Stolen Patek 5164-A in Northern California Bay Area Serial 7126557

[Bearxj86]

Originally Posted by ap1

This is horrible. My policy is, no face to face. Some buyers seem turned off by this but that’s my rule. My feeling is references are king

If I do face to face. I usually get relevant information beforehand and make sure I do a lot of checks. If its a $50k Patek I expect to sell it to a professional or someone with a linkedin profile or other validated information. In some cases I've gotten a copy of driver's license etc.

If you smell anything off, call it off. This goes with meeting location, payment type etc.

[trfChris]

Originally Posted by Pongster

How i wish there were also Trusted Buyers.

But if we limit buyers to reputable forum members, market would be limited.

Anyway, praying that this is resolved favorably for you OP.

Well the TRF Trusted Sellers are also Trusted Buyers. Of course you get a slightly lower price since they need to make their spread but that’s a small price to pay for peace of mind IMO

[ct.matt]

Originally Posted by bearxj86

If I do face to face. I usually get relevant information beforehand and make sure I do a lot of checks. If its a $50k Patek I expect to sell it to a professional or someone with a linkedin profile or other validated information. In some cases I've gotten a copy of driver's license etc.

If you smell anything off, call it off. This goes with meeting location, payment type etc.

+2

I found that mutual exchange of ID verification e.g. picture of driver license and maybe a FaceTime beforehand is helpful, too. Generally I will only meet up in banks with armed guards in a back room (banks are weirdly accommodating) or a police precinct.

To Jin's point, if you don't have a LinkedIn that checks out and corroborates your identity I won't deal with you.

[m3tek44]

When I visited WellsFargo here Bay Area, they do NOT recommend having transaction inside the branch. Had mentioned few cases where they had grab. thieve knocking down customers and chaotic scenes in the parking lots. If you MUST F2F transaction as other mentioned ask for DL/something doesn't feel right just walk away. Otherwise there are dedicated place for transaction in your local police station.

[CorradoBrit]

Or take a big friend with you to stand in the doorway.

[Codik]

Lots of 20/20 comments in there. I once had a watch stolen, and it’s sucks. Commiserations, hope you get it back.

[AK797]

F2F should only be in banks or places with double sets of security doors so no one can just run out on you without you sounding an alarm and having the last door locked down, then the danger is being followed when you leave with the watch or the money, so best to leave them both in the bank before you do and make that known.

[Vetracer]

OP, so sorry to hear about your Robbery.

I’m the most paranoid, risk averse, street-wise person. I’ve sold one Patek Philippe watch and insisted on doing the transaction in a boutique. This way, the buyer could have it checked for authenticity and I would have time to see the money transferred to my account before releasing the watch. I also insisted on seeing a valid driving licence which in the U.K. displays the holder’s address and I asked for a utility bill showing the same address.

There are tricks fraudsters use to retract online payment transfers which I won’t go into here but you can find a tonne of examples on YouTube.

[LuminousMaximus]

Was this a grab-and-run, or gun-and-go?

[mkaza001]

It was a grab and go. I wanted to chase after him but was worried of any ambush and didn't want to risk my life for it. It was a sale gone bad. I appreciate the community in keeping an eye out.

Full suspect info:

Name: Lucas Baker (possibly faked)
email: lucas420earth at mail dot com
Phone numbers: 707-346-4868, 707-346-4797

The lies he fed me:
He owns a cannabis company in norcal and how he grew it etc. I even asked about the background of his company and it all sounded like he knew his stuff etc. Also something about him getting married and talks about knowing the HR of Cricket Wireless (one of his customers) who gave him a free phone because his "iphone" broke and got a replacement. I got sucked into his lie and got owned hard. He also wanted to bring in an appraiser himself to verify the watch.

Description of the suspect:

Race: Black, African American
Sex: Male
Age: 27-30 years old
Height: 5"10
Weight: 180-200 Pounds
Build: Normal/Medium Build
Hair: Black, buzz cut/not bald.
Clothes: Black short sleeve shirt, Jeans, Black Shoes (Jordan brand)

Possible Living Location: Northern California (1-2 hours driving distance from San Jose)

[m3tek44]

Originally Posted by mkaza001

It was a grab and go. I wanted to chase after him but was worried of any ambush and didn't want to risk my life for it. It was a sale gone bad. I appreciate the community in keeping an eye out.

Full suspect info:

Name: Lucas Baker (possibly faked)
email: lucas420earth at mail dot com
Phone numbers: 707-346-4868, 707-346-4797

The lies he fed me:
He owns a cannabis company in norcal and how he grew it etc. I even asked about the background of his company and it all sounded like he knew his stuff etc. Also something about him getting married and talks about knowing the HR of Cricket Wireless (one of his customers) who gave him a free phone because his "iphone" broke and got a replacement. I got sucked into his lie and got owned hard. He also wanted to bring in an appraiser himself to verify the watch.

Description of the suspect:

Race: Black, African American
Sex: Male
Age: 27-30 years old
Height: 5"10
Weight: 180-200 Pounds
Build: Normal/Medium Build
Hair: Black, buzz cut/not bald.
Clothes: Black short sleeve shirt, Jeans, Black Shoes (Jordan brand)

Possible Living Location: Northern California (1-2 hours driving distance from San Jose)

I'm sorry to hear and you have made good decision not to chase him. You're safe and didn't get hurt.

[PPcollector]

Originally Posted by mkaza001

It was a grab and go. I wanted to chase after him but was worried of any ambush and didn't want to risk my life for it. It was a sale gone bad. I appreciate the community in keeping an eye out.

Full suspect info:

Name: Lucas Baker (possibly faked)
email: lucas420earth at mail dot com
Phone numbers: 707-346-4868, 707-346-4797

The lies he fed me:
He owns a cannabis company in norcal and how he grew it etc. I even asked about the background of his company and it all sounded like he knew his stuff etc. Also something about him getting married and talks about knowing the HR of Cricket Wireless (one of his customers) who gave him a free phone because his "iphone" broke and got a replacement. I got sucked into his lie and got owned hard. He also wanted to bring in an appraiser himself to verify the watch.

Description of the suspect:

Race: Black, African American
Sex: Male
Age: 27-30 years old
Height: 5"10
Weight: 180-200 Pounds
Build: Normal/Medium Build
Hair: Black, buzz cut/not bald.
Clothes: Black short sleeve shirt, Jeans, Black Shoes (Jordan brand)

Possible Living Location: Northern California (1-2 hours driving distance from San Jose)

The broken iPhone should have been a giveaway that this deal was going bad. He purchased a burner phone with Cricket wireless so he cannot be traced. Then he made up the story regarding getting a free phone... This is a classic scam.

[madgpol]

OP sorry to hear about your loss. How times have changed. It doesn't seem that long ago when it was deemed safe to send watches through the post etc etc.

Just a thought but if anyone was doing f2f these days wouldn't you be tempted to take a photo of the person you were dealing with? Or is that odd? These days it would be in the cloud in no time and would help the police in the event it went wrong.

Just a thought. Hope for a good outcome for you. Let Patek know and any dealers in your area ASAP.

Where did you meet? CCTV possibilities?

[Pimpsy]

So sorry to hear about this. :(

I prefer F2F. The last time I let a watch go I invited the gentleman to my home for the sale.
If I didn't feel comfortable inviting the person to my home it's likely I wouldn't do the deal at all but otherwise I might consider meeting inside my bank.
I understand this advice is late but ask for a photo ID before the meet and also connect on LinkedIn. Anyone buying a watch at this price point is going to have a business presence of some kind.
Finally, pledge a donation to St. Anthony, say a prayer, and stay hopeful. Perhaps it will come back to you!
GL

[scarlet knight]

Bet that is not his real name and it’s a burner phone. He may sell to a pawn shop for whatever he can get.

Don’t want to rub it in, but I would never sell anything of value to someone we don’t know. Too may scam artists.

[fq1]

Sorry about your loss. I am not sure if there is a way to notify eBay in case he tries to sell it there, but might be worthwhile looking into.