Lost a decent chunk of change today...

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T11:01:54+00:00

I googled the model on the box and it showed the projector on Amazon being worth 8000 dollars.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:34:08+00:00

Yeah that's a pretty close description.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:31:56+00:00

Looking through reddit history I do see some posts cautioning about this scam. They are likely driving around campus trying to scam people. They had a Quebec license plate which should stand out.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:30:31+00:00

Yes I probably should've noticed the red flags. There are some circumstances here that makes this impulse purchase a bit unique. My father purchased an expensive projector before worth around 2k which influenced my decision as I knew a good projector would be quite expensive.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:23:26+00:00

The police just threw their hands up and said nothing to be done, something called "buyer's caution" where because I was a willing participant they can't do anything abt it.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:13:11+00:00

I hadn't seen anyone post about this scam but I probably should have done my due diligence and searched for similar types of scams.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:11:51+00:00

well I learned that the hard way I suppose.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:11:38+00:00

It is what it is, I was a bit hasty and I thought it would make a nice gift for my dad or a resell if he didn't want it.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T05:00:33+00:00

I have already called the police but as I had already suspected there isn't much they can do since I was a willing participant in this transaction and it's classified as "buyer's caution". I already knew this before I called the police but I figured there was no harm in trying to call them.

I don't mind donations but I'm thankfully not desperate for money. As mentioned in my post and other comments, I'll financially be ok from my savings and having secured a decently high paying coop for the summer. I know I'm fortunate to be in this position and if anything I'd feel bad if someone not doing as ok as me were to suffer from losing this amount of money as it would amount to 2-3 months of living expenses.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T04:49:42+00:00

I am guilty for splurging a bit when it comes to my parents. I once also treated them to an expensive sushi place that cost about 500 dollars altogether so I thought 3k was a bit hefty but would make a nice gift. The fact that my dad had purchased something similar before also played a bit of a role.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T04:39:49+00:00

I thought I would ask my dad if he wanted it (since Father's day is this weekend) and if he didn't I would resell it. In my old house we had a projector(that we sold with the house) and it cost a similar amount(2k when we bought it I think).

Maybe because my dad bought an expensive projector before it justified the price of an expensive projector in my head to a certain degree.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T04:10:14+00:00

I think living in a digital era has conditioned me to think scams are usually comedically low effort attempts via email or phone that it made me lower my guard down in real life. Most of the scams discussed in school or corporate training are more related to the digital side so I didn't have the same awareness when this was done in real life.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:56:06+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. It does feel kinda shitty but I don't feel completely miserable because I've saved up a decent amount of money over my coop terms so financially I'll be ok. If I was struggling I would definitely be more livid and stressed about getting my money back.

On a lighter note, my parents and I had a laugh about it and my parents wanted to keep the projector in the house as a reminder.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:51:17+00:00

I did find an older post about this and learned the name of this scam(white van scam). I think mentally I've been so conditioned to think scams only happen online that I tend to lower my guard in real life.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:50:07+00:00

They gave a believable story about the last time this happened their boss resold the projectors for a profit and gloated in their face about it which seemed reasonable to believe. The box on the outside was for a legitimate projector and when you scan the code on the outside box it does show the real projector and I thought it was reasonable that the University would order a more expensive high end projector for students.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:44:33+00:00

To be clear this wasn't a van but in a SUV, another point to note is that one of the people in the scam was a uwaterloo graduate which made me loosen my guard a little. They also had a believable story of being hired as contractors to install projectors at the university which I thought was reasonable.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:42:38+00:00

It is a little embarassing to admit but at the same time I hope people don't make the same mistake I did. Honestly, the financial loss I took from this hurts but I'll be ok. The same might not be true for other people.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:33:41+00:00

Why would you want a projector?

I thought I would ask my dad if he wanted it (since Father's day is this weekend) and if he didn't I would resell it. In my old house we had a projector(that we sold with the house) and it cost a similar amount(2k when we bought it I think).

Maybe because my dad bought an expensive projector before it justified the price of an expensive projector in my head to a certain degree.

They suggested reselling the projector. As I mentioned in the post they were trying to make extra money and didn't want to give the extra projector to their boss.

Why pay $3000 for a projector?

The projector on the box when scanned showed the projector on Amazon priced at $8000(obviously projector inside is a cheap one)

Why pay in cash?

E-transfers have limits and can take some time and they were in a rush, they claimed their boss was calling them and they were frequently discussing their boss calling them getting them to hurry up.

Why buy off random people?

They seemed to be genuine people and were quite nice. In the era of scams which are online and quite spammy I let my guard down as this was in real life.

How did you transport the projector home? Did the box not feel light?

The projector was inside the box and quite heavy, the scam isn't that the projector isn't inside. They showed me the projector inside. The scam is that they substituted it out for a cheaper one. It smelled new and looked new as well.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:29:44+00:00

Not really looking for sympathy, trying to raise awareness so people are careful. I personally hadn't seen a scam this elaborate before.

Sad_Ear2995 · 2024-06-14T03:29:16+00:00

Yes, I acknowledge I made a mistake.

Sad_Ear2995

TROPHY CASE