Comments on: I GOT SCAMMED!!!

By: NightLongWinnie

NightLongWinnie — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:38:09 +0000

I would say never fall for these scams or even agree to them no matter how good they sound. Though people who were scammed did get a decent home theater system and all, it’s best to avoid this fully. Usually people who come out of nowhere and offer you a so-called cheaper price will know that something like this is high in demand and will offer you a good price, but to what consequence?

There are so many teenagers that go around offering to sell cheap iPhones and popular smartphones in NYC. You would think they either are very good at finding bargain prices, or better yet, stole it from someone.

It’s almost like me buying a perfectly good iPhone for $50, except it freezes every 10 hours or has a 20 minute battery life.. which I will have to spend to replace anyway.

I would avoid it even if there’s a good chance you get a 100% working product, but why would you take that chance and lose money? Unless it’s really something you can fully test right on the spot and then pay, it’s never a good idea.

1) You are not always sure whether it is used or not. Therefore, it can be faulty. And you cannot return it to the person, obviously, so you will be wasting money.

2) If you do not have the website, nor know if it’s a good brand, you should stay away. Sometimes, these people can get so tricky that they would make a fake website just for you to look at and make you think it’s legit.

3) Worse things can happen. In worse case scenarios, it could be stolen and someone would catch you helping these people who could’ve stole these. It could set your house on fire or cause injuries.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:23:21 +0000

@Roger, the Amateur Financier – For sure :)
@Mrs. Money – Imagine how many other times it happens every day that we don’t even hear about?
@Smarter Spend – Ewwww that blows. Really bad :(
@Christine – It’s true, you never know.
@BibleDebt – I kinda feel bad about that still…one of these days I’ll get scammed and no one will believe me :) (knocks on wood)
@MyFinancialObjectives – haha…it does feel good though at first, huh? :)
@Ciawy – A time when not having money is a GOOD thing!
@Emp – Unless it burns down her house ;)
@Kevin – Haha…that’s impressive that you could tell they were shoddy just from lookin’ at them, I don’t think I’d have a clue.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:42:27 +0000

Many years ago, it has to be almost 10 now, I was approached by someone with this scam. I was in a talkative mood and I did talk to them but I also had my guard up. So I also asked a bunch of questions. They “seemed” to have answers for everything. But it seemed really odd. I asked to see the speakers under the pretense of, “how do I know there are really speakers in those boxes?”

They opened the box and let me see that top of the speaker but that was enough. I could tell just from looking at it that it was garbage. I had worked in a theater as a technician for several years and had seen hundreds of speakers and brands of quality and not-so quality speakers… and you could tell these were worse than any of those. I took a good look at it and turned to the guy, “I wouldn’t pay $30 for those speakers.”

He started stammering and then said that I obviously didn’t know what I was talking about and he wouldn’t sell them to someone who didn’t know anything about audio equipment. LOL

Then he went off looking for another mark.

By: Emp

Emp — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:12:12 +0000

This was only partly scam.
There is a manufacturer of audio equipment called Paramax (i think it got bought out).
The only scam part about this is that you can buy the same equipment from Amazon or ebay for $100 instead of $280.
So relax… you just made a bad purchase :))

By: Ciawy

Ciawy — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:48:54 +0000

Thanks so much for the warning. I’ve had “kinda” similar experience but I didn’t buy since I didn’t have money at that time. I was getting my gas and I was approached by this guy who said he’s got designer jeans, purses and jackets in his car. He wants to sell the items to me but would only take cash. I was tempted to check it out, but then, I didn’t have money at that time so I said- never mind!

By: MyFinancialObjectives

MyFinancialObjectives — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:14:15 +0000

Ouch that sucks! at least it was only $280! This happened to a few guys I work with a few weeks ago at a gas station. So skectchy though..randomly approached in a parking lot?

About the Model, thing, I kinda had a similar experience many, MANY years ago…. Pictures, a call back, more pictures, a sample commercial, cameras, etc. Then all of a sudden, we want to sign you and it will cost YOU $2,000 please. HAH! Sorry thanks but no thanks!

By: BibleDebt

BibleDebt — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:43:33 +0000

Way to get our attention!

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:35:55 +0000

Wow that really sucks! It can be easy to fall for something like that I bet if you were in that situation. Never know.

By: Smarter Spend

Smarter Spend — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:17:01 +0000

One of my friends got scammed the same way – he purchased 4 laptops for 300 a piece.

All the boxes turned out to be full of bricks and nothing else.

By: Mrs. Money

Mrs. Money — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:06:08 +0000

Ugh- I hate to hear that!! :(