Hello guys,
I don't know where exactly to post this but I thought I will put it up here in the garage sales section as it is the most relevant place (mods can move topic if necessary)

As you all may know, there are a lot of conmen out there who sell or trade fake guitars. I recently was a victim of such a scam. I had put up my Epiphone Les Paul Classic (<<< LINK) for sale here in the forums and also on Mudah. I got contacted by a person named Jason (Mobile Number: 0182137436) who said that he was willing to trade his Fender 70s reissue American made Stratocaster for my Les Paul plus a bit extra. I asked him to send me pictures of the guitar so I can see it (Pics below). I verified the serial number with Fender and they sent me the exact specs for the guitar and therefore I assumed it was legit. I asked him to bring it over so I can have a look. He contacted me telling me he will be going away but I can deal with his friend, Khairul (Mobile Number: 0178463742), and he would bring the guitar for me. We set up a meeting and he came over for the transaction. While I was checking the guitar he kept pressuring me, saying his friend is waiting in the car. So I went ahead and swapped the guitars and paid him off. A couple of minutes later, while changing the strings, I noticed I couldn't move the truss rod whatsoever. Upon inspection I saw that the neck was completely twisted and there was no way of intonating the guitar. It was here that I tried to contact him and see if I can exchange it back. Five calls later, I still couldn't reach him and I knew that I had been conned. I decided to gather my losses and go to a repair shop to see if there could be anything done to the neck. I went to the Guitar Pro Shop and the minute Simon (the owner) saw the guitar he declared it a fake. I had gotten a non-playable guitar and a FAKE!

Now the reason as to why I am posting this is because I want to inform you all not to purchase any guitar from this guy (including mine). I don't want him to make a quick buck and con people like how he did me. Please help me make sure that my guitar never leaves his hands for cash. Spread the word and if you stumble upon my guitar, please inform me so I can catch him. I will appreciate any information you may have. I don't know what I can do. I can't sell the guitar as I don't think anyone would want to buy it and I don't know if I will be willing to play with it as it just carries such a tragic memory for me. All I ask is a simple favor. Don't fall victim to this man and do not buy mine or any guitar he might have for sale.

Thank you for understanding and I hope I can do something with the fake guitar.

Pictures of FAKE Fender Strat:







As you can see from the pictures, it is a pretty good fake aesthetically but it is my fault for not checking harder. However, I don't want people to think that I am sore about it. I just want to inform you all to make sure that this guy doesn't con you too!

This post has been edited by PeacefulDiscord: May 27 2010, 11:32 PM

sad case, make police report?
Remember the car plate number?

WTF! Conman nowadays! I feel for u bro,dun worry,they'll pay with their life later.

Sorry for what happened to you bro. I myself got conned a couple of weeks ago.

mannn i feel for you! Please la be careful from now on!
Hope he burns in hell! thief.

ts, pls dont commit suicide.. ask some1 expert to help ..
or go for a therapy session..
dis is wat i'll do if ur case happen to me..

conman nowadays gets trickier..

i wan to suggest, any online trade/buy/sell.. ask for an email dat registered in his/her fb.. like i'm always doing.. in dis way we can see who is behind the nick.. if can, go for a few chat in fb to confirm if it is the right person..

besides, we can track the conman by his/her friend in fb (even if the conman ban/ignore our account)

for me, if the trader said dun hav fb.. i just say go to hell! (at behind lol).. where in the hell ppl nowadays dun hav fb..

(the answer = the conman) lol

i know how you feel. Guitar is the best thing ever created in the world and yet now they con in the way of someone's hobby. If someone grab my baby and conned me for that. I promise that god gonna punish them hardly. Trust the god bro... Feel sorry for you.. Next time inspect longer or try to buy it with friends.

I can imagine how you feel. To get cheated off your guitar is one thing and what more, you parted your cash as top up. This guy is sure a great cheat ! Anyway, dont worry. Take it as a painful lesson, and you will come out stronger and wiser. Cheer up ... ok

Thank you all for the comforting replies. I hope that this guy is never able to sell my guitar off. Even if he decides to keep it, I hope the ghost of Jimi Hendrix finds him and sets the guitar on fire

I don't know what to do with the guitar now... Do you guys think it is possible to sell it and just get a squier to mod or should I just mod this guitar straight away? The wood is apparently a piece of crap and I am not even sure what type of wood it is. The neck is completely busted meaning that I do have to replace the neck which I don't know how much it will cost.

So you guys give me a solution to that problem. I have already come to terms that the guy will never return my guitar to me so I now have to come up with a game plan.

@TheCarpenters: Haha... No man, I am not going to commit suicide. There are a lot more things that a man can be depressed about than getting cheated out of his guitar (although that is very sad and can warrant a suicide! ) But crap, I never thought to check his email on FB and now that I did, I see that he doesn't have one. Conman for sure. I will take your advice next time. Thanks for the reply.

I'm very sorry for your loss, but this just gives an example of how con artists can work.

The best way to avoid this actually, is to try to conduct your trades in a guitar store or in the presence of a professional.

For high priced guitars, or if you have a suspicion, maybe you could trade it at Gapnap's store and ask to verify it's authenticity? If they don't agree, then yeah, could smell fishy.

Sorry to hear la bro. Just be careful next time. I doubt he will post your guitar in this forum. Anyway we'll keep our eyes open.

whoaa.. your previous guitar looks so nice, but damn sad conned with a people who carry damn FAKE guitar. thats why i'm little bit afraid buying used Fender guitar where decals also can be replace and looks like real Fenders. anyway, real guitar have original real hardware & good craftsmanship (wood, electrical, & whatsoever). have to check everything plus the serial number itself.

important here, investigate that person... make police report!

Sad, I know. Even though I never really liked the guitar's (Epiphone) tone, it had a sentimental value to me. It was given to me by my girlfriend. I haven't told her yet and I don't know what to say. I really wished that I hadn't gone through with the deal and I wasn't even planning on selling the guitar off but I guess my greed got the best of me (There should be a Chinese proverb for that...).

I am anyways selling the parts off one-by-one and planning on building a guitar from scratch, out of the spare money that I get from this guitar. Hopefully people will buy the parts knowing that it is fake. Sigh

I am glad that the forum is supportive of this incident and I do hope that I can catch that ******* and get my guitar back. I tried calling him from my friend's phone. He picked up and I started shouting my brains out telling him how he is a crooked thief and that I am going to make a police report on him. You know what he tells me?

"You accepted the trade, not my fault it is a fake. You can go do a police report, I don't care. You have no proof! Now don't call me again and disturb me, I am a very busy man!"

The nerve of the guy

And I wonder what is he busy doing. Conning more people?!

Anyways, the link for the Garage sales post is below. Hope someone helps me out!
Linkage

he must b somewhere around the place ur cod..
put the pic of ur Epiphone Les Paul Classic s wanted around the area..
myb some1 will c him with the guitar..
pray 4 ur best man..
i blieve, that s**pid man will get caught sooner or later..

WOW I REALLY HURT TO HEAR THAT BRO..
LAST TIME I WAS REALLY INTERESTED WITH UR GUITAR AND ASK U IF U WANNA TRADE WITH MY MIJ'S GUITAR
IT IS REALLY HURT BECAUSE THAT BEAUTIFUL GUITAR FALL INTO SOME F*****G A*****E HAND..
I AM REALLY2 SAD FOR U NOW..
I MYSELF WILL INFORM U IF I GOT ANY TRACES OF THIS SATAN SON OF B***H

Heh... There is nothing I can do about it anymore but thanks for your concern! I am selling off the parts of this guitar in case someone might want to buy it. I hope someone does so that I can at least recover some of my losses.

Bro, since you have his mobile no. why don't you try tracking him down based on that?

I've seen on Dispute section how some people just need the mobile to get all the details, there may be a fee involved though, I'm not sure.

Once you've gotten details, make a report and then go flush him out.

Very sad to hear about the loss of something precious into a confcukingman's hands.. sigh.

Is that possible to do? I will gladly pay any amount of money to flush the guy out. Can someone recommend someone that can do this for me?
That would be great!

I haven't had any case like this, but I had experience seeing my friend did this; make a police report then you can ask for the conman details from the telco

First of all, how do I lodge a police report (foreigner so I don't know the process over here)? Second of all, will the police care for a petty thing such as this? Finally, are telcos allowed to reveal their client's info?

Thanks!