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Beware the Bargain Laptop

February 8, 2006
Consumers who want a laptop computer but lack the $800 that even bottom of the line models cost are falling for a new scam. They think they’re getting a bargain, but are literally left holding the bag.

Police in the Phoenix area have arrested a man they saw had been running the scam for weeks.

They say he would approach consumers in parking lots, telling them he had a manufacturer’s close-out laptop computer he needed to sell. He could sell it for as little as $250. Would they be interested?

Police say the scammer showed them the box, which had stickers from a well-known computer maker. Giving them a glimpse inside the box, the victim could see some computer accessories and what looked like a black laptop computer packed in bubble wrap.

Once the transaction was complete, the scammer would always make a hasty retreat, while the consumer would open the box to kind two pieces of black ceramic tile surrounded with bubble wrap.

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