June 12, 2008
iPhone Fake Out on Craigslist Leads to Arrests
Remember: If the offer is too good to be true and it's on Craigslist, it very well might not be true. The police have arrested a group of young men for robbing thousands of dollars from people responding to a Craigslist ad, with the sweet deal of about 10 iPhones for $2,000.
The Sun reports that the group would tell potential buyers to meet them on various East Flatbush street corners, with the cash, of course: "Once there, officials said, the men robbed the interested buyers using a 9 mm pistol. Police said the men, who never had iPhones to sell, stole thousands of dollars." The scheme was broken up yesterday when a police officer posed as an interested buyer and met up with the thieves at Albany Avenue and Avenue K.
While twelve people have said they were robbed, the police have only linked the group to four of the robberies. And last year, a group of teens were arrested after trying to rob and beating would-be Porsche buyers, found through a Craigslist ad. Craigslist also has tips for personal safety and avoiding scams & frauds.
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You would think that the meetup is in east flatbush would be a huge tipoff.
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Ugh! I haaaaate CL scammers...I fell for some too-good-to-be-true rental posts this week.
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what turnip truck did these buyers fall off from?
You don't go into certain areas. where? Most of Brooklyn for one.
no reason not to do your research, it's not like the old days when all one had was a subway map.
And use a car if you're going to an unknown area.
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"You would think that the meetup is in east flatbush would be a huge tipoff"
Not necessarily. It actually adds authenticity. Anyone responding to the ad would assume they're buying stolen property; the "bring cash and meet me on a street corner in East Flatbush" only helps explain how the "too good to be true" deal might be true.
Of course when making a deal with criminals involving a lot of cash it'd be a good idea to take along your own armed crew.
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Sam: You aren't going in there?
Spence: Yeah I'm going in there, and so are you.
Sam: Why am I going in there?
Spence: Why? To protect me!
Sam: There is no protection there. If it's a come on we're fish in a barrel. What are you doing? Why do they want you in there? What are you, crazy?
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this is kind of a weird situation. It's curious that people were smart enough to accumulate 2000 dollars in cash but dumb enough to fall for such a blatant and dangerous scam.
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Rock - Love the Ronin quote
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Remember what Barnum said, you can never cheat an honest man. If it's too good to be true etc.
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i'm sorry, here i go blaming the victim.
these people are too stupid for words.
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(this is me veering randomly to the left) Wasn't Ronin the best film ever?!?!? Those car chase scenes were just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen on the screen!
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What, and they weren't even 3G iPhones? Not worth it.
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I just bought The General Motors Building from a guy on Craigslist for $650. I'm picking up the keys tomorrow!
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#12 for the win!
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d-u-m
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one time i posted an ad on craigslist a couple of years ago saying i was a photo artist and wanted to pay $ to take pics of men's potbellies. A ton of people replied with the size of their potbellies and sample pics. people are so stupid and will do anything for $ on craigslist! i need to think of some other good stuff to do!