White Van man speaker scam

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A student has parted with hundreds of pounds after falling victim to a well-known sales scam. The second year student was sold some speakers while walking home from University.

Two men pulled up in a white van and offered him a set of what they claimed was high quality sound equipment. They told the student they had initially ordered the speakers for a local club, but had two sets spare.

Speaking to Leeds Student, he said “They told me they just needed to sell them, and showed me some documents which showed the order. The documents showed the speakers as being worth thousands of dollars.”

The victim paid £250 for them, but his suspicions were later raised when he went home and did some research on the equipment. Online forums detailed the experiences of victims who fell for the same scam.

One person, also recently sold the speakers in Leeds, wrote: “These two bald guys pull over and say my boyfriend ‘looks like a musical guy’. Told us about these speakers which were a ‘great deal’. She added, “I was wary at first and said I don’t have any money. He then showed us the price on the box which says $1,499. He claimed to have ordered one set too many and showed us the invoice.”

The second year student told this paper “The two guys seemed really friendly, I didn’t think it was dodgy at all… I’ve been looking for speakers for a while, and it seemed like such a good deal”

He continued, “There’s no written evidence that I’ve paid £250, I don’t think you could catch them. It’s a bit of a lost cause really.”

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said “We would remind people to be very wary of anyone who approaches them in the street offering to sell them any item at a ‘bargain’ price. There are organized gangs of conmen who often specifically target student areas in the hope that people will fall for their scam.”

He continued: “People should also be aware that buying goods in such circumstances could potentially see them committing an offence of handling stolen goods, which could see them arrested. The safest thing to do is walk away from anyone who approaches them in this way.”

Words: Phil Mann

Photo: Leo Garbutt

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