Scammed Buying a Used iPhone

Llinusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 01:14
Last edited 11/04/2022 - 10:38 by 1 other user

Hi, I bought a used iPhone (11 Pro Max) today for $800 from a Facebook marketplace seller. We met at a McDonalds (should've been a red flag I know, but I was too excited) and I paid him in cash. However I know his name and Facebook profile (it's his real profile).

The phone appeared fine after the initial check-up, so I bought it. But after coming home and installing a software update, I got a notification saying that the display is not genuine. which wasn't there before the update.
Further info about the notification. After further checking, I found out that it's not even an OLED display.

My messenger history has him claiming that there's nothing wrong with the phone. After inquiring I am not getting any replies.

My question is, Is there anything I can do about this from a legal perspective? or should I cut my losses and move on?

Thanks in advance

Mobile Apple Mobile Phone

Comments

  • Hybroid on 11/04/2022 - 01:16
    +4

    You can try to get a replacement screen installed. Either yourself via eBay/iFixit parts, any phone repair mall kiosk or those money-laundering shop-fronts popping up everywhere or directly with Apple.

    • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 01:18
      -7

      The screen works fine, but it's not genuine, and it's not OLED. That's my issue.

      • Hybroid on 11/04/2022 - 01:18
        +18

        Noted. See previous reply.

      • cuteseal on 11/04/2022 - 09:24

        These days I tend to be more specific in my questions - have any parts ever been replaced?

        I've cracked my screen a couple of times and had them replaced at random places. One was so bad and the colours so washed out that I refused to accept it and they had to order in a better quality one in. Knowing that, I personally would not buy a phone that has had its screen replaced, unless it was done through Apple.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2022 - 09:38

      whats money-laundering shop-fronts??

      • Hybroid on 11/04/2022 - 10:08
        +5

        You know those dozens and dozens of mobile phone accessory shops that seem to pop up endlessly everywhere in prime locations? Yea, they’re not paying $100,000 rents by selling $10 phone cases.

        • smurftastic on 11/04/2022 - 12:24
          +2

          I'm curious about how that would work exactly
          I'm assuming:
          1 - buy cheap covers at say $2 a pop
          2 - say you "sold" them all at $10 a pop, when you haven't, then use your dirty money to pay for them
          3 - take the "sold" items and sell them on ebay or similar under a different name, possible using a lackey even. Or just dump them/give them away if you didn't care about the profits from them

          Asking for a friend.

          • Hybroid on 11/04/2022 - 13:29
            +2

            @smurftastic: Pretty close.

            You hand me $50,000 cash in a briefcase obtained through less than legal methods I don’t ask or care about.

            I buy 5,000 phone cases at $0.01 a pop from Alibaba or whatever.

            I input “sales” for 5,000 cases at $10 each per month into system. That’s $50,000 revenue.

            Deduct taxes to make it legit and other costs and that’s $35,000-40,000 deposited into bank cleanly.

            You can create more efficiencies and seem even more legit by actually selling them, offering phone repair services etc.

            Now scale it up by buying $2m property and paying mortgage with the monthly cleaned money.

            Sell property year or two later for $2.5m.

            That’s $2.5m super clean money that no one will question because: you sold property.

            Figures are just example for sake of explanation.

            It’s been happening for decades. Same applies to Persian rug stores, pawn shops you see everywhere with barely anything in windows, money exchanges, even those corner convenience stores selling $8 American crisps packs etc.

            Same thing in London with the deluge of candy stores on Oxford Street and money exchange stalls one after other on Edgware Road. Two of THE most expensive streets in London. It’s all money laundering.

            • CodeXD on 11/04/2022 - 13:50

              @Hybroid: Looks like someone has been watching Ozark.

              • foxmulder on 11/04/2022 - 14:01

                @CodeXD: Remind me too of Breaking bad car wash service or Fargo season 3.

            • nephilim on 11/04/2022 - 14:17

              @Hybroid: Hybroid that doesnt work for Australia, those pop up phone stores make money by under reporting income to shopping centre management.
              Its pretty simple, they fix 30 phones, making $5000 with cost of 500. They sell 50 cases, with profit of 900.
              5900 is reported to the shopping centre as $2500, the shopping centre then charges 2k rent plus power bill.

              This is how Sushi stores and other small businesses survive.

              • smurftastic on 11/04/2022 - 14:53
                +2

                @nephilim: I can see how that would help the more legit businesses via avoiding tax (maybe) and the centre upping their rent, but not sure how that would work on the money laundering side of things.

                If they want to make the dirty money clean then they want to officially report more profits than they are actually making.
                i.e.
                made money from drugs
                Can't spend it without police asking where the money came from
                Fudge the books to show you are making more money from legit business than you actually are. That additional money is actually your drug money that you are saying you got from selling phone covers, repair services etc
                Now the dirt money is cleaned and and can claim that it comes from a legit source

              • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2022 - 17:53

                @nephilim: Why do they need to under report their income to shopping centre?

              • lgacb08 on 12/04/2022 - 13:16

                @nephilim: Nah, that's old school. Most of those stores operate at a loss for the owner to buy time to gain residency. They probably undereport their income too but that's just nothing in the grand scheme of thing.

            • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2022 - 17:51

              @Hybroid: thanks for the insight

            • TEER3X on 11/04/2022 - 19:40

              @Hybroid: Haven't heard that before, interesting.

              I thought all those shops people were basically breaking even or losing money just so that they could get a visa.

  • lordrupertliverpool on 11/04/2022 - 01:30
    +14

    Sorry to hear this. I don't think there's much you can do with the seller now. The transaction is done.

    Meeting at a McDonald's isn't really a red flag, by the way. It's quite common to meet in public places.

    • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 01:34

      yeah well at least I got an expensive life lesson.

      • USER DC on 11/04/2022 - 02:44
        +4

        An expensive Maccas visit

      • FoxJump on 11/04/2022 - 09:14
        +19

        an unhappy meal

        • holdenmg on 11/04/2022 - 09:20
          +1

          I blame the Hamburgler…

        • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 10:56
          +3

          hahaha too soon people, too soon

      • cashless on 11/04/2022 - 09:23
        +5

        You got fried with that

    • Yummy on 11/04/2022 - 12:35
      +2

      Oled mcdonald had a farm…

      Best place to meet up for expensive stuff would be at popo station.

  • penguincat on 11/04/2022 - 03:11

    Is there anything I can do about this from a legal perspective?

    It would only be a civil matter. So you can try WA State Administrative Tribunal or whatever it's called in your state. But there is no laws saying they have to refund you in part or whole if it was a private sale.

    My messenger history has him claiming that there's nothing wrong with the phone.

    Unless you have proof of you asking "was there any previous damage to the phone if so what was replaced and who did it?"
    To which they replied none no damage before and it's 100% genuine apple. You likely have not much chance of winning.
    If you do have proof of that then you may as well try. But I've never done it so I can't tell you how much it costs to lodge or what you have to pay if you loose etc.

    As Hybroid mentioned getting a new OLED screen is likely the best option if it worries you via Apple or whoever. Apple price is A$ 519

    I hope it's the 512GB model otherwise you may as well bought it from a refurbish store like green gadgets https://shop.greengadgets.net.au/products/apple-iphone-11-pr… 1 year warranty for any issues but excluding damage caused by the user or if it's been repaired at a unauthorised 3rd party repairer after you got it.

    Just like the "FB Marketplace Buyer Wants a Refund after I Sold Him a Computer That Is Older than He Thought" threads.
    In my opinion The seller if asked they should be honest about it. But the buyer has the duty to double check.
    The world isn't going to end if you don't buy that phone/computer/house/horse at that given time. Never be excited too loose money. :)

    • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 11:02

      "The world isn't going to end if you don't buy that phone/computer/house/horse at that given time. Never be excited too loose money. :)"'

      Amen

    • Almost Banned on 11/04/2022 - 12:21

      Without commenting on the merits of the case, SAT is not the correct jurisdiction for this.
      The Minor Claims division of the Mag Court is.

  • TanedaR on 11/04/2022 - 07:05
    +4

    I don't see you have a strong case here.
    The seller said "nothing wrong with the phone".
    This statement only indicates the current health of the phone, which was correct, it works perfectly, with a replaced screen.
    You were able to update it, and keep using it.
    You didn't ask about its history, the seller didn't tell you when you didn't ask. He wasn't dishonest.
    The 2nd hand phone is substantially cheaper than a new one.
    It's reasonable for any bystander to expect it was once damaged and fixed under such price.
    You may try the civil tribunal in your state, but even if you get your full refund, the application cost + time cost is probably close to $800.
    Your lesson learnt here: never buy an expensive item from a random person.

  • foxmulder on 11/04/2022 - 07:29
    +2

    You can buy a refurbished from Amazon from $800 to $950. You should have bought from there, easier return if something happen.

    • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 11:01

      Serves me right for giving into impulse

  • AndyC1 on 11/04/2022 - 07:47
    +2

    You checked it out and were happy at the time, so cut your losses and move on.

    The police will do nothing and getting lawyers involved will cost way more than $800.

    • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 11:00

      yeah this is what I thought. Thank you

  • mskeggs on 11/04/2022 - 08:48
    +13

    It's quite likely you weren't even scammed.
    If my mum cracked her screen and got it replaced at the kiosk, I'm sure she wouldn't know if it was oled and I'm sure she wouldn't think she was scamming anybody if she later sold it, saying it was fine

  • o53djz7qTPY4der on 11/04/2022 - 09:16
    +2

    Did you buy it from the same guy who sold his PC under the guise of it only being 12 months old?

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 11/04/2022 - 09:22

      I was going to say, I feel there needs to be a giant PSA when buying second hand goods (or hell, even brand new goods) you really need to be ultra specific about any and all questions as well as dissecting every answer from seller for possible loopholes.

  • Stopback on 11/04/2022 - 10:28
    +1

    Report him to Facebook etc

  • Baysew on 11/04/2022 - 10:45
    +2

    From the Apple link you provided -

    Q: How to remove this “important display message”.
    Can we remove this showing notification “important display message”.

    The answer given -

    No, it will go away by itself.

    These notifications don’t affect your ability to use your iPhone or your display.

    You will see a notification on your Lock screen for the first 4 days that you use your device and in the Settings app for 15 days. After that period, you can find the notification by going to Settings > General > About.

  • TEER3X on 11/04/2022 - 11:02
    +1

    How many star ratings did the seller have, for expensive items, i avoid new sellers and sellers that aren't 4.5* or more. Not that it guarantees me from being scammed, but it's a start.

    I'd make the threat of taking them to small claims court, but in reality, I doubt you have any recourse.

    • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 11:04

      It was just a normal guy, did not have any ratings

  • picklewizard on 11/04/2022 - 12:11
    +4

    You didn't get scammed if you bought a used phone.

    If you buy a used car do you expect it to have 100% genuine parts fitted?

    • linusjmiller on 11/04/2022 - 12:17
      +1

      fair enough

      • picklewizard on 11/04/2022 - 14:04
        +1

        Also given it didn't show until after an update, the seller may not have even been aware.

        Remember when Apple deliberately bricked phones with replaced fingerprint sensors?

  • solidussnake on 11/04/2022 - 13:14

    Ah quality old Apple can't do an update because the screen isn't genuine…it does really suck OP but that's the risk you take buying stuff at a discounted price on market place, I have purchased refurb apple 6/7s off eBay because at least that has some guarantees

    • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2022 - 13:28

      lol you can't read, it was updated first then they got the message

  • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2022 - 13:26

    How do you know it's not a oled display?

    • foxmulder on 11/04/2022 - 13:30

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lap8pEb3W6o

      One interesting from video - the guy says iphone XR and 11 uses LCD display - not OLED. OP expecting OLED.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2022 - 13:45

        11 pro is oled?

        • foxmulder on 11/04/2022 - 13:47

          Sorry my bad. I thought when they say iPhone 11 it represent all 3 models.

          • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2022 - 13:48

            @foxmulder: yeah wasn't till 12 they made them all oled

  • askme69 on 11/04/2022 - 14:07

    Like the guy who purchased a Genuine XY GT falcon, only to discover it wasn't. Went to court and he lost, as the person who sold it to him was told it was genuine.

    Problem for me is the guy paid lets sat $200k for it, the guy he purchased it from only paid $20k, yet he got to keep the profit based on it being original.

  • Hugh G Rection on 11/04/2022 - 18:58

    cut your loses, it's a used phone.

  • blitz on 12/04/2022 - 15:23

    OP is taking the advice rather well, considering the circumstances. OP, you have my sympathies!

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