AfterDawn: News

Woman scammed into buying block of wood with Apple logo sold as an iPad

22-year-old Ashley McDowell of South Carolina was duped out of $180 after two men approached her in a McDonald's parking lot and offered to sell her an iPad.

One of the men, who had a gold tooth, says McDowell, explained that they purchased the tablets in bulk from overseas and were selling for $300. The woman said she only had $180 on her and they quickly accepted her price.



When McDowell got home, she opened the box (a Fedex box, not even an iPad box, mind you) to find a piece of wood with the Apple logo painted on it as well as a "screen" with a replica iPad home screen.

Adding insult to injury, the scammers threw a fake Best Buy sales ticket on top.

Despite dusting the box and "tablet" for prints, the police say they have no leads.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Aug 2011 18:15

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• 26 comments

• 1nsan3

  Lets see, you walk out of mcdanolds, two guys OUT OF THE BLUE approach you, and ask if you would like to buy an ipad for HALF the price... sorry but you DESERVE to get scammed. it says SCAM all over it. i would of ATLEAST opened the box and took it out and tried it out atleast!!! sorry but i dont feel abit sorry for people who get screwed like this.
  
  EDIT: oh yea and the gold tooth, common, THAT ATLEAST would of threw up a HUGE red flag lol
  

  For Sale:
  
  Parachute, Used Once, never opened small stain.
  Best Offer!

  30.8.2011 18:23 #1

• Hyasuma

  maybe shes a blonde lol
  

  30.8.2011 18:47 #2

• cyprusrom

  Originally posted by Hyasuma: maybe shes a blonde lol Neh, she's just like many crApple "addicts", "funboys"- throw an crApple logo on a brick, and they'll kill to have it.

  30.8.2011 19:03 #3

• DXR88

  that's why you don't trust boxes. you may just see a piece of cardboard folded by kids in a sweatshop, but i see a contraption that attempts to hide its content of those so eager to buy into it.
  

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  30.8.2011 20:19 #4

• SomeBozo

  Well I've always heard never accept wooden nickles, guess that needs to be updated to not accept wooden iPads :)
  
  

  30.8.2011 21:51 #5

• blueboy09

  Originally posted by Hyasuma: maybe shes a blonde lol Or at least thinks like one, I swear where was this girl's mind at? Was she smoking or was on something? Good grief!!
  
  

  Chance prepares the favored mind. Look up once in a while and you might learn something. - BLUEBOY

  30.8.2011 22:18 #6

• blueboy09

  Originally posted by SomeBozo: Well I've always heard never accept wooden nickles, guess that needs to be updated to not accept wooden iPads :)
  Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but wooded tablet would be heavier than a plastic made iPad right. She should've know the difference by that anyways. Judging by the pics, it would be been a bit more heavier!! Epic fail!!
  

  Chance prepares the favored mind. Look up once in a while and you might learn something. - BLUEBOY

  30.8.2011 22:26 #7

• ruff4life

  I once bought a fake gold chain in Detroit for $20. I still get a queezy feeling about it 20 years later. But this would be just cause for some real whoop ass. lol

  30.8.2011 23:36 #8

• KillerBug

  LoL...people really will buy anything with an apple logo on it!
  

  
  

  30.8.2011 23:55 #9

• xnonsuchx

  Something smells like total BS regarding this story. I would prefer to think it's a made-up story or that she's lying about it happening for some odd reason than to think ANYONE could be that incredibly stupid.

  31.8.2011 01:26 #10

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by xnonsuchx: Something smells like total BS regarding this story. I would prefer to think it's a made-up story or that she's lying about it happening for some odd reason than to think ANYONE could be that incredibly stupid. Given apple sales, it is very easy to believe that people are braindead. I am just amazed they bothered to make an ipad lookalike; they could have just filled the box with gravel or something.
  

  
  

  31.8.2011 02:02 #11

• Mysttic

  South Carolina.. So not surprised.

  31.8.2011 02:03 #12

• core2kid

  With that stupidity, she deserved it.

  31.8.2011 02:45 #13

• xboxdvl2

  lmao at the stupidity of this woman.1st thing you should do when people (dodgy looking people) approach you in a carpark trying to sell you something is pretend you have no money.
  

  R.I.P. mr 1990 ford falcon.got myself a 1993 toyota corolla seems to run good.computers still going good.

  31.8.2011 04:58 #14

• Mr_Bill06

  Be the day I buy something from someone in a parking lot I have never seen before and not open the item up until I get home let alone give them my money first. This lady did not deserve to be duped out of her money but if she would have just checked this would not have happened. Also it's just a good idea not to buy something in a parking lot, a lot of scams happen in a parking lot. For people wondering if this actually does happen out of the blue yes, yes it does. Just search for white van speakers and you will find a lot of people getting scammed in parking lots.
  

  31.8.2011 09:04 #15

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by KillerBug: Originally posted by xnonsuchx: Something smells like total BS regarding this story. I would prefer to think it's a made-up story or that she's lying about it happening for some odd reason than to think ANYONE could be that incredibly stupid. Given apple sales, it is very easy to believe that people are braindead. I am just amazed they bothered to make an ipad lookalike; they could have just filled the box with gravel or something. Exactly what I thought, how high were these junkies that they actually spent time creating a fake iPad out of wood...if they were real criminals they would have just thrown a plank in the box and been done with it.
  

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  31.8.2011 09:51 #16

• chokoputik

  A 22-year old woman was approached by two men in a parking lot!? Thank heavens $180 is all they took from her. The men could have easily pulled her into their vehicle to do worse.

  31.8.2011 09:55 #17

• Gh0ce

  I dont know what she is complaining about... she is a proud owner of a brand new iWood... the step up from the iBrick. And got a good deal on it. The apple logo alone is worth the $180 that she paid.
  kidding aside, if I was actually silly enough to buy an iWood, I definitely would not be making a public announcement about it (such as news or afterdawn or anywhere). She screwed up, no need to rub it in to the world how silly you are...4321gmb

  31.8.2011 12:25 #18

• NHS2008

  Now the best thing for her is to try and get as much publicity as she can get out of this and then try and sell it on Ebay and hope some jerk shells out a hefty amount for her iWood!
  

  
  

  31.8.2011 12:57 #19

• dEwMe

  She should be jailed for her own protection...What a moron!
  
  Woulda been funny if they charged her with attempting to buy stolen goods. If it were real that would be the only way she coulda got it for $180...
  
  

  Just my $0.02,
  
  dEwMe

  31.8.2011 13:05 #20

• klassic

  Update to the story...
  Apple is suing the girl for position of stolen property. Apparently this was a prototype for the new iPad3.
  

  I wanna devise a virus and bring dire straights to your environments. Crush your corporations with a mild touch, trash the whole computer systems and revert you to papyrus - Deltron 3030

  31.8.2011 13:34 #21

• Interestx

  When something appears to be too good to be true......?
  

  31.8.2011 14:06 #22

• Zirdo

  The iwood could still be used as an artwork.

  1.9.2011 11:03 #23

• Dardandec

  lol, nicely crafted tho..

  1.9.2011 14:31 #24

• dp70

  This reminds me of Christmas 1981. Outside Fayetteville, AR there was a crew selling camcorders all factory sealed in real boxes from the back of a truck. When the lucky buyers got home and opened their purchase, the camcorder was a rock, no logos.

  3.9.2011 05:43 #25

• Jimathome

  I have an iphone 5 she might be interested in !
  

  3.9.2011 06:31 #26