Scammer from Baguio

[julskie]

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Beware! I got scammed last December 2010 by this so called guy “Charlie Tan“. Saw him in ebay. He sells macbook pro and other stuff.

See, I was quite hesitant to share my story mainly because I am actually embarrassed by the fact that I was indeed a victim. But as a member of this forum, I believe I have the obligation to forewarn fellow members of PhilMug.

This is how my story goes: Saw his ad in ebay, called him up. He sends an email containing an attachment of his license, business permit and fax number. He was very convincing. He even sent the serial number of his item and when I checked it in apple support, it is indeed a legit unit. (I dread to think that this person might even be a member of this forum coz it is possible.. )

So I deposited the agreed amount of 38K in RCBC the next day, assured that I have his complete details. But that was the last I heard of him. Would you believe, he is still active in ebay now and in sulit but he changes his name once in awhile. He even uses the same story and cell number!!

Search Pine Star Hardware and you would see all the blogs against this guy. He‘s been scamming since 2009. Will post his pics but I dont think that would help coz we really dont know who or where he is.

This has to stop.

Good news for me, though. I got my money back. I rushed to the bank the same day I deposited and told my story. I knew something was wrong coz after I deposited, he wouldnt answer any of my texts and calls anymore. Good think nalang he didnt withdraw the money yet (it was an RCBC mywallet account and the allowed withdrawal for a day is i think 50k only and apparently he reached his limit for that day so my money was still there) But for the so many others who were not as lucky as me, they're still out there searching and cursing this dude...

This was his email:



Hi po maam Julz!


Here are some more pics po of the MacBook my dad asked me to email u... and attached are his IDs too. Hope this will be helpful...

The total price po of your MacBook Pro is P38,000.00 shipping is included. Just email me here if ever you have some techy inquiries when you receive the MacBook. Hope you'll really enjoy it! =)

We can give you 7 days full warranty (but of course you must take good care of it too).

We will ship it to your home via Air21, it's door to door, 1 day delivery to your shipping address in manila.

It's the MacBook Pro LED-Backlit keyboard and display. It's just about 4 months old po.

I have restored the settings too, expect it to be in full factory trim na, but everything's still complete and intact with installer CDs, Leopard OSX 10.6, iWork '10 OEM, copy of Microsoft Office for Mac, Adobe Creative Suite 4 installer copy, all accessories and packaging plastics.


It's pretty ready to use.


You may confirm the serial number of your mac for your warranty at apple.com... here's a link to apple's support po:

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

W8924VAU66D

Here are the specs of the macbook http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-13inch.html

Here are my dad's account details

You can make payment at RCBC Commercial, Cash Card 6019-7105-1216-5499 Charlie R. Tan, /Pine Star Hardware, Benguet
please fax the deposit slip to our office to (074)4423638 or email it here if a fax machine is not available.

Dad will have it shipped po to your address immediately, once the payment is confirmed you'll receive it the morning the following day.

Please send also your mailing address and complete name so my mum can prepare the package din.

Good day po!

Hope you will really enjoy it!

[coolpix32]

Good thing you got your money back! Personally, I'd prefer buying stuff, especially big ticket items from legitimate stores. If it's pre-owned, I'd go for meet-ups.

Thanks for sharing your story.

[julskie]

Here are the attachments in his email:

[IMG]file://localhost/Users/apple/Library/Mail%20Downloads/SCAN100246_resize.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]file://localhost/Users/apple/Library/Mail%20Downloads/SCAN100244_resize.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]file://localhost/Users/apple/Library/Mail%20Downloads/IMG_8540_resize_crop.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]file://localhost/Users/apple/Library/Mail%20Downloads/IMG_8542_resize_crop.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]file://localhost/Users/apple/Library/Mail%20Downloads/IMG_6532_resize.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]file://localhost/Users/apple/Library/Mail%20Downloads/IMG_7823_resize.jpg[/IMG]

Will post links of his items for sale in ebay and sulit.

wait, i dont see images, will try again later.

[raypin]

mmmm....the scammer attempted to sell W8924VAU66D to another Philmugger (@P-M-J) last Dec. 2010 (http://www.philmug.ph/forum/showthre...t=64725&page=6 ) and, per google, two bloggers have reported this W8924VAU66D to scam buyers.

What surprises me is not that there are scammers but that there are still buyers out there who still insist on deposit before delivery.

[lsalapare]

@Julskie,

Can you share the item no. of the MacBook that was sold on eBay?

[julskie]

here are the attachments from his email...











isalapare,

will do that in a bit.. will also post a link of the blogs about his other transactions.

here‘s the exact unit that i was supposed to buy from this guy. its currently up in ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.ph/Apple-MacBook-Pro...#ht_874wt_1130

[Shinrai]

Same mo as before years past. Before it was a girl from Baguio posing as a seller of high-end electronics, saying that it's her dad's and people should contact him if they want it. Feeds off both testosterone and bargain buying urges, ingenious really.

One way to make sure is to get a friend in the area to look up his address, even pay him or her a bit for the trouble. Often times, the address is fake and you'll be glad you only lost a few bucks in the process. Better yet, just buy from vetted philmuggers.

[Ikon]

can you put a negative feedback on his/her page in ebay?

[Netskipper]

Thank you for the warning. This is the reason why I've never agreed for a deposit-first arrangement if I am the buyer.

I'm just wondering what can be done with people like these. I mean what is the legal process of stopping them?

[julskie]

here's a link about his past activities...

http://photoshoppe.multiply.com/journal/item/29

he has had a lot of negative feedbacks already but all he does is make a new account. cant find his ad in sulit anymore.

i have tried contacting someone from baguio to look for that so called pine star hardware and its nonexistent. for all we know he is not located in baguio.

just please take note of his cellphone number, its still active. i hope there's a way to track the serial number of all macs being used because he might be using his mac right here!!

mmmm....the scammer attempted to sell W8924VAU66D to another Philmugger (@P-M-J) last Dec. 2010 (http://www.philmug.ph/forum/showthre...t=64725&page=6 ) and, per google, two bloggers have reported this W8924VAU66D to scam buyers.

What surprises me is not that there are scammers but that there are still buyers out there who still insist on deposit before delivery.

true.. you know, if you get to talk to him, he sounds so sincere, almost hypnotic if you ask me. i think this is what happened to me! he's well spoken and really convincing.