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Connecticut BBB warns that some consumers who try to avoid long lineups to buy the latest high-tech devices are playing into the hands of crooks.
CT BBB President, Paulette Hotton Scarpetti says cheats rely on consumers’ impatience to buy the hottest technology.
“Some consumers turn to the Internet for what they believe will be either a good price or fast service, and in the end may end up with little more than regret to show for it.”
The most recent example of consumer rip-offs involving introduction of high tech devices is the iPhone.
Eager buyers trying to avoid lineups to buy the devices were cheated out of their money by scammers who set up phony websites, posed as legitimate retailers and even posted ads on online social networking sites such as craigslist.com
Typically, victims were asked to wire payment for the phone to the scammers, and of course, the iPhones never arrived. In one case, NYPD recently busted up a ring of thieves who posted ads online, and when would-be buyers came to pick up their “merchandise,” they were robbed.
Even people who bought their iPhones at legitimate dealers ended up with an expensive, though worthless piece of equipment when they paid online vendors for instructions on how to “unlock” their phones or purchased unapproved applications (Apps).
A legion of Websites have cropped up, all promising to sell Apps at discounted prices. BBB (bbb.org) strongly advises consumers to stay away from Web sites promising deals on Apps as these sites are most likely a ruse, set up only to take a consumer’s money and offering nothing in return, and could potentially be sites that install viruses or malware onto a user’s computer for identity theft purposes.
For more advice on how to avoid getting ripped off when going after the latest technology, go to the BBB website.
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hschwartz[.]ct.bbb.org 
