A 19 year-old Beach Haven man is facing 17 charges of obtaining by deception, following a series of alleged fake sales on various buy sell and trade Facebook pages throughout the country.
Police believe Isaac James Culmer, who also goes by the name of Isaac Calmer, Isaac James or James Culmer, has also been using the Facebook name 'Sumwone Speshal' and advertising a Mac Book Pro for sale. 'Sumwone Speshal' and his various aliases is alleged to have commonly said the following in his advertisements;
-Selling Mac Book Pro
-Want around $650
-It is in excellent condition
-Posting on a few buy and sell pages as need to get money fast
-Selling for personal reasons
-Laptop has run out of warranty but for an extra 300 it can be extended for 12 months
-No time wasters, real offers only
Culmer is alleged to have provided potential buyers with a copy of his hospitality ID card with his name, and also his phone number. Once the buyer has deposited the money he is then alleged to have couriered them a track and trace bag which is actually empty.
North Shore Police believe there may be others who have been caught in this scam and would like to hear from them. A freephone number has been established and anyone with information can call Police on 0508 596 739.
Sergeant Mike Flatt of North Shore Police says "Enquries so far have established that the alleged offending has taken place over the past 8-12 weeks but we believe there could be others who've dealt with the accused as far back as 12 months ago, and we need to hear from anyone else who has paid money for a computer from Isaac Culmer and never received it.
"So far we have a total of 17 cases. We're collating them here on the North Shore but we have victims from across the country including Papamoa, Tokoroa, Katikati, Auckland, Wairoa, Waikanae and Queenstown. The victims have all been on various local Facebook trade and exchange pages, for example, Buy Sell Trade East Auckland. There are dozens and dozens of pages like this on Facebook throughout the country and it's possible the accused has been attempting this on many of them.
"The downside of buying things on pages such as this is that you need to be extremely careful who you buy from, especially if you're using a site such as your local Facebook page. They're heavily reliant on people's honesty and offer little to nothing in the way of screening their vendors. There's no such as thing as a 'genteman's agreement' anymore, and it can be very difficult to get your money back if someone doesn't give you what you paid for."
Anyone wanting to contact the enquiry team with information related to Isaac Culmer can call 0508 596 739.
Isaac James Culmer will reappear in the North Shore District Court on Thursday 8 January.
ENDS
Issued by Beth Bates/Waitemata Police
Sgt Mike Flatt is available for interview until 2pm today. Please call Beth to arrange.