Armani Coat Scam going around

[Gundo]

I was parked at south Center this afternoon when these two guys with thick Italian accents pulled beside me asking for directions to get to the airport, so I helped them out and we made some small talk. They went onto tell me they were with a company that designs coats for Armani and they had some samples they didn't want to take back to Italy.

Instant alarm bells....

So they showed me these "great leather coats" and told me I could buy 4 "samples" for $700. They showed them to me and honestly they were actually nice but all I could hear was "white van scam" in my head. I knocked the guy down to $250 for 3 of them and told him I needed to transfer money on my ipad and would go to the ATM at the willow park shell.

So I Googled Fake Leather jacket scam with the guy right there, sure enough the same AE Emporio a Collezione scam popped up and I asked him to come over and showed him that someone else bought all 5 coats for $200 and asked him to match the price...while a YouTube video of the same scam going down was playing for him

Hey just went quiet and left.....

But tell everyone you know, someone somewhere will fall for this.

[MrMastodonFarm]

The fact that you tried to price match made me chuckle. Is that standard white van policy?

[DownhillGoat]

The fact that you tried to price match made me chuckle. Is that standard white van policy?
Some vans will even beat the difference by 10%

[TurnedTheCorner]

I never feel sorry for people who get scammed.

[Coach]

Look out Peter_12, that Armani deal IS too good to be true!

[4X4]

Doesn't really seem like a scam if you're getting goods for money, and they're not selling you fake Armani jackets, they're claiming to be samples. There's something greasy about it, but it's not a scam. Probably stolen goods.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

LOL, had you been successful at the PM, I would have posted this to RFD.

I kept waiting for the part of the story when they jumped you for the iPad. ;)

[LIP MAN]

There's a couple of ladies who go around Stephen Avenue with flyers for orphans in China. Total scam, the materials they have look so cheap and I just saw them at Chinook yesterday. I imagine these people cast a wide net.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Armani is so yesterday. It's all about the hobo look now.

http://sas.guidespot.com/bundles/guides_jk/assets/widget_cXT-nQl2Tg8OBq4QPA_-am.jpg

[Fobulous]

I never feel sorry for people who get scammed.

More often than not scam artists aren't your "Nigerian prince" type scammers. They don't wake up one day and say "I am going to try and go screw someone out of cash". They generally are professionals that put a great deal of time and effort into what they do and try and scam the innocent (seniors or vulnerable individuals).

I hate hearing stories of people getting scammed as I do feel for them. It would suck getting scammed and having your hard earned money taken from you.

-FoB.

[Regulator75]

Armani is so yesterday. It's all about the hobo look now.

http://sas.guidespot.com/bundles/guides_jk/assets/widget_cXT-nQl2Tg8OBq4QPA_-am.jpg

You mean Mugatu's Derelict collection?

http://timbalint.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/layout.jpg

[TurnedTheCorner]

More often than not scam artists aren't your "Nigerian prince" type scammers. They don't wake up one day and say "I am going to try and go screw someone out of cash". They generally are professionals that put a great deal of time and effort into what they do and try and scam the innocent (seniors or vulnerable individuals).

I hate hearing stories of people getting scammed as I do feel for them. It would suck getting scammed and having your hard earned money taken from you.

-FoB.

Nah, it's pretty funny.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Nah, it's pretty funny.

So edgy.

Scammers are scum and prey on the vulnerable. It's funny once in awhile when you hear of a teen buying a bunch of oregano, it's sickening when a grandma loses her pension.

[Kybosh]

Armani is so yesterday. It's all about the hobo look now.

http://sas.guidespot.com/bundles/guides_jk/assets/widget_cXT-nQl2Tg8OBq4QPA_-am.jpg

I saw some sort of photoshoot for clothes of this nature in the Husky building. Looked like a bunch of full grown Dickensian orphans posing in front of Starbucks. Probably one of the funnier things I've ever seen in a normally super bland building.

[TurnedTheCorner]

So edgy.

Scammers are scum and prey on the vulnerable. It's funny once in awhile when you hear of a teen buying a bunch of oregano, it's sickening when a grandma loses her pension.
Not trying to be edgy, but thanks for your vote of confidence all the same.

[Northendzone]

Did you even see /feel the coats?

[Gundo]

Did you even see /feel the coats?

Yes he showed me 1 leather and 2 suede coats with removable chinchilla collars. They look the part and feel the part however they are high quality imitation leather.

Even gave me a business card with company name, address in Italy, phone number and an email address.

The email address is armanirep@yahoo.com...... Seems legit.

[Regular_John]

Yes he showed me 1 leather and 2 suede coats with removable chinchilla collars. They look the part and feel the part however they are high quality imitation leather.

Even gave me a business card with company name, address in Italy, phone number and an email address.

The email address is armanirep@yahoo.com...... Seems legit.

Having built a number of websites over the years and having set up dozens of email addresses let me assure you, many, many international companies rely on free email services online.

Have you priced out the cost of a legit corporate domain recently? Upwards of $15/year!

[GGG]

Yes he showed me 1 leather and 2 suede coats with removable chinchilla collars. They look the part and feel the part however they are high quality imitation leather.

Even gave me a business card with company name, address in Italy, phone number and an email address.

The email address is armanirep@yahoo.com...... Seems legit.

So were the 5 coats worth $200. I mean at some point if you know you are buying crap there is a value that the crap is worth.

[Gundo]

So were the 5 coats worth $200. I mean at some point if you know you are buying crap there is a value that the crap is worth.

Perhaps they were, in my mind they were not. Im not worried about the person that is able to knock these shysters down in price and walk away happy with the purchase. Im more concerned about the people that jump all over the initial offer and get taken to the cleaners and end up going home with a misrepresentation of what they believe they were sold and grossly over playing for it.

Some people say good for them and the deserve it if they fall for it. I don't feel that way and think dirtbags that try to capitalize off of people with smoke and mirrors should get kicked in the balls and spit on.

[Derek Sutton]

If guys are selling xxxx in a parking lot it is either stolen or knock off, plain and simple, unless it is windshield repair, which may also be a scam, the jury is till out on this one. The best part is always the story, "yah we got shipped a master box of five projectors but they just billed us for one projector the boss told me to unload the rest cause he wants cash to go on a vacation."

You can get some really nice knock offs though that are worth some decent money. The coats may not be official Armani's but could be worth what they were asking. My uncle was in China on business and their hostess took them to a shopping mall full of store selling knock offs. My wife and I fool everyone, me with my perpetual motion non winding Rolex (which is excellent quality) and her with her Versace purse.

[Northendzone]

Gentlemen, today the terrorists lost.......Hopefully nobody buys the coats.......

[kipperfan]

Heh, I had a friend who got suckered by this scam probably 6-7 years ago, exact same thing, Italian guys with fake Armani coats and a white van. He was pretty proud of the deal he got too, was sure the coat was legit and let me tell you, this thing was horrid looking, like one of those cheesy leather coats 70's mobsters used to wear (well, according to television and film anyway). I think I actually laughed when I saw it, laughed harder when I heard how he got it and told him there was no chance it was real.

Sounds like the scammers may have updated the coats, but everything else sounds the exact same and given this has been going on for at least 7 years in Calgary alone, they must get a lot of suckers doing it.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Gentlemen, today the terrorists lost.......Hopefully nobody buys the coats.......

I don't think Al Queda makes leather coats. Captain Crunch? Anyone?

[Red Ice Player]

Lol. White van Armani Coat scam. You would think since the speaker scam is so old and played they would at least use a different type or colour of vehicle. By the way, the speaker scam is still around, only now its on Kijiji.

[Northendzone]

I don't think Al Queda makes leather coats. Captain Crunch? Anyone?

Have you seen their org chart?

[Zulu29]

Call the RCMP, they deal with federal legislation concerning counterfeit items. Also about the terrorist crack, not sure what's so funny, they do make and benefit from counterfeit goods.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Have you seen their org chart?

I googled it and didn't see a leather coat division.

[lazypucker]

Speaking of scam, I saw a couple poppy-selling people around downtown last week that didn't look like they should be selling poppies (if you know what I mean). I think they were just a scam to make some cash from the people's donations.....

[TurnedTheCorner]

If they can sell a poppy to anyone after today, good for them.

[RedMileDJ]

I was parked at south Center this afternoon when these two guys with thick Italian accents pulled beside me asking for directions to get to the airport, so I helped them out and we made some small talk. They went onto tell me they were with a company that designs coats for Armani and they had some samples they didn't want to take back to Italy.

Instant alarm bells....

So they showed me these "great leather coats" and told me I could buy 4 "samples" for $700. They showed them to me and honestly they were actually nice but all I could hear was "white van scam" in my head. I knocked the guy down to $250 for 3 of them and told him I needed to transfer money on my ipad and would go to the ATM at the willow park shell.

So I Googled Fake Leather jacket scam with the guy right there, sure enough the same AE Emporio a Collezione scam popped up and I asked him to come over and showed him that someone else bought all 5 coats for $200 and asked him to match the price...while a YouTube video of the same scam going down was playing for him

Hey just went quiet and left.....

But tell everyone you know, someone somewhere will fall for this.

During the entire encounter, did you bother to write down or take a pic of the license plate number, face, etc of the people trying to pull this scam?

Or did you just decide to remember the specifics so you could run to CP and post about it right away? Please tell us you at least called it into the non-emergency line (403-266-1234).

[WhiteTiger]

During the entire encounter, did you bother to write down or take a pic of the license plate number, face, etc of the people trying to pull this scam?

Or did you just decide to remember the specifics so you could run to CP and post about it right away? Please tell us you at least called it into the non-emergency line (403-266-1234).

There's not really much that can be done. Pics of the people who are doing it are helpful, but not much else is of any use. The plate is almost always stolen, and 'buyer beware' covers the rest.

The coats one is 'new' to me, though. Generally I hear some sob story about how someone bought gold watches/rings/jewelry, usually to help out the poor person who really didn't want to sell it, but is willing to take (however much the person got bilked for) for gas and food for their family, which they are just trying to get back to...

Basically, if someone is trying to sell you something out of a van, vehicle or some other means that isn't an actual 'proper' outlet for that...keep 'buyer beware' in mind, and that you most likely are getting hustled.

It keeps going because they do make some serious coin off of it. The jewelry ones I hear about often start in the $250+ range and go up quite quickly. If 'you' think that you are pulling a fast one on someone and 'helping them out' and 'getting a good deal' in the process...you are the one being rooked, not the other way around. "If it sounds too good to be true..." applies heavily here.

[Zulu29]

There's not really much that can be done. Pics of the people who are doing it are helpful, but not much else is of any use. The plate is almost always stolen, and 'buyer beware' covers the rest.

The coats one is 'new' to me, though. Generally I hear some sob story about how someone bought gold watches/rings/jewelry, usually to help out the poor person who really didn't want to sell it, but is willing to take (however much the person got bilked for) for gas and food for their family, which they are just trying to get back to...

Basically, if someone is trying to sell you something out of a van, vehicle or some other means that isn't an actual 'proper' outlet for that...keep 'buyer beware' in mind, and that you most likely are getting hustled.

It keeps going because they do make some serious coin off of it. The jewelry ones I hear about often start in the $250+ range and go up quite quickly. If 'you' think that you are pulling a fast one on someone and 'helping them out' and 'getting a good deal' in the process...you are the one being rooked, not the other way around. "If it sounds too good to be true..." applies heavily here.

Well actually if the plate is stolen its a bonus as you know have a hot plate which the police will be BOLFing for. As far as the buyer beware, that's bs. Knowingly selling counterfeit goods while portraying them to be real is a federal offence.

[WhiteTiger]

Well actually if the plate is stolen its a bonus as you know have a hot plate which the police will be BOLFing for. As far as the buyer beware, that's bs. Knowingly selling counterfeit goods while portraying them to be real is a federal offence.

Well, when most folks call, it's quite some time after so while it is yet another plate to BOLF, it's not like they are much help..."Yeah, 2-3 hours ago, I bought this stuff...No, I don't know what way the van left..."

I guess with brand name stuff it's a bit different, but I'm usually used to dealing with jewelry. Most are careful to not say that it's some kind of brand name jewelry, and by the time the person figures out that it's not worth what they paid for it, the seller is long gone and the buyer is SOL. "This guy said this gold watch was worth $500, and so I talked him down to $250, and when I got it appraised, it turns out that it's worth $50!" that sort of thing. And...selling things for more than their worth is not a crime (it's not nice, but it's not a crime)

[Jimmy Stang]

My folks have a friend who is continually falling for scams, and she was telling me just the other day about some fake coats that he bought in a parking lot. The details sounded nearly identical to Gundo's description.

Although I'm not going to defend the scammers - they're dirt bags, no question. But some people are just gullible and are easy prey. My parents' friend, for example, has fallen for every scam in the book. He has sent money overseas, invested in things that promised a ridiculous return, bought "valuable" products that ended up being worthless, etc. And each time he has lost money, sometimes substantially. Yet he continues to fall for these things and is convinced that a massive return is just around the corner. The fact that he is up to the eyeballs in debt at retirement age seems to be accelerating it.

These scams exist because some people will fall for anything. Repeatedly. An in-law even fell for the "we can give you a lower interest rate!" telemarketing scam and lost a good chunk of money. Really people?

[stang]

Damn I could use a cheap leather jacket..

[Northendzone]

I googled it and didn't see a leather coat division.

it is a dotted line reporting relationship to the fake hockey jerseys.

[Byrns]

I got scammed like this in London in 1999. (Samples from a fashion show, guy needed gas/ferry money to get back to Italy)

Back then it cost me £20 + $20CAD for 3 jackets. I felt like a chump 10min later on the tube.

[calumniate]

Were they 'fresh'?

ITLXo19248g

[chalms04]

There's a couple of ladies who go around Stephen Avenue with flyers for orphans in China. Total scam, the materials they have look so cheap and I just saw them at Chinook yesterday. I imagine these people cast a wide net.

Yeah the girls totally balked when I asked how much I needed to donate to get a tax receipt.

[Gundo]

During the entire encounter, did you bother to write down or take a pic of the license plate number, face, etc of the people trying to pull this scam?

Or did you just decide to remember the specifics so you could run to CP and post about it right away? Please tell us you at least called it into the non-emergency line (403-266-1234).

Never called CPS, I worked loss prevention for 4 years part time while I was in school and when I was recalling the conversation to myself they were very specific about some things that they said and how things were worded "they were samples that Armani buys and puts in their stores" so not really Armani coats thus not truly fake Armani coats. They were misrepresenting a product and making a profit not really illegal.

When I posted this I just wanted people to be aware to watch for them and not buy their BS story and over pay for garbage. I have a brother that fell for the White Van Home Theatre scam when he was 17 and he was pretty upset when he founds the emptied his bank account and dropped $800 on a $125 speaker set even though it had stickers on it that say MSRP $1950 all over.

Just don't like to see dirtbags get the better of people.

[RougeUnderoos]

This may be a "scam", but is it actually illegal?

It sounds like these guys are selling some junk for more than what it's worth, which happens all the time. Now sure, if they are representing it as actual Armani coats with tags and everything, that's different, but it doesn't sound like that's what these guys were doing.

We hear all the time that the police in town don't have time (or don't see the point) in doing something like fingerprinting at a B&E, or looking for a stolen car. Knowing that, I hope that if they get a call about "guys selling leather jackets in the parking lot" they don't do anything more than say "don't buy the coats".

Beyond that... what the hell would anyone want with five leather jackets anyway, even if you do think you are getting a great deal? What are you going to do, turn around and sell them yourself?

[pylon]

So edgy.

Scammers are scum and prey on the vulnerable. It's funny once in awhile when you hear of a teen buying a bunch of oregano, it's sickening when a grandma loses her pension.

I find it tough to feel for someone getting scammed now. I work with a guy, in his late 60's, who has been sending every spare dollar he has to Nigeria on some sort of oil investment scam. They call, threaten him that they are never going to pay him out, unless he sends more money. Then he walks across the street to Walmart, empties his bank account afraid they will cut him out. 2 weeks later, rinse/repeat. They even have it down that on payday, his cell phone is ringing off the hook with threats.

I pulled him aside 3 years ago. Told him his money is gone, quit throwing good money after bad. Showed him scam baiter sites, and the actual scam and people perpetrating it showed up. I also did it again about a year ago. His wife who left him once, is getting ready to leave him again. But because they always bring up god, and he brainwashed religious beliefs, he keeps sending more money. And I am not the only person here who has warned him.

I can't feel sorry for the guy when I keep warning him, time after time. And making jabs when he comes back from the Walmart Western Union "So how much money did you gift to the Nigerians today?" If you are that bloody stupid, and in denial. You deserve to be taken.

[ken0042]

I have a brother that fell for the White Van Home Theatre scam when he was 17 and he was pretty upset when he founds the emptied his bank account and dropped $800 on a $125 speaker set even though it had stickers on it that say MSRP $1950 all over.

Sounds like your brother got off lucky. At least he got speakers worth $125 out of the deal. Most of the people I have heard about- even if there are speaker components in the boxes, they aren't useable as speakers.

[squiggs96]

The biggest scam I ever was fooled by was buying pop at the Superstore Liquor Store.

That, or a girl saying she'd sleep with me and she didn't. I actually get scammed by this one quite frequently.

[Table 5]

It sounds like these guys are selling some junk for more than what it's worth.

If you think about it, isn't this what the real Armani, and pretty much all the mass luxury retailers, do every day? Brand the crap out of everything, create fake stories to make you feel better, and then mark up the products to a crazy amount.

[TurnedTheCorner]

If you think about it, isn't this what the real Armani, and pretty much all the mass luxury retailers, do every day? Brand the crap out of everything, create fake stories to make you feel better, and then mark up the products to a crazy amount.

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/mind_blown.gif

[stang]

I got scammed like this in London in 1999. (Samples from a fashion show, guy needed gas/ferry money to get back to Italy)

Back then it cost me £20 + $20CAD for 3 jackets. I felt like a chump 10min later on the tube.

You got 3 jackets for like $50? Sounds like a deal to me?

[Byrns]

You got 3 jackets for like $50? Sounds like a deal to me?

They smelled really bad like chemicals. (He kept them on hangers with clear plastic over them so I couldn't tell until I got home)

Also, he kept showing me how they wouldn't burn when using a lighter on them explaining that it was real leather.

[jammies]

Also, he kept showing me how they wouldn't burn when using a lighter on them explaining that it was real leather.

That trick only works if you suspect you have been sold fake leather jackets actually made out of wood.

[stang]

Ugh so now I kinda want one..what's buddy's email?