MacRumors reports today on a new variation on a very old scam. It used to be that someone would offer you a leather coat in a parking lot for a bargain price, take your money and then drive off leaving you with nothing but some worthless rags. Now according to this report, the scammers have updated their methods to suit the new technological age, and are currently trying to tempt people to hand over their money for fake iPads in parking lots. The specific incident that MacRumors is referring to occurred in Grand Prairie, Texas, where the town is apparently seeing an “epidemic†of fake Apple products. According to the Grand Prairie Police department, the scam involves two or three men in a car approaching someone in a parking lot and asking if they want to buy an iPad or a MacBook for $300 each, or both for $500. Apparently the “products†are in reality painted wooden replicas or bundles of notebooks with Apple logos on top, wrapped in bubble wrap and parcelled up in a Fed Ex or Best Buy box. But you don’t find that out until you hand over your money, of course, and the thieves have made their quick getaway. You might think that no one would fall for this old-as-the-hills confidence trick, but the Grand Prairie PD says that they have had more than 12 similar crimes committed this year so far. They warn the public against ever purchasing anything from the trunk of a car in a parking lot! Doubtless this is not just confined to Grand Prairie either, as these types of scams soon spread all over the country, and indeed the globe.
Source: Buying an iPad In a Parking Lot is a Bad Idea - Mac Rumors
