Woman Gets Duped Into Buying Wooden Apple iPad for $180

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Sara Yin - PC Magazine


http://i.imgur.com/TCHeL.jpg

We've heard of people wanting the Apple iPad so badly that all common sense seems to fly out the window, like the kid in China who sold his kidney for one.

But this story hits closer to home. Apparently a South Carolina woman who thought she was buying an Apple iPad for the bargain price of $180 belatedly realized she'd just bought a piece of wood.

Ashley McDowell, 22, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, filed an incident report on Monday night with the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office (hat tip: The Smoking Gun). She claims two black men approached her in a McDonald's parking lot selling iPads for $300 a pop.

McDowell told the men that she only had $180, and they agreed to sell it for that price, according to the report (see full text below). The men then reached back into their trunk and handed her a FedEx box.

After paying and driving off with one, McDowell opened her FedEx box to discover "a piece of wood painted black with an Apple logo." That's when she called the police.

Lieutenant Tony Ivey, a public information officer at the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, sent over photos of the fake iPad, which were discolored because they'd already been dusted for finger prints.

"Basically what they'd done is taken a screenshot of an iPad screen turned on, with a copy of a Best Buy sales ticket on front. On the back they'd pasted a cutout of the Apple logo," Ivey said.

Ivey speculates that the men managed to dupe McDowell by showing her a real iPad, then reaching into their car to pull out a FedEx box. He added that a similar incident was reported and resolved last year, when authorities caught a pair of men trying to sell laptop boxes stuffed with a phone book, for the price of a real laptop, of course.

He added that the likely penalty for an incident of fraud like this was 90 days in jail and/or a fine of under $1,000.

Full text of of Incident no. 11081828, filed on Monday night:

"On 08/29/2011 I responded to Lee's Crossing in regards to a swindle call at above address. Ashley Mcdowell stated that she was at Mcdonald's buying food when two black males approached her in the parking lot attempting to sale an IPad or a laptop. Ms. Mcdowell stated that the two black males showed her a new Ipad and stated that they had bought them in bulk and was selling them for $300. Ms. Mcdowell stated that she only had $180 and they agreed to sale it for that price. Ms. Mcdowell stated that the subjects had several of them in a Fed Ex box in the trunk. Ms. Mcdowell stated that when she drove home she opened the box and within the box was a piece of wood painted black with an Apple logo. Ms. Mcdowell then called the police. Ms. Mcdowell stated that one of the black males had a gold tooth. Ms. Mcdowell stated that the subjects were driving a white Impala with no rims and no tint."

If you have any information on the whereabouts of these two swindlers (or geniuses, depending on how you look at it) please contact the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Caveat emptor...stupid is as stupid does

[Muddy]

What a fool... :lol:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Bwhahahahaha, so brilliant

[Hal-9000]

you'd think that the price change would have made her pause

they are 300 dollars each..

I only got 180..

sold!

[PorkChopSandwiches]

At $300 you still know they would have been stolen

[Hal-9000]

and dudes approaching you in parking lots with Best Buy boxes :lol:

[Loser]

iPlank.....:lol:

I think I shit my pants reading that :oops:

[SmoothBob]

Why aint she bein done for buying stupid, sorry i mean stolen goods?

[redred]

:dunce:

[Muddy]

I wish I had an ipad... Only thing stopping me is the monthly service charges for live hookup..

[PorkChopSandwiches]

I wish I had an ipad... Only thing stopping me is the monthly service charges for live hookup..

You can get wifi only, then use your phone as a tether ;)

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I already have an iPad....except I call it a laptop. It cost less and is about a zillion times more useful than an iPad.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

but its heavy and not nearly as cool ;)

[Teh One Who Knocks]

If someone wants to pay twice as much for something that is half as useful just to look cool (in their eyes), then more power to them ;)

Functionality > Misguided thoughts of looking cool

[Muddy]

but its heavy and not nearly as cool ;)

Exactly.. I want to parouse the web. Not decode a Blu-ray..

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Yeah, they are great for using while you watch tv, a laptop isnt really good on your lap.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

If someone wants to pay twice as much for something that is half as useful just to look cool (in their eyes), then more power to them ;)

Functionality > Misguided thoughts of looking cool

:hater:

[Muddy]

I have two laptops if I want a crappy ol' laptop to run autocad or something on...

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Lance is confusing functionality, he looks at a tablet as a work device/laptop when its a whole different product.

[Loser]

Tablets are nice, iPads are shit.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Lance is confusing functionality, he looks at a tablet as a work device/laptop when its a whole different product.

Yes, so instead, let's pay $600 for a glorified smartphone...that doesn't make phone calls ;)

[PorkChopSandwiches]

I want the new samsung galaxy

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/01/samsung-unveils-dual-core-galaxy-tab-7-7-and-5-3-inch-galaxy-note/

[Muddy]

Tablets are nice, iPads are shit.

Thanks for your opinion, it's valued. :)

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Yes, so instead, let's pay $600 for a glorified smartphone...that doesn't make phone calls ;)

its not a pc or a laptop or a phone, its a tablet.

[Loser]

Thanks for your opinion, it's valued. :)

Any iDevice is crap, unless you jailbreak it to gain more functionality. They're just to restrictive.

<---used to own several of them....sadly. :(

[Muddy]

I want the new samsung galaxy

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/01/samsung-unveils-dual-core-galaxy-tab-7-7-and-5-3-inch-galaxy-note/


That stylus function is cool..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

its not a pc or a laptop or a phone, its useless.

:tup:

[Muddy]

Any iDevice is crap, unless you jailbreak it to gain more functionality. They're just to restrictive.

<---used to own several of them....sadly. :(

My wife has an iphone and that things a Cadillac..

[Loser]

My wife has an iphone and that things a Cadillac..

Support flash yet? :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Support flash yet? :lol:

:bazinga:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

does it support multitasking

[Muddy]

Support flash yet? :lol:

Haven't seen it as issue as of yet. :shrug:

[RBP]

<=== has never purchased an apple product of any kind.

[Muddy]

does it support multitasking

Asking me?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

<=== has never purchased an apple product of any kind.

Same here

:gimme5:

[samarchepas]

Been Apple-free for the last 22 years...Won't stop being that way any time soon lol...they make things that look good...and that's about it! :lol:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Asking me?

no, i was being sarcastic, it cant do 2 things at the same time

[Muddy]

no, i was being sarcastic, it cant do 2 things at the same time

Is that an issue? I never really needed to do 2 things at once.. It's a 3-4" screen.. I can barely see what one thing is showing me.. I dont need Photoshop running on the screen also.. :lol:

[Noilly Pratt]

I've used Apples in a work environment, and they do the job fine...good units to keep people 1 step away from the O/S (this especially held true back in the DOS days). Apple's attitude then..."just shut up and do your work, never mind how this all is done!" Kinda the same now with the tablets - "we give you an app for almost everything--shut up about not being able to fully customize it all!"

But, back to the topic at hand...the guy actually put an Apple logo on a piece of wood...talk about adding salt to the wound!

Reminds me of the friend who bought a pair of speakers from a guy while stopped in heavy traffic. Opened up his panel delivery van and sold it to him right then and there. They actually sounded OK, but really weren't worth the $100 he paid for the pair.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Reminds me of the friend who bought a pair of speakers from a guy while stopped in heavy traffic. Opened up his panel delivery van and sold it to him right then and there. They actually sounded OK, but really weren't worth the $100 he paid for the pair.

Yeah, those guys would always be in the grocery store parking lots following you back to to your car in a van trying to sell that crap :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Yeah, those guys would always be in the grocery store parking lots following you back to to your car in a van trying to sell that crap :lol:

Yeah, they'd always have some story on how they were 'extras' or some BS like that :lol:

[Muddy]

Yeah, they'd always have some story on how they were 'extras' or some BS like that :lol:

It's like the 'meat guy' that happens to have an extra package he has to unload before the days out.. :roll:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

My wife bought some meat from a guy like that. It was lots of nice cuts, different things and frozen. She was stoked on the deal until I explained to her she spent $10 a lbs on the stuff :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

You shoulda :slap: her for buying meat out of some guys truck, frozen or not :lol:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

It was pretty good I must say. But, it better be at those prices.

[Hal-9000]

You shoulda :slap: her for buying meat out of some guys truck, frozen or not :lol:

Jeffrey Dahmer Delivery! :)

[Muddy]

I'm not a fan of frozen meat.. When you freeze it, it damages the cells.

[Hal-9000]

I remember the guys in the liquor store parking lot selling socks, wallets...keyfobs, lamps ffs out of their trunks :lol:

I've never bought from the trunk sellers

[Muddy]

Ohhhh!! lamps?? :lol:

[Hal-9000]

One trunk guy had curtains...a variety too :lol:



We have a business in our complex "Last Chance Liquidation World" and oh Lord is it ever...
Absolute crap marked up to pretty expensive prices.

Coworker wanted to buy one of those inflatable clown punching things....the tag read and I quote - 29.95, doesn't inflate.

It was a puddle of fucking plastic in a box :lol:

[Muddy]

I wonder if some foo bought it? :lol:

[Hal-9000]

They have food there too....the stuff that regular stores can't sell.

One day we saw lemon/cranberry donuts with this weird white frosting on top.Our shipper had to try some and I swear that the 'white frosting' was plaster of paris.Noooo expiration dates on any of their food products :lol:

[Hal-9000]

I shouldn't bitch...I just bought 4 pairs of reading glasses there last week for 20 dollars total. (1.5 lens strength)

they're ghetto but nice to have in my work environment should they get crushed.

[Muddy]

I shouldn't bitch...I just bought 4 pairs of reading glasses there last week for 20 dollars total. (1.5 lens strength)

they're ghetto but nice to have in my work environment should they get crushed.

Man, I'd love to see a picture of you in those beauties.. :lol:

[Hal-9000]

Man, I'd love to see a picture of you in those beauties.. :lol:

I've already been mocked.I work with a Filipino lesbian and showed her one rather dainty pair...she's says that they're gay :lol:

You want pics? I have 4 pairs of ghetto glasses at work, 2 pairs of ghetto glasses at home and my actual prescription glasses have tortoise shell frames.
Clark Kent I ain't :lol:

[Joebob034]

does it get itunes?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

does it get itunes?

Wooden you like to know [-(

[redred]

wonder if you can get a familytree app :mrgreen:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

you guys are making me board

[Joebob034]

:rimshot: