Woman pays $200 for "iPad" that turns out to be mirror

Fourth generation iPad. / Apple

Arlington, Texas One Texas woman is having trouble looking at herself in the mirror after buying what she thought was an iPad.

KXAS-TV reports Jalonta Freeman thought she bought a brand-new iPad for $200 from a man at an Arlington gas station parking lot. Instead, she got conned into shelling out a couple hundred dollars for a mirror.

"He pulled up beside us, and he was like, 'Hey, I've got some iPads and stuff, and I've got some laptops if you all are interested in buying,'" she told the station.

This is not the first time someone in North Texas was conned into buying something they thought was an Apple product. KSAX reports that more than a dozen people were conned last year into buying what they thought iPads and MacBooks. Apple iPads can cost up to $829.

Freeman doesn't understand why someone would do that.

"That's so messed up," she told the station. "That's so wrong. I would never do anybody like that. Get a job."

Freeman filed a police report with Arlington authorities but they say there is not much to work on.

This article originally appeared on CBS Houston.

[Roberto-G]

A question from Italy: but the crime of receiving stolen property does not exist in America? Do those buyers are so clueless, not to think that everything that's sold at a gas station for 1/10 of it's price is of illegal origin? Or may be they would buy it because they're told that "a box felt from the truck"? Or may be they would buy as well the gold Rolex of the desperate dude who needs money for gasoline, to go to see his dying son at a far away hospital? May be these Neapolitan tricks can be helpful in your free market, to whoever should happen to need some fast money...

[BigMykul]

I remember back in the 70s and 80s when con artists would put a brick inside of a VCR box or TV box and then sell it. Some people are dumb. Packing tape and heatshrink are not expensive or hard to use.

[hypnotoad72]

That was the seller's job. To con people. Anyone can be duped if the impetus is there.

[ludvig1-2009]

People should not be buying stuff like that at a gas station out of the back of someone's car. Surely she had to wonder whether it was stolen or not or she didn't care in which case she got what she deserved.

[hypnotoad72]

Yup. The woman wore a miniskirt so she deserved to be raped.

/sarcasm

Do remember, the person was beckoned over by the con artist. Isn't that how the system works... replace "icrap" with "(insert impetus of your choice") and anyone can be conned.

[1notrub11]

Maybe I am cynical, but......

Should anyone be able to own or purchase such a device that cannot determine whether they are valid or at least operable? I mean, really.