[El Bastardo]

We all know the "White Van Speaker Scam". Two guys in a white van roll up on you while you're pumping gas and offer you a "great deal" on a home theatre/speaker setup that normally costs $2000 (the box has an MSRP $1999 sticker on it) but you'll get it for the low-low-low price of $400
You buy it, take it home, and find its either a) a box of bricks b) some POS no-name brand re-badged to say Bose, JBL, etc or c) a POS no name brand (http://www.divincisound.com/) that looks good but sounds like shit.

Hell, we've even talked about it happening in the Lower Mainland:

http://www.revscene.net/forums/red-van-speaker-t388052.html?t=388052

Anyway, most of us have heard about it, but people are still falling for this shit. Enough people to make it a lucrative business for some. There are different variations of the scam, some of which can be found here:

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

(Not included in the link is the "insurance scam" where the driver of a van distracts you while driving on a two-laned street, driving up beside you and saying "Hey man, you want some speakers?" while their partner slams on their brakes in front of you)




The purpose of my post is to educate. We've gotten some new members over the last year or so and for anyone who hasn't read the threads we've had about this scam, please take some time and read. We're a few weeks into summer which is prime selling time for these assholes and even if you don't get hit by this scam someone you know may. I've never dealt with them but that doesn't mean I won't. The same goes for each of you.

While most of us employ common sense the chance that we may miss out on a good deal can sometimes distort our higher reasoning.




Oh, and these cocksmokers have a forum where they discuss their "trade". If you want some laughs, go read here:

http://speakermen.usersboard.net


They all sound like those loser stoner kids we knew in high school. People too stupid to get a real job so they rely on milking people who do.

[hal0g0dv2]

what a bunch of low lifes

[shenmecar]

Best beat bro. Best.

[vafanculo]

Nice thx for heads up. Had 2 douche bags try and sell me some speakers on hwy 1 last year by pulling up to me in traffic.. Good thing I knew it was a scam
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[jstn86]

these stuff happen locally.

i ran into these guys in coquitlam couple yrs ago at save-on parking lot by pinetree/lougheed

watch out ppl! when it sounds too good to be true, it's not true!

[Jgresch]

spotted @ sfu and @ kingsway subway asking me to buy their sh.it

[murd0c]

it happens everywhere, I was at t&t in guildford a couple years ago and these 2 guys came up to me. I swear all of them are Italian and I pretended I wanted the speakers and told them to follow me to the bank. Well I took rights and lefts and they got pissed up drove beside me and I laughed at them and took off. That made my fricken day. They followed for about 5mins as well LOL

[AutozamAZ-3]

it happens everywhere, I was at t&t in guildford a couple years ago and these 2 guys came up to me. I swear all of them are Italian and I pretended I wanted the speakers and told them to follow me to the bank. Well I took rights and lefts and they got pissed up drove beside me and I laughed at them and took off. That made my fricken day. They followed for about 5mins as well LOL

i will do that if i ever get a speaker scam haha:rofl:

[The_AK]

http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/InPerson/speaker_scams.htm

stories date back from 2001 lol

i also had a guy yell at my from his car on granville while driving into downtown (granville and broadway area), i called him out on his bullshit speakers, he just ignored me after that and avoided eye contact as much as possible

[Grim]

woaahhh i was in the same situation ayear or two ago.. on bridge port n no.5
luckily i dont have any interest in audio cosmetics back then, and even now.
phewww

[GodZilla]

I know we all say THEY tried the scam on us, but if you can safely take a pic of them with your phone please do and post it up. Safely = they dont see you and dont try and harm you.

[hal0g0dv2]

make them follow you to the bank " police station "

[toyota86]

they were trying to pull this shit outside the petrocan on knight and 57 last year. as soon as i was done getting air, i ignored them and drove away. they tried it a few time with a couple of other people at the gas station. no one fell for it and they drove away.

[_Hotsauce_]

One of my moms boyfriends came home with a "Amazing pre-boxed speaker set" a few years back....Man I just wanted to smack him in the face after he told me the story about the white van.

He paid $500, they were selling on ebay for $100....Fucking tool

[jpark]

ive seen them twice on north road

[SB7]

it happens everywhere, I was at t&t in guildford a couple years ago and these 2 guys came up to me. I swear all of them are Italian and I pretended I wanted the speakers and told them to follow me to the bank. Well I took rights and lefts and they got pissed up drove beside me and I laughed at them and took off. That made my fricken day. They followed for about 5mins as well LOL


You should have driven to the police station :D

[The_AK]

One of my moms boyfriends came home with a "Amazing pre-boxed speaker set" a few years back....Man I just wanted to smack him in the face after he told me the story about the white van.

He paid $500, they were selling on ebay for $100....Fucking tool

LOL!

[dub.g]

iv encountered them since 2003.. different variations of scam

A guy had an engine failure and usually stands outside big grocery stores like london drugs or Shoppers asking people for $2 or so saying he needs to bus back home and claims lived in apartments behind Parker Place ( hahahaa total bs.. there is no apt in that area)... anyone encountered this guy? bald fat short dude with good dirty facial hair

2 "italian" guys in a suit tried to sell me some suits still wrapped up on their back seat, claiming they are just driving around killing time while their flight departs in YVR, they claim they overstuff their luggage and just want to get rid of it..

[AzNightmare]

Only happened to me once. Some italian guy tried to sell me like 10 Armani jackets from his minivan. Said he can't take them home, and he just came from a fashion show.
Asking $900 for them all. lol. I said I only had like $20 with me...

[saveth]

i don't see what the police would do to help you in this situation. They offer a product for sale and its your job to do your research. Everyone has run into people like this (IE. car salesmen, especially on kingsway). Some of those cars are absolute crap but they hype it up like its in pristine condition. Even though what they are doing is technically legal, they're still scumbags.

[cdizzle_996]

They tried it on me too, out here in Abby a few weeks back.

[StylinRed]

my cousins friend fell for it and bought 3 sets... 3... and gave one to my cousin as a gift


we hooked it up for fun but the speakers and the sub actually surprised us; its made out of crap but it sounds better than my logitech speakers for my computer so we've had it hooked up to the desktop for about 2 years now


not worth what my cousins friend paid for them (think he paid 600 for each set rofl) but it cost us $0

[C06cityboi]

happened to me at the shine car wash. smelled fishy though. kinda sketch though.

[Bender Unit]

I just happened to me last Friday in Richmond
2 white guys were driving around in a silver Mazda MVP.
They were yelling out to bystander in the Chinese Mall parking lot.
"Hey, Body. Do you want to buy a High End Sound System?"

I Thanks RS
BU

[Grim]

I just happened to me last Friday in Richmond
2 white guys were driving around in a silver Mazda MVP.
They were yelling out to bystander in the Chinese Mall parking lot.
"Hey, Body. Do you want to buy a High End Sound System?"

I Thanks RS
BU

should have called the cops

[quasi]

should have called the cops

To do what? It's like calling the cops because someone just pitched you on primerica or Amway. What their doing is not ethical but it's probably not illegal to the point where the cops need to get involved. The biggest crime would probably be no business licence or not paying the taxes to the Govt. neither of which the police care about.

[orgasm_donor]

To do what? It's like calling the cops because someone just pitched you on primerica or Amway. What their doing is not ethical but it's probably not illegal to the point where the cops need to get involved. The biggest crime would probably be no business licence or not paying the taxes to the Govt. neither of which the police care about.

Yup.
They stay in 'business' because idiots keep handing over their money. Its kind of like giving the squeegee kid money on the corner and expecting him not to come back for more every day.

[StealthFighter]

it happens everywhere, I was at t&t in guildford a couple years ago and these 2 guys came up to me. I swear all of them are Italian and I pretended I wanted the speakers and told them to follow me to the bank. Well I took rights and lefts and they got pissed up drove beside me and I laughed at them and took off. That made my fricken day. They followed for about 5mins as well LOL

brilliant idea. i'm gonna do this if i ever encounter them.

[The_AK]

it happens everywhere, I was at t&t in guildford a couple years ago and these 2 guys came up to me. I swear all of them are Italian and I pretended I wanted the speakers and told them to follow me to the bank. Well I took rights and lefts and they got pissed up drove beside me and I laughed at them and took off. That made my fricken day. They followed for about 5mins as well LOL

Better hope they didn\t catch your license plate number in case they try to track you down to rape your wife, take your money, and kill you. Judging by the type of people on that website, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do something as stupid as that!

[Ferra]

One of my moms boyfriends came home with a "Amazing pre-boxed speaker set" a few years back....Man I just wanted to smack him in the face after he told me the story about the white van.

He paid $500, they were selling on ebay for $100....Fucking tool
how many boyfriends does your mom have......? :rofl:

[Pocakj]

Tried to sell me speakers on the top parkade of Parker Place. My friend and I said no and he drove around the corner then got out and pee'd. o.o

[cody69]

Better hope they didn\t catch your license plate number in case they try to track you down to rape your wife, take your money, and kill you. Judging by the type of people on that website, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do something as stupid as that!

well...if they have already broken into your house, hopefully they would install a sweet surround sound while they are their.

[sho_bc]

i don't see what the police would do to help you in this situation. They offer a product for sale and its your job to do your research. Everyone has run into people like this (IE. car salesmen, especially on kingsway). Some of those cars are absolute crap but they hype it up like its in pristine condition. Even though what they are doing is technically legal, they're still scumbags.

It depends on the local jurisdiction's bylaws. In Richmond, I've ticketed these people when I come across them/there is time. They are generally operating without a valid business licence (~$100 ticket), sometimes in a parking lot adjacent to a valid business selling a similar product (another ~$100 ticket) and there is one other ticket I've given as well which is also ~$100. We get lots of calls about them but often aren't able to get there in time. The best bet is to call the city's bylaws officers as we're usually tied up.

[donjalapeno]

happend to me at the 711 by haney bypass. the guys like " dude my boss is such a fuckin idiot he packed 6 speaker sets and we only needed 4 so now we have extras and there like 3000 dollar speakers bro, so were trying to sell them for like 3-4 hundred however much cash you have". im like gtfo, fagets and then they drove off

[Grim]

next time if i get approached ima snap a picture of their face n book it. lol

[mr_chin]

I was approached by these guys about 4 - 5 years ago. And I actually bought these speakers... they're not high end but they're not totally shit. They probably got them for $200 and I got scammed for $450, so they made $250. I still have them in my living room right now lol.

Either way, I was selling drugs at the time so money was nothing to me.

[Gumby]

^
That's quite the admission on a public website...:blueguy:

[asdfpic]

are all these occasions the same two "italian business men" or many different ppl employed by someone to do these scams day and night

[q0192837465]

I got approached once in the Canadian Tire parking lot on No 3 Road. They'r not italian but young white guys, i'll say early 20s. They were selling car speakers but I told them I have factory Harman Kardon already. We actually chatted for like 10 mins and they said business isnt bad for them at all. He said on average they can sell ~2-3 sets a day. Take it for what it's worth but there are definitely no shortage of people falling into this scam.

[dai3yuen]

Holy crap, this still going on? I remember back when I used to work at Middlegate Mall and the guys would pull up and ask me that!!!

That was back in 91!!!

[Armind]

Funny how I just encountered one today in Surrey lol. MVP van.

[yamahar6]

I had some come talk to me about some projectors and screens while I was pumping gas. When i laughed and said "are these the same high end projectors as those high end speakers you guys go around selling" they smiled and left. So different product but the same excuse (they got extras in there order and are trying to sell them before they gte back blah blah blah!).

So be careful guys, if anyone's selling projectors its the same bs.

[BMW135i]

My friend got scammed from those guys too from superstore parking lot. $400 for 5.1 home theater sound system. The brand is call Sutherland. I told him that i never heard of that brand blah blah blah trying to convince him not to buy it but at the end he paid $350 for it. Funny thing is my friend was so proud of it because the guy told him it has 1000watts output. He invited me over to have a look at his GODLY sound system. That thing can only play FM radio and audio in.

[DC5-S]

yeah I know someone who bought the speakers, surprisingly they worked but they were a cheap shitty brand with led's and lights in them that look all "nice".. and the guy actually thinks they sound great.. no surprise since hes never had good speakers before

[Shun Izaki]

I had this many times.

One of my favourite was at Kensington plaza (Kensington/Hastings) where they drove up, asked if i wanted speakers (jacked from work, not extra) and they wanted to get rid of it. (even went and showed me a visions receipt for some speakers worth $1200).

I told them I got some pretty high-end shit at home "what you expect? i'm asian"

They just smiled and fucked off...

probably the easiest time i've had with a sales rep (if you can even call them that) in my life.

[Volvoman]

These dudes probably sell fake watches outside Home Depot

My friend bought an Omega watch, looked and felt real but of coruse it was a fake. He learned his lesson. If it is too good of a deal, it probably ain't true, especially if it is some asshole outside a home depot

[kuri]

I got approached once in the Canadian Tire parking lot on No 3 Road. They'r not italian but young white guys, i'll say early 20s. They were selling car speakers but I told them I have factory Harman Kardon already. We actually chatted for like 10 mins and they said business isnt bad for them at all. He said on average they can sell ~2-3 sets a day. Take it for what it's worth but there are definitely no shortage of people falling into this scam.

I got approached in the same parking lot last Saturday. White dude in his 20's rolled up in his black Jeep all giggly, wanting to sell me & my friend his 'high-end' home theater system. I immediately recognize the scam. Thanks RS! My buddy decided to play along though.

We looked at the unit and it was really just some no-name iPod adapter with 5 speakers.

Anyway, the sticker price said '$4999'. He said he would take any amount we got on us, since he was just trying to get rid of it. Something about how his boss gave him this extra unit to deliver but it was a mistake, so he wanted to sell to make a profit.

My buddy offered him $10, take it or leave it. The guy left.

[Greenstoner]

i had some dude asking me at Brentwood mall. He told me these were open box from A&B sound.

He never mentioned the price to me. I simply just told him not interested

[vafanculo]

Next time I get approached i'm gonna yell STFO!! apparently it's their code word lol
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[pinoy.solsi]

this happened to me and my friend.. but it was a blue van lol..
he asked us if we wanted brand new speakers.
i said no, i need a job lol..
i asked him where did he get it, he said he won it at a contest and he doesn't need it.

[elwell]

these stuff happen locally.

i ran into these guys in coquitlam couple yrs ago at save-on parking lot by pinetree/lougheed

watch out ppl! when it sounds too good to be true, it's not true!
Yeah, two black guys use to do this but they were selling jewelery instead
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[BMW135i]

I'd recall those guy said this" Hey buddy, the previous buyer dont have enough cash so he add his Rolex on top. It's a steal."

[threezero]

I'd recall those guy said this" Hey buddy, the previous buyer dont have enough cash so he add his Rolex on top. It's a steal."

lol maybe its me. i recall seeing these guys a few years back in surrey, trade him my FAKE rolex for a set of speaker. not a bad deal consider that i brought the roles for like 100 rmb and i told them its a replica with swiss internal that i brought for $400 canadian. if you know about the scam and how their hustle work you can easily hustle them back