Police warn about fake cell phones sold on Kijiji

In May and June of this year, the Edmonton Police Service received several complaints from the public that they had been sold fake Samsung cellphones through an online classifieds website.

The cellphones were advertised on Kijiji as brand new, boxed, Samsung S6 cellphones. The buyers met the seller in various public locations in Edmonton and purchased the cellphones for between $450 and $600, paying cash each time. The complainants discovered after purchase that the cellphones were not Samsung S6 phones, but counterfeits that did not function properly.

A Constable in Southwest Division investigated the complaints and found that dozens of these counterfeit cellphones had been advertised for sale on Kijiji in Edmonton within a four-week period. After a two-week investigation, a suspect was arrested and charged with fraud.

Investigations also revealed that the counterfeit cellphones were purchased online from overseas.

An 18-year-old male was charged with two counts of fraud under $5,000.

“If a deal is too good to be true, it most likely is,” says Const. Tyrone O’Dea of Southwest Division, who investigated the frauds. “A buyer should ask a lot of questions about the product, and ask the seller to produce a sales receipt.”

from Media Releases http://ift.tt/1KD98kR