Buying a laptop out of the sde of a car

Civilian_Target

Was walking down by Power City in Coolmine and some guys pulled up in a car beside me. They asked me for directions, and then tried to sell me a laptop, a Sony Vaio. Obviously, I don't buy laptops at the side of the road. I presumed it was some sort of scam, if so, how does it work?

Or is it just a stolen laptop?

aidan_walsh

Either or. Depending on the scam you could end up buying a Viao box with an included brick, the shell of a laptop, or something stolen.

LovelyHurling

If its a Compaq with a kind of T-shaped scratch on the front and smelling distinctly of cow**** tell them I want my laptop back.

EDIT: Just noticed brand. Ill keep hoping so.

Ruu_Old

A known scam alright. more of it

harney

I think they bring you to a car park and switch the bag at the last minute - some guy was on here complaining before after he got stung near city centre, condenced milk was the bargain of the day I believe :rolleyes:

_Kaiser_

Someone here reported they got done at Lidl in the Blanch Centre.. sounds like it could be the same scumbags.

If you got the reg I'd report it

Huggles

HOW?! HOW?! Could any normal person even consider buying a laptop at the side of the road! Jesus wept the stupidity bowls me over! :mad:

fillmore jive

TheGooner wrote:

HOW?! HOW?! Could any normal person even consider buying a laptop at the side of the road! Jesus wept the stupidity bowls me over! :mad:

Yeah, especially if it's second-hand. I mean, there could be anything on it:eek:

Creamy Goodness

argos books is another filler i believe.

paddy

Civilian_Target wrote:

Was walking down by Power City in Coolmine and some guys pulled up in a car beside me. They asked me for directions, and then tried to sell me a laptop, a Sony Vaio. Obviously, I don't buy laptops at the side of the road. I presumed it was some sort of scam, if so, how does it work?

Or is it just a stolen laptop?

I was asked the exact same a week ago, looking for directions to the m50 from the new roundabout at powercity, they were in a hiace strangely enough, one sounded like a traveller and the other like a eastern european.
Was it a grey Sony Vaio by chance?:)

mikemac

TheGooner wrote:

HOW?! HOW?! Could any normal person even consider buying a laptop at the side of the road! Jesus wept the stupidity bowls me over! :mad:

Greed! They believe they are getting something at a knock-down price

They would probably have few qualms about buying stolen goods either.

They don't deserve sympathy, only ridicule

Plug

I said this on another topic:

me wrote:

This is a sickining storey but anyway its funny if its not you. It happened to 3 men at different dates.
Right....knackers approached this man and produced a top of the range laptop they show him it and say "thats yours for E500". So the knackers put the laptop back in the bag. Now they had 2 bags so when he biught it he walked off delighted with his new laptop, opened it and low and behold 2 litres of milk This happened 3 times Kilkenny

Damomanye

It's happened a few times down here in Limerick. Argos books and milk cartons to cardboard just to name a few of the things found when the victim opened his "laptop case"

Plug

Ever watch street crime uk? I saw one where yes 2 Irish knackers where selling "laptops" and the coppers pulled them in but they couldn't prove anything:rolleyes:

nlgbbbblth

Do these guys do PCs with cathode ray tube monitors or is it just laptops?

Have no sympathy for anyone who falls for this sort of scam.

If it's too good to be true etc.

mad m

Pity you didnt think of getting reg and ringing Gardai.

KdjaCL

[posted this before]Ask to see it and look at the bottom say its from 1999 and offer them a score for it.




happened to me twice outside Aldi on Fonthill road.

kdjac

Kintarō Hattori

I work in an electronics shop in the city centre and we've seen this happen to a few people outside the store. It most recently happened just last week.

PeadarofAodh

Exact same thing happened to me. Was walking down Fosters Avenue and a Hiace pulled up suddenly next to me and scared the **** out of me, was ready to run. The guy leans out and asks do I want to buy a laptop in the shadiest tone imaginable, sees me standing there with my fists clenched ready for trouble and shaking my head, then just drives off!

ullu

About four or five years ago, I was walking past the Dundrum Shopping Centre construction site when a saloon car with three blokes in it abruptly pulled over. The guy in the back opened the door and tried to usher me in saying "We've got a laptop for you, three hundred quid". I politely declined and they drove off.

About three weeks later, I was at the main bus stop in Blackrock village and the same car pulls over. The guy in the back opens the door and before he can say anything, the bloke in the passenger seat just points at me and laughs, saying "We already asked him". At least they were persistant.

lostexpectation

eo980 wrote:

I work in an electronics shop in the city centre and we've seen this happen to a few people outside the store. It most recently happened just last week.

print out a roll of stickers warning of scam artists etc and put them on on the poles etc nearby

Esel

lostexpectation wrote:

print out a roll of stickers warning of scam artists etc and put them on on the poles etc nearby

Don't blame the Poles!

Gazza22

Silver car??? Foreign guys?

I was offered the same laptop [i think] yesterday, at Lidl carpark walkinstown.....

Told them to get lost, it was obviously stolen

lostexpectation

esel wrote:

Don't blame the Poles!

lol :P

Terry

got milk?

Ste.phen

julep wrote:

got milk?

nope, i sold it to some guy for €500

oneweb

lostexpectation wrote:

print out a roll of stickers warning of scam artists etc and put them on on the poles etc nearby

esel wrote:

Don't blame the Poles!

lmfao what a great way to start tha week, cheers esel and lostex!

But yeah, anyone who buys dodgy goods like that deserves to be conned, it's called Darwin's theory of natural selection...

28064212

mad m wrote:

Pity you didnt think of getting reg and ringing Gardai.

Meh, let them run the scam. Anybody stupid enough to fall for it deserves to have their money taken off them

cournioni

Same thing happened to me between Cootehill and Cavan town, just got out of the car to check one of the tyres because something was rubbing against it. Next minute a 06 Hiace pulls up beside me and the driver asked me (in a tinkers accent) did I have a puncture, I said no I was just checking the wheel.

He then asked me "would you like to do us a favour, boss?", knowing that they weren't exactly going to ask me to help them with anything "legal", I decided to say "depends" just out of curiosity. He then went on to say "meself and me friend here are settin up a JVC plasma tv screen business in Cootehill there, and we were wonderin if you'd like to hold onto a few of them for us. There is a free plasma tv in it for you. You'd be doin us a huge favour, boss!". I just chuckled to myself and said "nah, you're ok mate."

The funniest part of it was how fast they sped away.

okidoki987

meself and me friend here are settin up a JVC plasma tv screen business in Cootehill there, and we were wonderin if you'd like to hold onto a few of them for us. There is a free plasma tv in it for you. You'd be doin us a huge favour, boss!". I just chuckled to myself and said "nah, you're ok mate."

Where's the scam here?

Gone West

they give you 5 or 10 tvs that they stole. You keep them in your garage or whatever. They can only fit 3 or so in their van at a time. So they go around house to house selling the stolen tvs. So as they sell tvs (and they do, people dont give a **** where they come from, and knwo theyre stolen.)
then they keep coming back to your house to collect tvs (to top up their van!) over the course of their scam.

n the end they may or may not leave you with a tv.
More likely they will use their newfound access to your garage/etc to rob you instead.

Stephen

Not to mention that you'd have the possibility of getting done for handling stolen goods. If they rob you, are you going to go to the gardaí about it, considering you had a garage full of stolen TV's?

ibanezjem

Passin by clearwater in finglas, headed in to pick up some petrol. Just about passed the roundabout at the garage and a blue punto jams on in front on my car...wtf....big-nose sneaky russian rolls down his window.."Boy have i got the perfect video camera for you!!" I was furious cause he could have caused an accident. Told him to fooook off and get outta my way.

danniemcq

this was fairly big in galway few weeks back, all over the papers too.

TomCo

ibanezjem wrote:

Passin by clearwater in finglas, headed in to pick up some petrol. Just about passed the roundabout at the garage and a blue punto jams on in front on my car...wtf....big-nose sneaky russian rolls down his window.."Boy have i got the perfect video camera for you!!" I was furious cause he could have caused an accident. Told him to fooook off and get outta my way.

Could have gone Jack Nicholson on his windscreen.......

DS

FuzzyLogic wrote:

they give you 5 or 10 tvs that they stole. You keep them in your garage or whatever. They can only fit 3 or so in their van at a time. So they go around house to house selling the stolen tvs. So as they sell tvs (and they do, people dont give a **** where they come from, and knwo theyre stolen.)
then they keep coming back to your house to collect tvs (to top up their van!) over the course of their scam.

n the end they may or may not leave you with a tv.
More likely they will use their newfound access to your garage/etc to rob you instead.

The main thing to consider is why they need anyone's help in the first place. For starters, they've certainly got a garage or storage room of their own that would be more than adequate to store the goods, and secondly, they'd hardly be so willing to invite an unknown 3rd party into there dodgy operation and risk being turned in. The only logical conclusion is that they're just looking for another chump to scam.

okidoki987

I was thinking more along the lines
"Sure", I'll take the the 3 you have here and I'll drop them off home but you stay here and I'll come back to meet you for the rest"
Then take their TV's and leg it
After all they wouldn't call the cops now would they

Civilian_Target

paddy wrote:

I was asked the exact same a week ago, looking for directions to the m50 from the new roundabout at powercity, they were in a hiace strangely enough, one sounded like a traveller and the other like a eastern european.
Was it a grey Sony Vaio by chance?:)

Yes. It was. One guy was wearing a bad shirt and looked Irish, the other one was talking and sounded Eastern European.

Tha Gopher

Civilian_Target wrote:

Was walking down by Power City in Coolmine and some guys pulled up in a car beside me. They asked me for directions, and then tried to sell me a laptop, a Sony Vaio. Obviously, I don't buy laptops at the side of the road. I presumed it was some sort of scam, if so, how does it work?

Or is it just a stolen laptop?

Mate I had got into the car with them in Blanch, they pulled up outside his house, he had no cash so offered go to the ATM. They offered the laptop for 250 or something

"ah no worries yungfella, hop in we`ll give ya a lift"

Gets in, gets a gun pulled on him. Is marched to the ATM where he maxes it out, 500 odd his limit was I think. They then drove him home and reminded him they know his house in case he was considering bringing it to the cops.


Another time some pi....ahem, members of the travelling community pulled up to my cousin, offering him a picture phone back when they first came out. Covertly slipped two dairy milks in the bag and sped off with his cash during the handover.

Rather suprisingly, my cousin decided to report it. Not at all like him, he would usually sort it himself, but he didnt exactly fancy a pitch (forked) battle with the whole clan, and he knew one of the guys by name so he could ID him.

Rather unsuprisingly, as my cousin was leaving the Garda station after giving his statement he was stared down by a gang of the family outside the station.


Id love to see some gyppos pull up on some young lad offering to sell him a laptop/phone, only fr the kid to pull a gun/knife and rob them of it

chamlis

I'm actually looking to buy a cheap-**s laptop right now. Has anyone actually gotten one, or have they all gotten milk?