Crime & Safety

iPad Scammer Strikes Again

Another victim gets allegedly duped into buying an iPad from a man in a car.

A Tucker man said he was deceived when purchasing an iPad off Singleton Road earlier this month.Β 

According to the Gwinnett County police report, the 25-year-old said he was traveling on the road around 10:20 p.m. when a man in a green car beside him offered an iPad 3 for $200.Β 

The Tucker man showed interested, so he followed the other man into the nearby Kroger parking lot, located at 6050 Singleton Rd. in unincorporated Norcross. The consumer took out some money from the ATM while the other man pulled out a FedEx box, with the iPad supposedly inside.

Find out what's happening in Norcrosswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The consumer asked to look inside before paying, but the suspect didn't agree to it and threatened to leave. So the buyer paid the suspect, who then drove away before the victim could open and check the package.

When he opened the box, he found a tile that had been wrapped to look like an iPad.

Find out what's happening in Norcrosswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While speaking with the police officer in the parking lot, the victim believed he saw the suspect's car at a nearby stoplight.

The officer questioned the driver, but he ended up not being the suspect. The driver wasn't let go, though; he was arrested anyway because the officer smelled a strong odor of marijuana from his car.

At least two other similar scams have been reported since last December in the nearby area. A mother and daughter were allegedly while at QuikTrip, located at 5095 Oakbrook Pkwy. in unincorporated Norcross. They were also given FedEx boxes.

In Lilburn, a woman in a Walmart parking lot . What she purchased ended up being a simple notebook binder inside a FedEx box.

See also:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.