From the Swindon Advertiser
Police are warning the public to beware of fraudsters after a man in Swindon was conned into handing over £400 for a laptop and a phone - only to find that all he had bought was a bottle of water.
The man was approached at 2.40pm yesterday in Manchester Road, Swindon by a man driving a green Ford Mondeo.
The victim was shown a gray rucksack containing a laptop and mobile phone which the man was selling. He told the victim that he wanted to sell them as his wife had just bought them but she no longer wanted them.
The two men agreed a price of £400 and then the victim went to the nearest cash machine to withdraw the money.
He returned to the green Mondeo and handed over the cash in exchange for the rucksack and the car drove off. Unfortunately, when he opened the bag he realised that it was full of cardboard and a bottle of water.
I used to think this was called bait-and-switch, but that's something else. But I've heard of other variations on this scam, like a man with a van full of salmon in ice parked up in an upmarket estate. The salmon "isn't going to last" and he has to get rid of them before they go bad. He shows the salmon, and the owner buys a box only to find it's full of ice.
The weird part of the story is that you can buy a reasonable laptop and phone for less than £400 from the shops nowadays. You can get a Dell laptop for £179 and a Moto G for £150. That's brand new, manufacturer-warrantied and all of that. Why would you buy stuff from a bloke out of his car for more?
And why would someone not just sell on eBay? Or if "just bought them", return the goods?
Debate Magazine
