White Van Speaker Scam

[Bigdog]

I have never heard of that but I was never intimidated by him, quite a smaller fellow and very polite. He stood outside when I went to the ATM too.

Well that’s good. I read that somewhere but don’t know how much truth there is to it.

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

Well, I hear there is a sucker born every minute and I guess that I had a rebirth today. How have I never heard of this before since it has been going on for decades? I will try to keep this short.......

I am at the gas station filling up in Burbank, CA and this guy in a nice Lexus SUV pulls up. He strikes up a conversation about the Cowboys(I have the star decal and Texas plates) and talks about the team. He knew a lot, it wasn’t casual fandom. He said he was from Dallas and was part of this home surround sound company.

Longer story short, his car was full of home entertainment systems and started the sell job. He was tired and ready to go home and had to sell one more for the day. I politely declined several times(as the price got lower) but this guy was persistent! He looked like Brenden Frasier and spoke very well

This guy had professional brochures showing the product for $2499.00 and all the works. This unit is a daneli HD-52 and looks great. The two thick plastic straps are still around it with the name on them and the tape was still there with the same name stamped on it. This box was not tampered with in any way, shape or form.

He wanted $1200 at first, then it kept dropping as I declined or made excuses as why not to buy. After 15 minutes, he asked what my absolute highest price that I would pay. I have had enough at this point but was still intrigued, so I said $100 to get him to leave.

He declined and drove off but circled the lot and came back around and said “fine, I like you, you are a fellow Texan. Throw in an extra 20 for beer and it is yours”.

He quickly unloaded it in my backseat of the truck and followed me to the ATM. I kinda knew at this point that it is too good to be true but this perfectly packaged box looked like the real thing.

FF to my arrival at home and letting the wife know that I got a deal of a lifetime. She shook her head and told my that I got took. I scoffed and opened up the box with her watching. Wow, it is all there and not cinder blocks, thought I I showed her up

I decided to dig deeper and google HES.....the results were not good, I got took. To cut to the chase, the sub-woofer is filled with cement and the smaller speakers have sand bags in them. I mean what the heck, who goes through all this trouble preparing this????

Evidently, this scam has a manufacturing plant to produce this from point A to Z. It looked like something that would be bought at Best Buy...........

The receiver looks promising, is there anything salvageable out of this or throw it in the dumpster?

That sucks man. Thanks for sharing the story though. As others have pointed out, at least you're only out $120 so it could have been worse.

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

When I was about 11 years old, my older brothers bought thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment from an acquaintance for a few hundred bucks. They would have been about 16 and 14 at the time. I don't remember what his story was but my brothers pretty much knew the equipment was stolen. A few days later, I just happen to look out the window and 5-6 cars pull up and park. A bunch of men in suits get out with that acquaintance in handcuffs and walk up to the front door. I answered the door and they turned out to be FBI agents wanting access to the house!

My parents were not around so I got my oldest brother who didn't want to let them in because they didn't have a warrant. The guy in charge basically said that they just wanted to collect the equipment and that they were not interested in charging my brothers with any crimes. My brother asked them to give him a minute, which he spent hiding the bongs and weed. Eventually, he let them in and they were true to their word. Just collected everything and were really polite to all of us. I can't remember why the FBI was involved, but I think the guy who sold the equipment had used a stolen credit card to mail order it. He did eventually pay my brothers back for the money they spent.

Seems like one of a hundred stories where my parents came home and it was like, "guess what happened today Mom and Dad?"

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

My defense is I just do not talk to people in public that approach me.

The second someone approaches me, I immediately (and coldly) say no thanks and look away from them, but focus on their distance from me. If they decide to step even closer, I become more stand offish to the point of being outright hostility depending on how close they get,.

I can't tell you how many women with a small child in tow (a majority of the time, it's staged) have walked up to me asking for money. Gas stations or store parking lots are the most common places for these scams.

I have a rule about charity. Either I initiate it, or it doesn't happen. If someone asked for money, they just built a giant wall that will never be breached. Too many scammers have ruined it for actually people in need.

btw, It should have been a clue that he was selling stuff out of the back of his truck. While people used to do this years ago in like the 50s and 60s. (vacuum anyone) Nobody does this today.

I never give to people who ask me for money on the street. Years ago, I stayed in downtown Cincinnati on a business trip and walked to a store a few blocks away one night. I was asked for money at least a dozen times during that walk including from a woman in the store who just held her hand out and said "give me 5 dollars". I was only about 30 and not well dressed or anything so it was shocking.