What is the scam here?

[Slava]

I was approached a few days ago in a grocery store parking lot. Two guys drove up in a SUV with commercial plates and said "Hey, I know that this is a strange question, but would you be interested in a home theater system for your house?".

Obviously I said no! The guy went on "its not stolen or anything, I just got them for free and I'm trying to sell them cheap". Clearly my first thought is that these are stolen...but is there anything else going on here?

(This is the second time I've been approached, the last time was downtown in the summer. Different guys, same question and same deal). Surely someone else must have been approached or could know better whats going on here?

[FlamesKickAss]

There is one that is legit, a buddy of mine bought speakers. He called the cops about it afterwards and they knew the licence plate number and said they were legit. I guess they were sweet speakers. They dont have a store front thats all.

I dont know if these were the same guys or not.

[Burninator]

I figure the guys that do that have either stolen stereo stuff or cheap knock offs.

[jolinar of malkshor]

A lot of it is stolen.

[You Need a Thneed]

Not something I'd risk buying, even if it may be legit.

[Tron_fdc]

A lot of the time the stuff isn't stolen, they're just selling it to you at a higher price than what you would pay in a store. People naturally assume the stuff is stolen, so when they say $200 for $800 speakers you think it's a great deal. In reality the stuff probably costs $150 at Liquidation world.

At least that's what I've been told.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

The scam is that they make people think they're getting a deal because the implication is that the stuff is stolen. In reality, it's cheap stuff that's no deal.

I've been approached by the white van offering a deal but it was always just speakers. If something seems too good to be true, then it is. Especially these days when they could just sell it on eBay if it was really "free" stuff.

[Hack&Lube]

It's not stolen. This is the white van with speakers scam. They basically sell super cheap chinese stereo systems by pretending they are worth far more than they are. They get you to buy them for hundreds thinking you have a good deal when the speakers are actually crap. They always say things like they were making a delivery but recieved 2 by accident and can't go back to their boss with an extra set so they want to split the deal with you. It's basically the Nigerian scam in another form...except you do get something for your money - crap speakers that they claim are worth thousands and are boutique high-end ones (thusly the name you have never heard of). They even have fake brochures and a fake website to convince you of the value of these speakers and their thousands of dollars of MSRP when they are probably worth $20-$50. They then say that these speakers - worth $5000 need to be gotten rid of and they would sell them to you for $500 or something and even if you didn't want them, you could resell them yourself thus furthering the scam. At the prospect of getting something they are told are worth so many thousands of dollars cheaply, and the prospect of either getting speakers or making money themselves, many people turn into instant suckers and make trips to ATMs because they are told the speaker van needs to be somewhere else soon.

Just google it (white van speaker scam), it's very common and happens all over Canada in mall parking lots, etc. and has for years. There is someone out there making fake brochures, websites, aquiring these cheap speakers, employing people to do this and it makes him a lot of money.

[Shazam]

[photon]

Yup, I've seen them a few times too. Legit business, as far as selling crap to people and calling it a good deal is legit.

[Daradon]

The only crime here is LOW LOW prices! You should go to jail if you don't take advantage of these AMAZING BARGINS!!!

[ricoFlame]

a buddy of mine bought some "sweet" speakers out of a van several years back (2001 I believe). the grainy horrible sound from the cheap paper cones was terrible and worth far less than the $250 he paid for them. they certainly did have the look of some premium product though.

[onetwo_threefour]

And just to show that it takes all kinds. A guy I know (who will remain nameless) fell for this about five years ago and asked my opinion of this great deal he just got... I almost couldn't help myself from laughing out loud at him. He was my boss and was a lawyer with many years experience. It's probably good I didn't laugh at him, but just showed him:

http://www.scamshield.com/Feature.asp?id=1

To make matters worse, they took him for about a grand, and got him to throw in a twenty for a case of beer. (Which is actually a pretty common part of the scam, and adds just that extra bit of sting to the whole thing when you find out)

[Red Ice Player]

Hard to believe this scam is still going. I first encountered the van/speaker scam back in 1985. Good rule of thum, never ever buy anything from the back of a van.

[BlackArcher101]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speakers

My ex-boyfriend (there is a reason he is my ex!) bought some speakers this way.

He hooked it up and it worked great for about 5 minutes. Then I said: "what's that smell?"

The speakers had somehow overloaded the receiver and it was smoking...

I had to work some overtime that month to help pay the rent and then moved out the next month.

[metallicat]

I was approached about a year ago by guys obviously like this, but at the time I had never heard of this scam, I just assumed they were stolen speakers and told the guy to get bent. I bet these guys make a lot of money.

[Nabber]

Yeah I heard about the white van speaker scam going back a while now, but heard those speakers were crap. But I too was approached by these exact guys as Slava. As they were in an SUV, and said it those exact words "I know this is a strange question but do you wanna buy speakers for your house." Being curious I checked out the speakers, and they were brand new still in the box. They really looked like a nice package, there was two to choose from. Buddy was like I got them for free and just want to get rid of them. The price was actually on the box, $2495.00!! All he wanted at first was 500 bucks, then actually said $300 takes them, a sub, and mini center and mini left and right front and rear speakers. I really couldn't picture these speakers being worth 150 bucks, so the scam is that they're probably stolen.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by Nabber

Yeah I heard about the white van speaker scam going back a while now, but heard those speakers were crap. But I too was approached by these exact guys as Slava. As they were in an SUV, and said it those exact words "I know this is a strange question but do you wanna buy speakers for your house." Being curious I checked out the speakers, and they were brand new still in the box. They really looked like a nice package, there was two to choose from. Buddy was like I got them for free and just want to get rid of them. The price was actually on the box, $2495.00!! All he wanted at first was 500 bucks, then actually said $300 takes them, a sub, and mini center and mini left and right front and rear speakers. I really couldn't picture these speakers being worth 150 bucks, so the scam is that they're probably stolen.

Nope, the scam is so well established that they have everything from brochures to websites. Even back in '02 the price was printed on the box. They really aern't stolen, they're just complete and utter crap in nicely painted wood boxes.

[Jayems]

Ive been asked, several times while hauling ass down Crowfoot trail, if I want speakers from these types. As if they're not stolen. pfft.