PARAMAX elaborate con Spokane Washington

So this is the story of how it happened to me....

I am a student at Gonzaga in Spokane Washington. I was leaving a Safeway near my school when a silver Suv of high quality came cruising into the parking lot that I was exiting. Just as I was about to get in my car, a guy emerged out of the SUV and made a intentional, under his breath comment of, "this kid is going to think im crazy."

He came up to me and his story was that through some shipping error, he received an extra surround sound speaker set, and was trying to get rid of because if he told his boss about the shipping error he would simply take the speakers and keep them for himself. It seemed suspicious, as anytime somebody trying to sell you speakers at a parking lot would seem. I knew it was a scam, but I thought it was stolen goods that were being distributed, not that I was the "mark" of an elaborate con.

He convinced me to take a look at the speakers that were neatly packaged in a box that was designed to look how a legitimate speaker box would look. It bolstered numerous features such as wattage capacity, HD capability, and high-end speaker cables. He even possessed the alleged faulty shipping order that listed that only two speakers were shipped, when in fact, according to his story, four speakers were shipped. He also had a seemingly authentic catalog that contained all the company's products, including the speaker set they were trying to sell me. Besides the fact that the speakers were sitting in the back of a SUV, the product seemed to be legitimate. Even the name of the speakers, PARAMAX, was intentionally similar to a company that I know makes speakers, PANAMAX, which is the brand of the speakers I thought I was looking at. Next to the speakers in the detailed, colorful catalog was a retail price of $3,200. He tried to sell them for 700, as that was the price that the guy before me paid. Through my, what I thought was negotiating, I got the price down to $300, what a bargain.

It wasn't just the documentation and story that convinced me that these speakers were real. It was the guy, the con, and the disgusting human being that really sold it. He exuded a level of adulation that seemed so genuine. He was so jovial, the appropriate emotion if you were about to make a couple hundred bucks off some untraceable shipping error.

So, I bought the speakers, thinking I could use them, or at the least sell them on Craig's list.

I went home and immediately went to the Internet to verify the authenticity of the speakers. I googled PARAMAX and a site, paramaxaudio, popped up. It looked how a website for a company like BOSE would look. The website was very professional looking, and instilled confidence that these speakers were legitimate. Except, there was a caveat; there was no contact information besides a fax number. There was an icon that said, "Speak to a customer representative," but when you clicked on it, there was no link, it just stayed on the same page.

So, never buy things out of the back of cars at parking lots. I know, not exactly something you need to be told, but this scam was so elaborate, I thought I was receiving goods that I could actually use, not some horrible speakers that are of the poorest quality imaginable. My web researching revealed that they buy speakers from Asia of the lowest quality, make these brochures, websites, and hire con men to sell them. It is an organized scam, and very believable.

This con is national and is commonly known as the white van scam. If ever approached by a guy trying to sell you speakers, I suggest going to your car, where he can't hear you, and calling the cops!

A goodguy
spokane, Washington
U.S.A.