Armani Scam in Dublin

spiderbeast · 10-07-2007 2:46am #1

A friend of mine was caught out by very tricky scam.

He was walking by Trinity college when an Italian guy pulled over and asked him for directions to Dublin Airport today which he gave him. He then proceeded to show my friend a suit which he said was left over from a Brown Thomas convention which he didn’t want to bring home along with other RGA Leather jackets due to the baggage charge. He offered him the suit for €500 and said he would throw in the 3 leather jackets and a suede jacket for free. Like an idiot he agreed, so he drove him to the ATM.

So watch out if you're approached by an Italian man trying to sell you Armani jackets.

Stimpyone · 10-07-2007 3:28am

Pretty old scam to be honest.

I feel sorry for you friend, but tell him not to buy any laptops off lads in the street either.

boffin · 10-07-2007 9:39am

That scam has been happening around Dublin for ages. I know someone who got caught about 2 years ago. Crap for your friend all the same though...

NeMiSiS · 10-07-2007 9:42am

He got a suit, 3 leather jackets, and a suede jacket for 500 quid ?
That seems pretty good value.
I met a guy at the same thing, had a big long chat to him.. didn't buy any jackets though..

Kintarō Hattori · 10-07-2007 9:54am

In fairness you have to be a little naive to fall for this. If it seems to good to be true...

egan007 · 10-07-2007 10:01am

Buy of the street......sucker

Sorry....

Malteaser! · 10-07-2007 10:06am

How did he not realise it was a scam at the time??

spiderbeast · 10-07-2007 1:27pm

Malteaser! wrote:

How did he not realise it was a scam at the time??

I guess the guy was just too convincing.

mitsubishi1 · 10-07-2007 8:35pm

Excuse me for seeming a bit stupid but how is this a scam.
Are the armani suits fake. Does he just happen to have the right size suit for the person on the street that he tries to con.

flynnser19 · 10-07-2007 9:19pm

That guy stopped me in Dundalk, was driving a blue focus, told him to jog on..

dame · 11-07-2007 12:31am

That was tried in Newbridge a couple of years ago too. If the suit and jackets look good and were a fair price for what they were, then who cares?

fatal · 11-07-2007 12:31pm

How is it a scam?are the suits fake or what?

Leah_K · 11-07-2007 1:08pm

What about the jackets? Unless they're really shoddy quality, €500 for 3 leather jackets and a suede one isn't too bad, with or without the suit.

ypi · 11-07-2007 1:12pm

Not proud of it but I fell for this one about 5 years ago. Same sort except back then he said he did not want to bring the jackets back because of taxes.

Now that I think about it he had the worst Italian accent ..... oh dear

zAbbo · 11-07-2007 1:19pm

The jackets aren't Armani, or even Leather. They're PVC

500 quid is a lot for some fake armani pvc jackets.

This is one of the oldest scams going, whoever gets stung, deserves it.

Don't underestimate the Irish retards greed.

Gauge · 11-07-2007 1:22pm

This exact scam was done down to every detail on the Real Hustle. I can't believe people still fall for it.

zAbbo · 11-07-2007 1:27pm

Gauge wrote:

This exact scam was done down to every detail on the Real Hustle. I can't believe people still fall for it.

I can, look at the comments on this thread, even when told it's a scam, people are thinking 500 is good value for some leather jackets and are wondering where the scam is.

Leah_K · 11-07-2007 1:48pm

zabbo wrote:

I can, look at the comments on this thread, even when told it's a scam, people are thinking 500 is good value for some leather jackets and are wondering where the scam is.

"€500 for some leather jackets" is very different to "€500 for some PVC jackets". Anyone who isn't wary enough to take a proper look at what they're spending €500, especially when it's proffered by some geezer in the street, deserves what they get.

stovelid · 11-07-2007 2:02pm

OP - I have a job lot of PVC Hugo Boss underpants that I don't need. Do you want to buy them?

parsi · 11-07-2007 2:25pm

spiderbeast wrote:

A friend of mine was caught out by very tricky scam.

Hmm.. this sounds interesting...

He was walking by Trinity college when an Italian guy pulled over and asked him for directions to Dublin Airport today which he gave him. He then proceeded to show my friend a suit which he said was left over from a Brown Thomas convention which he didn’t want to bring home along with other RGA Leather jackets due to the baggage charge. He offered him the suit for €500 and said he would throw in the 3 leather jackets and a suede jacket for free. Like an idiot he agreed, so he drove him to the ATM.

Wow. That is tricky. They must have spent months dreaming it up and positioning themselves to be in the right place at the right time.

Do folk still not know that the usual method for buying clothes or valuable goods is _not_ to buy them from some bloke who stopped for directions ? I mean this is a clothing equivalent of the boyos who offer you a load of tarmac left over from a "motorway job" ...

This reminds me of a report in the Telegraph about the captured english soldiers and one of them complained that the Iranians (a) took his ipod, (b) gave him a crap cd of Iranian hits and (c) a Hugo Boss shirt that turned out to be fake - for him the fakeness of the shirt seemed to hurt him. How could a dictatorial country that stifles democracy, builds nuclear weapons be sooo naughty as to give him a fake shirt.....sheesh war sure is hell.

magpie · 12-07-2007 4:31pm

Jeez, is this dude still doing the rounds? I remember getting approached by him in a petrol station forecourt 7 years ago.

He had the worst "escusi I come-a from-a italia an' I ave these-a suits" stage Italian accent ever. His story at the time was he was coming from a convention and couldn't be bothered bringing the gear back to Italy. I've seen him around loads, stopping at bus-stops for directions etc over the years. Used to drive a Punto for the authentic Italian vibe :rolleyes:

missmatty · 13-07-2007 3:46pm

Exact same thing happened us in Rome in 2004. And only for my quick thinking my friend would have given 50 euro only i wouldn't let him.

This is the oldest scam going. :mad:

Cake Fiend · 13-07-2007 8:35pm

Did he look like this by any chance?

"I'm selling some fine leather jackets!"

hitherto · 19-01-2009 3:27pm

spiderbeast wrote: »

A friend of mine was caught out by very tricky scam.

He was walking by Trinity college when an Italian guy pulled over and asked him for directions to Dublin Airport today which he gave him. He then proceeded to show my friend a suit which he said was left over from a Brown Thomas convention which he didn’t want to bring home along with other RGA Leather jackets due to the baggage charge. He offered him the suit for €500 and said he would throw in the 3 leather jackets and a suede jacket for free. Like an idiot he agreed, so he drove him to the ATM.

So watch out if you're approached by an Italian man trying to sell you Armani jackets.

This happened to me 2 times and I was smart enough not to fall. In 2007 the Italian guy stalked you(me) beforehand and on the right time and the right spot he pulled me over asking did I speak Italian or French. I said no and he said he'll try his best to speak in english. But he was fluent in english! He asked direction to the airport because he just finished fashion convention or something in dublin. Then the conversation led to ' I have suit that same size as you and I dont want to bring in home'.
At that point I knew that something was not right.
Then today the same kind of tactic happened and I excused myself for further conversation. I was wondering what is this thing and curious to know so I look up at this forum. Now I know it is the famous/long run italian scam.

monkeyfudge · 19-01-2009 3:34pm

missmatty wrote: »

Exact same thing happened us in Rome in 2004. And only for my quick thinking my friend would have given 50 euro only i wouldn't let him.

This is the oldest scam going. :mad:

Ha. Rome 2003 for me. He was French.

sitstill · 19-01-2009 5:14pm

Thats crazy! This exact thing happened to me about 2 years at the bottom of Baggot St. He was Italian and wanted to get rid of leather jackets having been at a Brown Thomas fashion show cos he didnt want to bring them back to Italy. I didnt purchase them. I remember at the time thinking it was very odd, but for some reason it never occured to me that it was a scam :rolleyes:

hitherto · 19-01-2009 5:25pm

sitstill wrote: »

Thats crazy! This exact thing happened to me about 2 years at the bottom of Baggot St. He was Italian and wanted to get rid of leather jackets having been at a Brown Thomas fashion show cos he didnt want to bring them back to Italy. I didnt purchase them. I remember at the time thinking it was very odd, but for some reason it never occured to me that it was a scam :rolleyes:

same spot - baggot street ( 2 times )

helimachoptor · 19-01-2009 5:34pm

Happened to me outside a Tesco about 7 years ago, same thing said he was
at a fashion show etc, said his English was bad but was able to speak it fine!

Tried to sell be 3 Armani leather jackets for 500 punts/euro me being a poor broke student told him where to go!

Clare Bear · 19-01-2009 7:44pm

Ah in all fairness whoever falls for that is an idiot! People must be falling for it if the same guy is still doing it years later, he's obviously getting somewhere.

Geri Boyle · 21-01-2009 1:57am

Haha is that guy still doing the rounds? A friend of mine got caught out by him in Blackrock a couple of years ago. The jackets are pvc alright. Id say my mate would kill him if he got his hands on him now..

mayordenis · 21-01-2009 2:03am

I'd just tell him that I wouldn't wear leather because I don't dress like a ****ing chump and then I'd piss on him.

carlowboy · 03-03-2011 9:46am

Sorry to be bumping an old thread but this fella is still at it, got stopped by him on my way back to work at lunchtime on Mercer Street yesterday. He was very convincing but what threw me was his total lack of an Italian accent. He sounded more Middle Eastern if I'm honest. Anyway, he asked for €350 for the suit and two Armani jackets. I sniggered and said good luck. He didn't look happy when I refused him, as if I had highly offended him :rolleyes:

vandriver · 03-03-2011 10:01am

My brother was taken in by this scam 24 years ago,and it was old then!

Retail Hell · 03-03-2011 10:04am

It happened to a friend of mine in Abu Dhabi, same story guy looking for directions to the airport, had some suits left over from a fashion show, he would be charged tax to bring them back in to italy, and would do a deal for myfriend.

Now considering my friend is 6'4" ish what where the odds on having 3 suits that fitted him?? Bingo his assistant had them just the perfect sizes, and they threw in a suede Armani jacket,

The deal started at 500E or 2500 local cash, but i think he talked him down toabout 800 local about 160-180e. The suits are very nice but not armani, they are Tailored but not bespoke, and the price of having them fitted by an indian tailor in the middle east is peanuts, so my friend is delighted, unfortunately the Emporio Armani suede jacket didn't fit him, so he gave it to me :-)

3 quality Tailored suits for less the 200e? I know its a scam but still 3 good business suits for that kind of cash is hard to beat. It didn't faze him when i sent him a link from the irish times that included the scam being done in Ireland, he just laughted and said I still got a good deal.

So are the suits stolen originally? How can these guys get them for so cheap, etc...

ghosttown · 03-03-2011 10:09am

This happened to ny dear old Dad (God rest him), about 22 years ago in Kimmage - £80 (a lot then) - and he got a big set of cutlery and 2 sheepskin jackets..........

Thing is, my brother still gets a wear from one of the jackets still, and the cutlery (although seldom used), still has the shine and gets used.

So we laugh about it and think he didn't do too bad after all.....RIP

Hazys · 03-03-2011 6:20pm

How could you buy a suit off a guy in the street? How does he have your size?

kevin99 · 03-03-2011 10:45pm

That guy approached me as I sat in the car park of McDonalds, Artaine Castle. I thought he was Romanian.
He knocked on the window and said he had two leather jackets which he was left with following a wholesesale fashion exhibition in Dublin.

Told him I wasn't interested. He persisted. I told him he was invading my space.
He continued talking so I threw half my burger at him, straight in the kisser.
Told him to bugger off or I would call security.
He started yelling at me in some other language and then walked off.
I saw him eyeing up a woman sitting alone in her car several spaces down from me. He started hassling her, although she wouldn't wind down the window. I got out of my car, shouted at him to leave the lady alone.
He turned around saw me walking towards him and he ran off.

Gergiev · 10-06-2012 2:07am

Yep...this scam, or a variation on it, is still doing the rounds.

I was walking in Dunleer (Co Louth) yesterday evening and a car pulls up on a portion of the footpath and drives behind me for a few yards. When I went to walk on, the car pulled on another few yards beside me. I turned around to show my annoyance as this was slightly dangerous and the driver rolled down his window and asked for directions to Dublin Airport - sound familiar?

The story was he's Italian from Sorrento (also flashed his passport), lost and looking for the airport and got robbed in Belfast of €3,500 the night before so has to unload his last 2 designer suits before leaving - initially he offered me the suits for free, as mentioned by others, as a tip for giving him directions.

Then he suggested I just give him something for the sake of it as he can't be bothered to take them home unsold...then the story was he needed some cash for petrol to get him to the airport. I looked across and could see the gauge was showing half-full and challenged him on this and he immediately responded a hire car must be returned with a full tank - very good!

I indicated I wasn't interested (I've heard about these stories before) and his last gambit was to ask for a few euro for a cup of coffee. Funny thing was he kept making the sign of the cross every minute or so as we spoke/negotiated. I was tempted to suggest we say a rosary together and all would turn out OK for him but resisted the thought and walked on.

Farther down the street, I walked into the bookies and met an acquaintance of mine, told him what had happened and he told me he'd met someone like this doing the rounds during the year and bought the few jackets he was unloading for a modest sum. In fact he was wearing the suede one and it was fine, as far as I could see.

Afterwards, I was almost sorry I didn't give him €20 for the 2 suits and give them to St Vincent de Paul if they didn't fit and treat it like any other wager, but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't play ball.

He's 45-50-ish, with grey hair and glasses and driving a small, red 2010 D-registered car.

It's the same scam I keep reading/hearing about but if the suits happen to fit you then you might come out ahead if you're laissez-faire about this kind of thing.

That's all, folks...

dudara · 10-06-2012 2:28pm

zombie thread, therefore closing

dudara

Armani Scam in Dublin

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