to expand...

can't trust anyone in my book sadly :(

what a nasty little scrote if he's pinched that from you, surely the good folks on here can help you track him down? find his Facebook, twitter, address etc etc.. amazing what you can find if you know where to look. (seen this on a car site I was on, someone scammed people out of a few quids worth of parts) they ended up finding his house number, phone number, work address, work number, parents address, number etc etc and tried them all until they got hold of him ;)
 
Mars478, you don't have to put up with Carl's ****

Get a couple of buddies to come with you and knock at his door and demand your motherboard back.

Bring as many documentation as you can that depicts you as the owner of that motherboard for when if authorities need to get involved

Best of luck and don't lose hope
 
After goggling his name I see he owns a "electronic repair shop" call the BBB on him.
 
ann713 said:
Very sorry this happened to you. I just have to ask, why did you just ship it off to some stranger? Did you know the guy personally? Was there any signed agreement or proof that the motherboard is yours, before sending it off? Honestly, I'm not sure if there's much anyone here can do for you. You may have to show up at his door step or involve law enforcement.
Click to expand...
This is most likely my fatal mistake, I should never have sent him. My friend suggested calling the Sheriffs department in his town. I may have to. I have the eBay auction and many photos and chat logs where we talk about how he will fix the motherboard and return it to me...
TSX said:
Buy a cheap plane ticket, and knock on his door.
Click to expand...
I can't do that as of now... to expensive. Might have to take a drive.
wordoflife said:
Sorry to hear what happened OP, but i'd say chances are slim if he hasn't responded in over A MONTH :eek::eek:
Click to expand...
I know... He has responded in the past month but he hasn't sent it back
phillyphill said:
Yeah its not looking good, he's only had 12 posts. Was last on 4 days ago. i wouldn't have sent jack to him. Cant trust everyone, sorry OP but this is a learning lesson.
Click to expand...
Damn... Yep, definitely, less learned. He's always on AIM but never answers.
sparkie1984 said:
can't trust anyone in my book sadly :(

what a nasty little scrote if he's pinched that from you, surely the good folks on here can help you track him down? find his Facebook, twitter, address etc etc.. amazing what you can find if you know where to look. (seen this on a car site I was on, someone scammed people out of a few quids worth of parts) they ended up finding his house number, phone number, work address, work number, parents address, number etc etc and tried them all until they got hold of him ;)
Click to expand...
No one can be trusted. I have most of his information and have found him on most of those accounts but he does not answer and seems pretty dead on them too. Definitely starting to worry maybe he has outright died.
Pink∆Floyd;13709178 said:
Mars478, you don't have to put up with Carl's ****

Get a couple of buddies to come with you and knock at his door and demand your motherboard back.

Bring as many documentation as you can that depicts you as the owner of that motherboard for when if authorities need to get involved

Best of luck and don't lose hope
Click to expand...
Thank you for the words of encouragement. Unfortunately I am nowhere near NC right now (I hang around NYC and NJ, Princeton). Even if I did go out to NC on a drive one weekend I'd definitely be worried things would get sketchy. I have many photos on Flickr, the eBay account transaction, Serial numbers, Pictures, and I have the complete remainder of the phone sans the motherboard. I may have to call the Sheriff/Police department of his town. See if they can help me out.
I will get my motherboard back, and if not I will figure out what happened.

TSX said:
After goggling his name I see he owns a "electronic repair shop" call the BBB on him.
Click to expand...
Yes this is another reason I felt I could trust him in sending the Motherboard. We talked about his shop and what kind of work he does.
thesiren said:
don't you think it's more than likely he sold it or something?
Click to expand...

I sincerely hope not. And honestly, HOW much value could just a motherboard have? One possibility in my mind, is since he had his interesting experience with the 3G MacBook Pro (He was the owner of that prototype, which subsequently got relinquished by Apple) that he is now disgruntled at the fact that I have a prototype and have not been burned by Apple yet.


Anyone in NC Want to help out?
 
To whom it may be of interest... I have contacted the author of the Cnet posts who blogged about Carl Frega as recently as October 10th about his prototype MacBook Pro 3G. Let's see if this helps :)
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Chuck Norris could fix the situation with ease. Just saying.... But best of luck mars... Hate this has happened:-/
 
I'm sure it's long gone by now. Why would he want it unless he had a buyer for it, or a device to put it in to turn around and sell?
 
Wow I feel like a detective agent reading about the background info of some secret mission
:cool:

Keep us posted OP!
 
iMate said:
Any news?
Click to expand...
I've contacted the editor of the Cnet articles published about me. He has agreed to help me contact Carl Frega, and I've sent him all the information I had relevant to the topic.
phillyphill said:
did you call chuck norris?
Click to expand...
heh, i wish.
Ksizzle9 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Chuck Norris could fix the situation with ease. Just saying.... But best of luck mars... Hate this has happened:-/
Click to expand...
Yes! I know me too :(

wellok said:
I'm sure it's long gone by now. Why would he want it unless he had a buyer for it, or a device to put it in to turn around and sell?
Click to expand...
I have no clue. I really hope he hasn't sold it.

daaneel said:
Wow I feel like a detective agent reading about the background info of some secret mission
:cool:

Keep us posted OP!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I want to provide as much information as possible... I will keep you updated.
PNutts said:
Yeah, that didn't work out so well for OJ.
Click to expand...
hahaha
 
1. First of all, I can't believe you sent something like this to a stranger. I'm surprised that you trusted a guy that you never met online.
2. Before you go and take some member's advice to visit him at his door step, you should re-think about that because it's not their life that they are risking. Bad bad bad advice. You are taking a HUGE risk with your life by going over there without an authority figure. Contact the sheriff over there and let them help you get it back. Please avoid asking others to help you by visiting him at his doorstep. You are putting their life in danger...

I do hope this is a huge lesson learned....good luck.

If Apple is aware that you are holding a proto-type, then they might be knocking in your door as well. If authority won't do anything, then contact Apple as i'm sure they'll visit his guy again free of charge.
 
Last edited:
iAffleck said:
Real bad, bad conversion of an iPhone.:D Who knows......XXGB, no metal lining? Must have been stolen real parts of an iPhone.:apple:
Click to expand...
Oh we're still debating whether or not this is a prototype? Oh man...
MayBee said:
1. First of all, I can't believe you sent something like this to a stranger. I'm surprised that you trusted a guy that you never met online.
2. Before you go and take some member's advice to visit him at his door step, you should re-think about that because it's not their life that they are risking. Bad bad bad advice. You are taking a HUGE risk with your life by going over there without an authority figure. Contact the sheriff over there and let them help you get it back. Please avoid asking others to help you by visiting him at his doorstep. You are putting their life in danger...

I do hope this is a huge lesson learned....good luck.

If Apple is aware that you are holding a proto-type, then they might be knocking in your door as well. If authority won't do anything, then contact Apple as i'm sure they'll visit his guy again free of charge.
Click to expand...

Yes, it was my mistake... I have made a mistake and am fully aware of it, no need to re-bolster the fact that I have made a pretty huge mistake.

To your second point, No I am not going to go visit him anytime soon, and obviously I wouldn't go without authority. One of my contacts have contacted the Sheriff dept in Raleigh and we have confirmed that he is neither dead nor arrested... so it's a start.

Yes, lesson learned very much.

I understand the fact that this is Apple property, but so far I have not been contacted, considering the fact that this has not received very much media attention. I'd rather not contact Apple, and I'd like to handle this on my own up to this point.

It's a waiting game for now, I have a few people helping me out, and I'm waiting for the answers. Thanks all for staying on course with this wild roller coaster of a thread.
 
When i said contact Apple, I mean only if it's your last resort if you are not able to get it back :) He should not gain anything from this....and if he does, then report it to Apple.

I hate scammer and I hope that dude lose a lot of money or jail time :)

Mars478 said:
I understand the fact that this is Apple property, but so far I have not been contacted, considering the fact that this has not received very much media attention. I'd rather not contact Apple, and I'd like to handle this on my own up to this point.

It's a waiting game for now, I have a few people helping me out, and I'm waiting for the answers. Thanks all for staying on course with this wild roller coaster of a thread.
Click to expand...
 
MayBee said:
When i said contact Apple, I mean only if it's your last resort if you are not able to get it back :) He should not gain anything from this....and if he does, then report it to Apple.

I hate scammer and I hope that dude lose a lot of money or jail time :)
Click to expand...

Alright. Thanks, and I just hope I get my motherboard back.
 
Hey Mars! I caught up reading this forum. Any update on getting your motherboard back?
 
Last edited:
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