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White van speaker scam

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Not to be confused with White van man.

The white van speaker scam is a scam sales technique in which a salesman makes a buyer believe he is getting a good price on audio merchandise. Con artists in this type of scam call themselves "speakerguys" or "speakermen".

Process

The typical white van speaker scam involves one to three individuals, who are usually casually dressed or wearing uniforms. They drive an SUV, minivan or a commercial vehicle (usually a white commercial van, which may be rented inexpensively) that often displays a company logo. To find suitable targets, the van operators set up their con in moderately-trafficked areas, such as parking lots, gas stations, colleges, or large apartment complexes. Alternatively, they may target people driving expensive cars and wave them down. The marks (victims) are usually affluent young men, college students, or others thought to have large amounts of disposable income.

The operators often claim that they work for an audio retailer or audio installer and that, through some sort of corporate error (warehouse operator mistake, bookkeeping mistakes, computer glitch, etc.) or due to the client changing the order after supplies were purchased, they have extra speakers. Sometimes, it is implied that the merchandise may be stolen. For varying reasons they need to dispose of the speakers quickly and are willing to get rid of them at "well below retail" prices. The con artists will repeatedly state the speaker's "value" as anywhere between $1800 and $3500, prices often purportedly verified by showing a brochure or a magazine advertisement. They will usually also have an official-looking website verifying their claims.

If the mark declines the offer, the scammer uses various high-pressure negotiation sales tactics. Among these techniques are producing glossy material that details the quality and high retail value of the speakers, and bombarding the potential customer with technical jargon, whether correctly or incorrectly used. If still unable to convince the mark that he is turning down an incredible offer, the con artist will almost always lower the price significantly. Some con artists will even suggest that, since the customer got such a great deal, he should pay a little extra as beer money for his supposed benefactor.

Economics

Distributors rent a warehouse and obtain licenses and distribution rights, then import large quantities of poorly made goods. They ship these goods to local warehouses in major cities and hire 'salesmen' to distribute the shoddy goods.

North American distribution operations are in major cities across the continent.[1] The marketers at each office establish a promotion, benefit, and bonus scale for the speaker sales teams. Bonuses may be paid in cash or speakers.

In Australia the same tactic is used. Receipts are issued, but the contact details are usually fake so that the goods cannot be returned. As an added measure, vehicles are leased so that they can not be traced to either the distributor or 'sales person' driving.

Online availability

White van speakers and home theater systems are now commonly found online, primarily on Craigslist, Kijiji and eBay, these deals are common with projectors, specifically SONY 2K hd projectors and other electronics.Speakers, and projectors, etc are popular scams because they are not tested very easily, and you might mistake very low quality for good quality. . This way they fool a person of getting a deal at a fraction of the price, and they end up getting low quality knock off brands. prompting revealing reviews showing these speakers or electronics to be outclassed by even inexpensive "home theater in a box" systems sold by legitimate manufacturers.

One online technique used on Craigslist is for the seller to post ads for the speakers for the "retail price" printed on their boxes, which is often in the thousands of dollars. Any box of speakers with an MSRP printed on it should be considered a counterfeit. Then the seller will post another ad with different wording at a "deal" price, a fraction of the original price. Both ads will have links to the phony speaker brand's web site. The higher priced advertisement is meant to fool any prospective buyer into thinking that they have done their due diligence. In addition to the phony prices, other common verbiage includes: "my loss is your gain", "received as a gift", "won it at a raffle or company award", "I am an audio installer", "having a baby", "need to pay rent or a fine", "already have one don't need 2", "moving out of town", "great buy!", "need to sell fast" and "still in the box." A more recent development in ad postings are self-perpetuating scams—those claiming to be victims of the scam, when exposed, say they are trying to recoup some of their loss.

Techniques used

The brand name of the speakers is often confusingly similar to a well-regarded speaker manufacturer. For example, the reputations of manufacturers such as Klipsch, Polk Audio, Paradigm, Dahlquist, and Wharfedale are used to sell low-quality speakers with fake brand names like Kirsch, Volk Audio, Paradyme, Dahlton, and Grafdale. Another brand called Millennium Theater Systems or MTS,[2] is similar to MTX, and a brand called Paramax Audio[3] has been claimed to be jointly owned by Paramount Studios and the IMAX Corporation. "Matrix Audio Concepts" is another fictional brand that returns additional related websites with an Internet search query for that term. Some sites, such as for Theater Research[4], also list customer service telephone numbers or support e-mail addresses. These methods of contact are often dead ends. Another recent technique is to parrot but not mimic, the names of reputable companies. For example, Genesis Media Labs is a white van scam name that trades on the American "Genesis" brand of loudspeakers [5][6], while DiVinci trades on the name of the Swiss "DaVinci" company.

Technology and quality of the product

Overall, the quality of the product is inferior. For example, Denmark Audio's home theatre system has been quoted as sounding like a hornet's nest, even with no external signal input. The Denmark Audio system has been tested on a test bench and proven to be of very low quality.[7]

Another line that appears is the shock people have when they try to hook up the home theatre system to high definition television sets and find out it cannot be done — the claim of HD compatibility made for the white van system is just another element of the scam.

Systems (typically amplifiers with speakers, sold as sets) with low numbers (2 or 3) of inputs and/or audio switching only (no video inputs/switching) with only analogue L/R/6ch RCA jacks are common in this scheme.

Organizations connected to the distribution side of the scam

  • Bang Audio - Registered Business Number WA BN11169709 (Western Australia, Australia)[8]
  • Paramount Audio Performance Pty. Ltd. (Victoria, Australia)[9]
  • American Sound System (Walter Hawthorne)
  • Oliver Beling (Sole trader with registered ABN) (Victoria, Australia)[10]
  • Sonic Audio Distributors (a.k.a Sonic Audio Distribution) (Victoria, Australia)[10]
  • XRT Distributors Arlington, TX
  • Prestige Sound and Audio, San Carlos, CA.
  • STFO Trading, LLC., Elmhurst, NY and Sunset Beach, CA.[11]
  • Eran Electronics Inc., Toronto, Canada [12]
  • Wahldorf Home Theater, West Palm Beach, Florida
  • Empire Audio, 2001 E. 74th Ave suite B, Denver, CO

Product safety concerns

Consumers have reported receiving products which have been faulty for some time now.[10] This is a result of sub-standard quality and manufacturing processes. However, during June 2008 another, more serious warning emerged. Denmark Audio systems inter alia had been found to have an impedance curve dropping below two ohms.[13] The result of this fault will damage amplifiers connected to the load when it drops, however it could also lead to overheating and short circuits.[13] Therefore these systems could potentially cause a fire if left unattended. Products are not UL listed.

Brands reported to be sold out of white vans

  • Accusound[14] (Not related to Accusound Australia nor the Accusound speakers made by Audiosphere in Canada)
  • Acoustic Monitor, Acoustic Studio Monitor 3311/3312, Acoustic Response, Acoustic Image, Acoustic Lab Technology, Acoustic Reference[15][16]
  • Advanced Sound Technologies (AST)[16]
  • Afinity[17]
  • Ashton, Ashton Home Theater Systems[18]
  • Audio Resource[14]
  • Audio-Tech, Audio Tech Pro[16]
  • Audiofile[15][19][20]
  • BSS - Brendle Sound Systems[21] (No relation to BSS Audio, part of the Harman Pro Group), also Brendel, BrendelElectronics [22]
  • Bjorn and Wielder [23]
  • Camelot Audio[14]
  • Carlson Audio[14]
  • Cerwin Vega (counterfeit)[24]
  • Cinemax Loudspeakers
  • Cleo Acoustics (Singapore) [25]
  • Columbia Audio [10]
  • Crystal Home Theater (Not related to Crystal Home Audio) [26]
  • Definitive Sound Technology [27] (no relation to Definitive Technology)
  • Denmark, Denmark Audio, Denmark Optics[9][15][19]
  • Deutsch Akustik [28]
  • Dogg Digital, Digital Dogg Audio[15][16][29]
  • DanWave, Dan Wave[16]
  • Dahlton[15][16]
  • Digital Pro Audio, Pro Audio, Digital Audio,Digital Galaxy, Digital Audio Professional Speaker Systems, Digital Audio Skyline, Digital Research[15][16][19]
  • DiVinci[16][19]
  • Dreamland, Dream Land[10]
  • Dynalab[15][19]
  • Elite Audio[30]
  • EDS, Elite Digital Sound[31]
  • EKO[14]
  • Eurosound[14]
  • Epiphany Audio[15][32]
  • Fleetwood Audio[33]
  • Genesis Media Labs, Genisis Media Labs[16] (no relation to Genesis Technologies)
  • Glatten Audio[14]
  • Grafdale[15][16]
  • Hauffman[16]
  • Hy-line Sound Electronics [16]
  • I-Cinema[34]
  • Icon MediaLab, Icon Media Lab Digital Fusion[10][35] (No relation to LBi Ltd., the registered trademark owners of the Icon MediaLab name)
  • Image Audio Concepts[36]
  • Image Reference[37]
  • JBL (counterfeit)[24]
  • Jannsonn & Fynn [38]
  • Kauffman[39]
  • Kinetic[17]
  • Kirsch, Kirsh[16][19]
  • Linear Acoustik[14]
  • Linear Phase[19]
  • London[32]
  • Matrix Audio[16]
  • Mantooth Audio[16]
  • Millennium Theater Systems (MTS)[16][19]
  • Norway Audio[40]
  • Olin Ross [41]
  • Omni Audio[15]
  • Oracle Projector[42]
  • Orix[14]
  • Palermo[17]
  • Paradyme[19] (no relation to Paradigm)
  • Paramax[16][17][19][41][43]
  • Proline Acoustic[16]
  • Pro-Optics, 3D Optics, 3D Optiks[42]
  • Protechnik[42][43][44]
  • Protecsound (PTS)[15][45]
  • PSD[15][16]
  • PurTone [46]
  • Pure Acoustics[14]
  • RDX [47]
  • Rothdale [48]
  • Samaurai[16][19]
  • Skyline[19]
  • Sutherland Technology[16] (no relation to Sutherland Engineering)
  • Theater Logic[49]
  • Theater Research, Theatre Research, Theater Innovations[15][16][19]
  • US Acoustics[50]
  • VAV[14]
  • VisionMax[51]
  • Vokl Audio [52]
  • Volk Audio (also has a projector branch known as Volk Cinema) [53]
  • Wahldorf Home Theater [54]

References

  1. ^ Scam Shield - Distributor Locations
  2. ^ MTS Speakers
  3. ^ http://paramaxaudio.com/ Paramax Audio website
  4. ^ Theater Research website
  5. ^ Genesis Loudspeakers by Genesis Advanced Technologies
  6. ^ Genesis Model 5.2 review at Stereophile Magazine
  7. ^ Warning - white van scammers out in Melbourne
  8. ^ OzRipOff - BangAudio
  9. ^ a b Minister for Consumer Affairs - Government of South Australia
  10. ^ a b c d e f ScamShield Listing Australia
  11. ^ United States Patent Office
  12. ^ Panjiva Shipping records
  13. ^ a b Kitsap Sun
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k VR-Zone Forum: "White Van" speaker brand listing
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kuro5hin story
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v ScamShield Listing Canada
  17. ^ a b c d ScamShield Listing Texas
  18. ^ Ripoff Report: George Grover - The Home Theater Store
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m ScamShield Listing Colorado
  20. ^ ScamShield Listing UK
  21. ^ Bss M-250's - 440 Forums
  22. ^ Forum warning about Brendel amplifiers
  23. ^ Scam Shield: Australian White Van Speaker Scam Sightings
  24. ^ a b ProSoundWeb Live Audio Board: The White Van Scam
  25. ^ Singapore Hardwarezone Forum: Scam at around Sim Lim Area - Warning
  26. ^ White Van Speaker Scam - North Carolina
  27. ^ [1] [2] - Forum Review and Definitive Sound Technology Website
  28. ^ [3]
  29. ^ Santa Barbara BBB News: Dogg Digital Audio
  30. ^ Sonicflare: The White Van of the Apocalypse
  31. ^ [4]
  32. ^ a b ScamShield Listing Tennessee
  33. ^ Ripoff Report: Fleetwood Audio
  34. ^ Playa.info: Anyone heard of i-Cinema?
  35. ^ Northern Territory News
  36. ^ Rip-off Report: Image Audio Concepts Theatre System IA-905S
  37. ^ ScamShield Listing North Carolina, USA
  38. ^ "Hifi-Forum" Warning!
  39. ^ "Kauffman" Anyone heard of this brand??
  40. ^ Ripoff Report: Norway Audio Systems I was basically taken for a $500 ride for a $50 "home theater system"
  41. ^ a b ScamShield Listing California
  42. ^ a b c Protechnik projector scam
  43. ^ a b ScamShield listing: Washington
  44. ^ Northern Territory Department of Justice
  45. ^ Ripoff Report: PTS Protecsound
  46. ^ [5]
  47. ^ Ripoff Report: RDX Surround Speaker scam Richmond British Columbia Canada
  48. ^ [6]
  49. ^ Remote Central: Theater Logic Home Cinema L6
  50. ^ [7]
  51. ^ [8]
  52. ^ Audio Asylum: Any one heard of VOKL AUDIO?
  53. ^ [9]
  54. ^ [10]

A great deal of information and warnings on the topic of "white van speakers" can be found using search engines. Some of the more informative links include:

See also

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