Police warn over laptop scam
03.07.2007
Police are urging people in King's Lynn to be aware of a scam involving the sale of cheap laptops from the boot of a car.
Three people in the town have been tricked out of hundreds of pounds by a man who offered them a cheap deal on a laptop, which later turned out to be food or leaflets contained in a laptop case.
Two incidents happened in the town on Saturday. At 1pm, a man was encouraged to hand over £300 for a laptop by a man who showed him the goods in the boot of his car. But when he handed over the money and he checked the laptop case later, he found it contained a bag of potatoes.
A second incident happened about an hour later when another man handed over a sum of cash. When he took home the bag he thought contained a computer, he found it was actually filled with leaflets and a car mat.
A similar incident occurred in the car park of Morrisons supermarket on Sunday June 24. This time the laptop bag contained two bottles of lemonade.
The offender spoke with an English or Irish accent. No further description is available.
Police spokesman Beth Manning said: “This man has tricked at least three people out of hundreds of pounds. It goes without saying that anyone selling expensive equipment from the boot of their car, and not at a car-boot sale, should be regarded as highly suspicious and reported to police immediately.”
