Just included race since they were obviously foreign based on accent and it might factor in (e.g. selling to China).
They spent over $1000 on cigarette packets and paid for most of it with two $500 Coles gift cards - that is, two pieces of paper with a bar code on each.
What's the scam, and how can I get in on it? ;)
You think people smoke on oil rigs so much that they need to buy in bulk?
Smoking on oil rigs.
loooool thats funny, people buying cigarettes from Aust to send to China. Australia has one of the highest pricest for it, it costs <$5 for a box in asia…
Agree. Even I don't think anyone would buy cigarettes in Aus and export them.
loooool thats funny, people buying cigarettes from Aust to send to China. Australia has one of the highest pricest for it, it costs <$5 for a box in asia…
expensive sure, but at least the cigs are genuine. we can expect to get the chemicals that's on the label. the cigs that are sold in asia is notorious for being counterfeits with funky tastes and mystery ingredients.
The good chemicals that will kill, as opposed the the bad ones.
The good chemicals that will kill, as opposed the the bad ones
The good chemicals that may give you cancer vs the the bad ones that may give you everything else plus cancer.
The cigarettes are healthier here.
As far as I know, Australia has THE highest prices for tobacco. Why?
to fund our hospitals to treat cancer patients
The argument for high cigarette taxes is smokers cost more to society. The argument against is they drop dead earlier, when age related care is expensive. Looking after diabetes and dementia patients into their 90s is expensive compared to smokers who have strokes and cancers and die early. I have never smoked and dislike smoking in public places, but if they smoke privately, I'm not convinced either that smokers cost more over a shorter lifetime than, say, sugar related overweight diabetes sufferers.
I think they also use the alcopop excuse of preventing kids picking it up.
yes — the taxes on tobacco exceed healthcare costs associated with its use minus savings due to early death. i don't mind the argument that the high tax reflects a desire to prevent premature deaths, but i'm not a fan of attempting to subvert the discussion by claiming that even higher taxes are aimed to offset costs associated with smoking.
It's an easy target for tax revenue.
op doesn't care about the cigarettes, he just wants in on the so called "fake gift cards"
something for nothing hey?
" that is, two pieces of paper with a bar code on each."
Probably paid with e-gift cards?
they got Coles e-cards cheap (5-7.5% off) and buying $1000 worth, no real biggy, just a cheaper way to buy, not pay fll price. $1000 is only acarton nowdays they are so expensive?
the print out is nothing, I have just some code numbers in a txt for woolies, just so I can punch in the numbers when I go to pay.
How do you get Coles at 7.5% off?
They could be buying these for their corner shops.
After all, they are consumables.
Stay glued for the next installment in this epic thriller-
'White people buying beer'
Why do you think the gift cards are dodgy?
You think it's a scam ?
Its because Asian dude, duh.
As an Asian guy myself… I agree… I don't even trust me, its like being a schizophrenic.
The gift cards are purchased with stolen credit card details.
Cigarettes are easy to dispose of through shops. If it's not through their own little shops, then they'll sell it in bulk to a shop for cheaper than what it normally costs the shop.
Unlike the imported duty-free cigarettes that are sold under the table for a much cheaper price (and to known customers only), these cigarettes from the supermarket are legitimately packaged according to our laws and can be sold for full price.
Not exactly logical.
If you have a stolen credit card obtained from, say darknet or your ex, there would be 100 better ways to captailise on it. One popular way is buying small electronics and send them overseas.
Why would a thief spend time buying a $1000 discount gift card, then actually SHOW UP in the supermarket, got camera recorded while buying cigarrette? Also he/she/someone need to sell these cigarrette later.
It is either a really stupid thief, or no foulplay involved I say.
I agree with you that it's not logical - not everyone has a brain and some just don't care because they're not around here for long.
Most of the people that run around with the stolen credit card details are "low-levels" who are not organised. They will get a cut of whatever they make. It's quick money and there are lots of buyers for cigarettes. They are very very easy to dispose of.
The bigger guys who organise this kind of thing are always nowhere to be seen.
You might have had more success asking him directly?
Just a heads up that the few Coles e-gift cards I ever had clearly stated they HAD to be printed out in order to be used. So just because it's a gift card on a piece of paper doesn't mean it's dogy. Heck you should have seen mine ($20 & $10 to top it all! :) after they had been left in my change bag next to an opened pack of wet wipes, I hope I didn't trigger an Ozbargain post for being dodgy when I used them)
two pieces of paper with a bar code on each.
wow, they had a bar code. i quite often pay from just a number scrawled on a scrap piece of paper.
doesn't sound dodgy to me
People are told to protect bank card pins but they are lazy protecting gift card barcodes. In this case they would be already spent, but if the OP can see the barcode, they could equally take a picture of it and make their own barcode using free software.
some people here are reading into it too much.
the gift cards are most likely awarded to them
from the casino. my friend gets them ocassionally.
sometimes he sells the caltex ones to me for half price.
Lots of stores such as David Jones have e-gift cards and that can simply be printed out. Chances are there is a pin number on there too so you can't just print out any old bar code. It's effectively an account with a fixed limit, just like a visa debit gift card - you don't need the card, you can just punch in the numbers.
Around this time of year people get them as Xmas gifts from their company. While most probably wouldn't get more than $100-$200 he could be some exec and throwing a 'smokes on me' nye party.
Must be money laundering …
First cash converted to gift vouchers, then buy lots of cigarettes sent it back to China and sell them on the black market = new cash.
Might be people stealing cc details overseas and buying these gift cards online, then gifting these to people coming to Australia with some free gift cards. Else why on earth would you do that being tourists unless there is high demand and love for Aus. cigg. in mainland for these like baby formula milk or goat milk soap.
Australian tobacco taxes are massively high (around 80% of the retail price from memory), so it's unlikely they would be shipping AU cigarettes overseas. Smuggling is into Australia, not out.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smoking-taxes-make-cigarette-s…
I was at my local Coles the other day, saw an Asian girl buy 4 boxes, not cartons but 4 HUGE cardboard boxes of JP Gold Cigarettes (That's what the boxes said).
What will she do with them all??
Is it that cheap to buy at coles? I thought Aust has expensive ciggys.
One time I saw $4999.00 on the LCD screen.
*confused.
Maybe cheaper for a small milk bar to buy from Coles than from the wholesaler.
I thought they sale "Not for Re-sale"?
Might. I don't smoke, so wouldn't know.
But knowing that a milk bar in Melbourne use to sell loose ciggies to school kids suggests they don't care they are marked not for re-sale.
Is this even enforceable? I understand that splitting food packs might break the law as the smaller packs no longer have an indication of nutritional values but I don't think cigarette cartons fall under this rule.
In my day we would go to the local milk bar as kids, buy packs and sell them as loosies at school for $2/each. Ahhh, it's not 2015 anymore… Now I am in uni that market doesn't exist here.
Did she pay with discounted eGift cards?
I think so I saw her have printed egift card barcodes.
So she can take them outside or home and set fire to them one at a time?.
Or she is maybe money laundering?
Probably using stolen credit cards or gift cards purchased with stolen credit cards.
They might be going to sea. I have seen people on cruises stocked up with cigs. Or they work on an offshore rig and are stocking up for everyone in preparation for christmas.
There is more money in baby formula.