You would think that news of a woman in Spartanburg, South Carolina being tricked into buying a block of wood that she thought was a iPad would get some attention. But two more women from the same exact city didn"t get the memo. The Spartanburg Herald-Journal web site reports that these unidentified women bought what they thought was a laptop from a man in a gas station parking lot on Wednesday. It turned out later to be just some computer paper wrapped up in duct tape.
The police report said that the two women were approached in that parking lot by a man who said he had laptops for sale in his car. He claimed he got them in bulk for a discount. The two woman and the man moved over to another parking lot where another man joined the first. One of the women got $250 from a nearby ATM to pay for the "laptop", which was supposed to be inside a FedEx box. It was only later when the women got home and opened the box that they discovered the computer paper, along with a power cord, inside.
This story is almost a perfect mirror for what happened on Monday in Spartanburg, when a woman was also tricked by men who sold her what they said was an iPad in a McDonald"s parking lot. In fact, as she found out later, what she really bought was a block of wood with Apple"s logo. Law enforcement officials don"t know if this new incident involves the same con men or if it is a copycat. In any case, we will repeat our common sense advice that we gave out earlier this week; if you are approached by men with a similar offer you should always ask to open the box and examine the product before paying any money.