fair enough. never heard of that type of fish. all i could think it might have been was shrimp-wrapping.
Re: Shad Shrink-wrapping Shenanigans. Exactly. My guess is they put discs inside so that if the intended buyer shakes the case it'll sound like there is a disc in there. What I don't understand is the act of putting an older version of the game in there, but the point is that they're selling something that isn't what the case advertises. I came in today and the box was gone, so it's likely these people came in during the night (my store operates 24 hours a day) and picked them up. Doesn't seem like my manager did anything related to the authorities but did give me an "atta boy". We just know not to agree to serve those people going forward.
Scammer: (to victim) I told you it was Madden '03 not '13, I just lost the original case and happened to have the Madden '13 case lying around...
She probably has a booth at a flea market. I used to see that kind of fly-by-night stuff happen all the time there.
I figured not many people had heard of it, or you all would've been lined up in a roe, waiting to make puns about it. (Come on Laser, help me out here! )
What a dirty, rotten scam. I'm glad you caught them out and didn't let them get away with it. I suspect the professional scammers do their own shrink-wrapping!
That's one possibility. Another is that they are either selling them at a used game/dvd store, or they are returning them to a place like Wal-Mart. There was quite a big scam going on at the Wal-Marts in this area about two years ago. Scammers were buying games, game systems, and other electronics, taking everything out of the packaging, then adding blank cd/dvd discs (for the games) or styrofoam and rocks (for the game systems), getting them shrink-wrapped, and returning them with the receipts. Since they had paid cash up front, they got cash back - and still had the merchandise. One of the locations had lost more than $10,000 through the scam before it hit the news. I've heard of other scams where people post on places like Craigslist, using a dummy email address, meet up in person (never using a phone), and pocket the money. The buyer thinks they are getting something brand new, and only finds out they've been scammed much later.
Places like Wal-Mart make it easy for these people, especially if it's "still shrink-wrapped". I worked at Home Depot a long time ago. One day, someone had returned a weed-wacker, in the original box. They checked it out when they were putting it back on the shelf and found a broomstick with a bottle on the end. Right weight and weight distribution. Stupid, low paid people at the returns counter really make it easy. I also remember getting literally the same 2 or 3 expensive electrical testers back a few times a month. Drug addicts kept stealing them & them returning them for a full refund, obviously without a receipt. The management figured it was easier to just give them the money than, I don't know, having them arrested.
Re: Shad Shrink-wrapping Shenanigans. I agree, we should absolutely be checking the contents of things we're wrapping for people. We're already incredibly careful about the things we ship, so we should be just as vigilant about our other services. As far as contacting the authorities goes, I think my manager dropped the ball on that one. I sent her a detailed email about the whole thing and left said email as a printed copy with the order. I was off the next day and when I came back in she called me out for the good catch but more or less seemed to shrug it off.