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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Cell phone thief wants to sell back my wife's cell phone...
My wife had a really old and cheap cell phone, it disappeared yesterday and today she called it. A man picked up and said that he had bought the phone for 600 (defiantly not worth that much) and he would resell it to her for 800 if she wished. I'm pretty sure that in less then a 24 hour period no one would be able to steal, then sell a very crappy phone. Moreover, the sim card must have still been in the phone when he "bought" it as the call went through.
So what should we do, and where do we stand legally? For example if we met him and she stole the phone back from him without paying, who would be in the right?
Any of you want to dress up in tights and a mask and be a vigilante?
Well i've already got the tights and the mask. What you paying?
If you say it is a crappy cheap phone that worth less than 600 RMB, then why do you want it back so badly?
airyk:
The phone is worthless, the photos and videos of my newborn son are priceless.
ChineseAmerican:
Well, there you have your own answer. If it is so priceless for you, then buy it back with 800 RMB.
How about the police? I've had luck with the police helping me (or my friends) when it came to stolen items, cellphones, bikes etc. I guess that also depends on the city you live in and so on
Go to the police, explain to them, and never pay anything to that person. Loosing the phone is still better than paying the scammer. Vigilante justice, that can go horribly wrong, let's promote rule of the law
Lol. I'd rather buy a new 600 RMB phone instead of give that money to the thief. Anyway you don't have to... You could report it stolen and provide all the proper documentation and make the right report. Finally set up to buy the phone from the guy and when you meet up with the scammer, have the police confiscate the phone and give it back to you. That may be asking a bit too much from China of course, but it's an easy plot to come up with and completely worth trying.
At very least, you can just get that number canceled and get it into your new phone instead... Don't let the thief get a free phone and a free phone plan along with it, geez.
loosing the contact list on the sim card is probably the biggest problem, but your wife probably has most everyone on the phone also on her qq or we chat, just cancel the number and tell the thief to go f himself.
meet him, get your phone back and leave.
if he is not ok with that just punch him in the face.
airyk:
That is exactly what I did :) No problems, no money and I got the phone back.
I heard cell phone thieves don't usually try to fence it back to the owner. Too risky, plus your buying contact is in the right for attacking you. This must be an inexperienced thief. Bring a copper or a baseball bat; it will be a productive meeting.
He's probably been perusing your personal files, and realized how much valuable photos and stuff there is, that you might want back. Do you hospitalize him for invading your privacy, or show compassion for allowing you a chance to get those things back? Dilemmas dilemmas...
Well what happened ?
did you do the big police sting? ( I can think of at least 4 charges off the top of my head)
Or did you bust him in the nose an take the phone back ?
I hope you did something
please let us know as we get heaps of these posts with no end
Come on you can tell us
airyk:
We agreed to pay him, my wife, with our baby strapped to her met him in a very very crowded area full of security. The first thing he said was "where is your husband". His eyes roamed around the crowd, but I doubt he saw me. I stood 10 meters away, watching for the signals: if my wife drops her water bottle, the man goes down painfully, if she sips it, I walk up peacefully.
He showed her the phone, and she snatched it from him and told him she didn't have any money (which was true as it was on me) and then told him she would pay him over Alipay. He accepted the idea, he only wanted 500 RMB. He left, but he hasn't left our lives he kept texting asking for money until we blacklisted him.
philbravery:
good job
just make sure you did not have any other details he might have seen in your phone that could come back to bite you later (address ect )
Good luck to you