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Smartphone Reseller Cheated Customers Out of Millions, Feds Say (arstechnica.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fraud-case dept.

An anonymous reader writes:The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued a Nevada-based company called Laptop & Desktop Repair LLC (LDR) for allegedly bilking thousands of customers out of millions of dollars in promised funds for the resale of their smartphones. LDR operated dozens of websites that promised customers high returns for their smartphones and tablets using an instant quote generator. The customers, believing that this website would pay the highest price for their used gadget, sent their phones to LDR. Once LDR received the gadget, it would offer the customer a "revised quote" that was often only three to ten percent of the original quoted price. Customers only had three to five days to dispute the revised quote, the FTC's complaint claimed. The FTC further alleged that when customers would call LDR to request their smartphones back, the company would put them on hold for extraordinarily long periods of time, the call would be dropped, and an LDR employee would say the phone had already been processed. If the customer persisted in threatening to report LDR's actions, company representatives would offer slightly higher resale prices.

3 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Yet another civil case.. by dcooper_db9 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When an individual steals it's prosecuted as a crime. Stealing a candy bar can get the thief a year or more in jail. When someone forms a company and conspires to steal it's treated as a civil matter. The proprietors shouldn't be in court, they should be in prison.

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    I do not block ads. I do block third party scripts.
  2. Ideal targets by ghoul · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They did pick a uniquely gullible demographic- People who spend hundreds of dollars on a new phone when they have a working smartphone. These people have proven through their actions that they are unable to make good financial decisions. Good business plan. Learning from the best- Jobs,Cook et al

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    **Life is too short to be serious**
  3. Re: Nothing New Here by gfxguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People should definitely know better, but stop blaming the victims. Just because I don't lock my front door, nobody has the right to walk in and steal my stuff.

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    Stupid sexy Flanders.