American Rolex Robber who preys on California in person sellers

[TickTockChuck]

Sorry for the OPs loss of his watch, very traumatic I'm sure. Personally I think the pics were sufficient to ID the suspect.

Shouldn't this post be in the TRF "Watchout!!!" Section. I had a recent post about a Canadian envelope switcher moved there (didn't know about it at the time).

Face to face private sales of any high value item is something I wouldn't do, such is the world we live in.

Peace to all and be careful out there. Cheers.

[Rolexken]

Originally Posted by forcinitijp

So .. I got lost... do you say black? African-American? Central American?

I think the term African-American was born because black-skinned Africans (because there are also Africans of other colors like the Egyptians etc) don't like to be told that they are black... between a dilemma now...

Update how you have to mention people with black skin so they are pigeonholed into a specific race ... African-American you understand anything... there are also the Afrikaans or Boers who are Afrowhites

Elon Musk is an African American.

[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by Rolexken

Elon Musk is an African American.

No, he's not. Someone who came from Africa and is now American is not African American. Africans who are first (or even multiple generations) Americans are not African American. People whose ancestors have been in the US to the point where their lineage most likely consists of ancestors who were enslaved are African American. My neighbor is black and born here, but he's not African American; he's from Trinidad. Someone like Opera Winfrey or Kevin Hart can be described as African American black. Someone like Akon (singer), who’s black, African, and American is not African American. The thief in the photos could be African American, Kenyan, Guyanese, Jamaican, Nigerian, etc.

[Modiferous]

Originally Posted by soxfan39

Wow this is nuts. I talked to this guy late last year when I was selling a Daytona. He found me on TRF and then we texted and chatted on the phone couple different times over several days. He talked about his father's Daytona that he inherited and wanted to add another one to his collection and wanted to make sure mine wasn't polished. He was going to "fly in" from Vegas to do the deal. He also wanted to meet at a crappy jewelry store to get "authenticated" and then wanted me to follow him to his bank. I told him to just bring cash to the jewelry store and we would do the transaction there. He kept trying to convince me that we would need to go to a second location to finalize. Spidey senses were telling me something was off and I didn't move forward with the deal. Forgot all about it until reading this post. The safest way to sell a watch nowadays is to work only with a trusted dealer on here or locally. It's just too much risk to deal with a random stranger.

*edited to add (I found our text thread with the same ID and included here)

Yes when he initially contacted me on RolexForums he used the username
Ls702
and email
Ls702raiders@gmail.com

which means that he is open to pretending that he is in Las Vegas. But for most of his victims and intended victims he claims to be in Northern California.

I suppose that claiming to be too far from Northern or Southern Cal creates the issue of why the hell anyone would come much farther than that to see a watch.

[Modiferous]

As far as using pictures of rappers in his fake IDs, he did not do that for me or for the Patek he stole from the other RolexForums victim Metalmonster.

However, up until this point neither of the detectives I have been working with not in Northern Cal or Southern Cal noticed that the pics were of rappers, nor did I.

Maybe he puts the rapper pics on there because he is lazy and can't come up with anything better, maybe because he wants to weed out the ones who would notice that the pics are rappers! who knows?

I do note that he has managed to meet and steal from even established watch dealers with online websites so he is definitely pretty good at talking the talk.


He isn't as smart or organized as all that, would be victims who have communicated with him for longer than a week, have noticed that he suddenly changed his phone number (probably to try to stay one step ahead of "them") and has even forgotten what name he was using and started using a different name. This implies that he is working multiple prospects simultaneously. I think he has the greatest success with potential sellers who agree to meet him and do meet him quickly. In my case we went from contact on a Friday, conversations over a weekend, to meeting and getting robbed on a Tuesday.

Part of why he got me is that I had had a couple of prior recent sales where I had met the buyers in person and all had gone perfectly. This lulled me into assuming that this buyer, too, was okay. Also when I came to the store I arrived before he did, and I had the bag with the watch on the counter, not in my hands. Once I saw him, I started having doubts about whether I would even hand him the watch, he didn't look right to me. He sensed that, and during a moment when I was using my phone to call a different appraiser (the store we arrived in the appraiser was out on a family emergency), he leapt past me, grabbed the bag and ran.

And even then he wasn't a big guy at all, and I chased him and actually got hold of him (he punched my arm off his shoulder), but I still could have tackled him, but some guy that I believe was a spotter came out of nowhere and was trying to slow me down, and finally, I didn't know who else was around who might have swung a pipe across the back of my head while I was on top of the robber, so I slowed down a tad, and let him go. In that instant I decided that risking my safety or life wasn't worth the watch.

[Rolex.Journey]

So sorry this happened to you and I hope you recover your watch someday. Thanks for the detailed post so others can be on the lookout.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AK797]

Originally Posted by Modiferous

As far as using pictures of rappers in his fake IDs, he did not do that for me or for the Patek he stole from the other RolexForums victim Metalmonster.

However, up until this point neither of the detectives I have been working with not in Northern Cal or Southern Cal noticed that the pics were of rappers, nor did I.

Maybe he puts the rapper pics on there because he is lazy and can't come up with anything better, maybe because he wants to weed out the ones who would notice that the pics are rappers! who knows?

I do note that he has managed to meet and steal from even established watch dealers with online websites so he is definitely pretty good at talking the talk.


He isn't as smart or organized as all that, would be victims who have communicated with him for longer than a week, have noticed that he suddenly changed his phone number (probably to try to stay one step ahead of "them") and has even forgotten what name he was using and started using a different name. This implies that he is working multiple prospects simultaneously. I think he has the greatest success with potential sellers who agree to meet him and do meet him quickly. In my case we went from contact on a Friday, conversations over a weekend, to meeting and getting robbed on a Tuesday.

Part of why he got me is that I had had a couple of prior recent sales where I had met the buyers in person and all had gone perfectly. This lulled me into assuming that this buyer, too, was okay. Also when I came to the store I arrived before he did, and I had the bag with the watch on the counter, not in my hands. Once I saw him, I started having doubts about whether I would even hand him the watch, he didn't look right to me. He sensed that, and during a moment when I was using my phone to call a different appraiser (the store we arrived in the appraiser was out on a family emergency), he leapt past me, grabbed the bag and ran.

And even then he wasn't a big guy at all, and I chased him and actually got hold of him (he punched my arm off his shoulder), but I still could have tackled him, but some guy that I believe was a spotter came out of nowhere and was trying to slow me down, and finally, I didn't know who else was around who might have swung a pipe across the back of my head while I was on top of the robber, so I slowed down a tad, and let him go. In that instant I decided that risking my safety or life wasn't worth the watch.

You did the right thing in pulling away, he most certainly had contingency back up if he was to be caught and it would not have been pretty for you, these are probably professional criminals spending as much time in jail as not.

[AK797]

Originally Posted by Al1969

Why? A thread like this may prevent others from the same fate.
Someone on here already mentioned how this thread alerted him to the potential scam/theft. If not interested simply bypass the thread.

Just check this guy is not regularly in LV and has his uncle's Daytona...

[DC116710LN]

Originally Posted by Modiferous

As far as using pictures of rappers in his fake IDs, he did not do that for me or for the Patek he stole from the other RolexForums victim Metalmonster.

However, up until this point neither of the detectives I have been working with not in Northern Cal or Southern Cal noticed that the pics were of rappers, nor did I.

Maybe he puts the rapper pics on there because he is lazy and can't come up with anything better, maybe because he wants to weed out the ones who would notice that the pics are rappers! who knows?

I do note that he has managed to meet and steal from even established watch dealers with online websites so he is definitely pretty good at talking the talk.


He isn't as smart or organized as all that, would be victims who have communicated with him for longer than a week, have noticed that he suddenly changed his phone number (probably to try to stay one step ahead of "them") and has even forgotten what name he was using and started using a different name. This implies that he is working multiple prospects simultaneously. I think he has the greatest success with potential sellers who agree to meet him and do meet him quickly. In my case we went from contact on a Friday, conversations over a weekend, to meeting and getting robbed on a Tuesday.

Part of why he got me is that I had had a couple of prior recent sales where I had met the buyers in person and all had gone perfectly. This lulled me into assuming that this buyer, too, was okay. Also when I came to the store I arrived before he did, and I had the bag with the watch on the counter, not in my hands. Once I saw him, I started having doubts about whether I would even hand him the watch, he didn't look right to me. He sensed that, and during a moment when I was using my phone to call a different appraiser (the store we arrived in the appraiser was out on a family emergency), he leapt past me, grabbed the bag and ran.

And even then he wasn't a big guy at all, and I chased him and actually got hold of him (he punched my arm off his shoulder), but I still could have tackled him, but some guy that I believe was a spotter came out of nowhere and was trying to slow me down, and finally, I didn't know who else was around who might have swung a pipe across the back of my head while I was on top of the robber, so I slowed down a tad, and let him go. In that instant I decided that risking my safety or life wasn't worth the watch.

You made the right decision. The wife of a friend of mine tried to stop a robber from stealing her purse and was stabbed in the process. She survived thankfully, but no material possession is worth your life

[East of Eden]

Originally Posted by Modiferous

Yes when he initially contacted me on RolexForums he used the username
Ls702
and email
Ls702raiders@gmail.com

which means that he is open to pretending that he is in Las Vegas. But for most of his victims and intended victims he claims to be in Northern California.

I suppose that claiming to be too far from Northern or Southern Cal creates the issue of why the hell anyone would come much farther than that to see a watch.

You have to wonder if he’s reading this thread.

[forcinitijp]

Originally Posted by East of Eden

You have to wonder if he’s reading this thread.

Haha! If it goes like 50 steps forward... that's why there are so many who fall into scams... these thieves know more about you through forums and social networks than you think....

Sometimes it's better to have a low profile and not show off in a forum where there are how many thousands of subscribers?

[zengineer]

Originally Posted by Henrimontgomery

As an European, this is very strange. Just say he’s an American citizen. Nobody here goes “the Franco-Greco dude”.

Describing what country a person is a citizen of is not of any value in identifying him physically. Race typically is.

It seems odd, but at this moment in history most federal, state and local police, as well as other government entities use use Black and African American interchangeably... along with white, Asian, Native/American Indian/Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian. There are nuances and variations and sometimes other groups differentiated.

[dannyboy123]

Originally Posted by KatGirl

I do post a lot, but I certainly don’t brag about my very small unimpressive Rolex collection.

Kat


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You should, after all yours is bigger than his

[dannyboy123]

Originally Posted by forcinitijp

Haha! If it goes like 50 steps forward... that's why there are so many who fall into scams... these thieves know more about you through forums and social networks than you think....

Sometimes it's better to have a low profile and not show off in a forum where there are how many thousands of subscribers?

Maybe he will sue

[Cevap]

Originally Posted by KatGirl

Cops need to go undercover and catch this guy, though they should be able to use facial recognition to identify him. Sorry for your trouble, OP, and sincerely hope they catch this man.

Kat


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Facial recognition lol where do you live lady, Robocop land?

Sorry to hear this happened to you OP. I hope I have as much self restrain as you do should I end up in a similar situation. There’s always going to be more watches.

[Krash]

Originally Posted by Cevap

Facial recognition lol where do you live lady, Robocop land?
.

Unnecessary.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KatGirl]

[QUOTE=Cevap;13243398]Facial recognition lol where do you live lady, Robocop land? [QUOTE]

Facial recognition software is often used by law enforcement to identify suspects in crimes, when they have the suspect caught on video, as in this case being discussed. There are so many cameras that catch citizens’ images, when they are totally unaware. Though FRS cannot be used as evidence in court, it’s a very useful investigative tool, when trying to identify a possible suspect, in a crime, such as robbery.

Kat


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[77T]

FRT is both used and misused. It's too soon to say it would help in the OPs case.

Consider this: to catch one robber using FRT, many more citizens' civil rights could be compromised under the 4th amendment. I don't have the right answer but I'm not looking for the government to own my "15 minutes of fame".

GAO has been pondering the future - https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107372


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[2000-NJDEVILS]

To sum up this horrendous robbery - The late, great Ronnie James Dio said it best:
DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS, AS THEIR ONLY THERE TO DO YOU HARM…..

[Encepholopod]

Originally Posted by Cevap

Facial recognition lol where do you live lady, Robocop land?

Sorry to hear this happened to you OP. I hope I have as much self restrain as you do should I end up in a similar situation. There’s always going to be more watches.

Pretty rude response she's just trying to help the person, and she's right. Many states nowadays have gotten approval to incorporate FRS in investigations.

[Modiferous]

If you're willing to sell in person, then you must be willing to talk to people you don't know. And this goes for both private sellers and established watch dealers, with or without brick and mortar stores.

In other words, the "Don't talk to Strangers" advice might work for six year olds, not for watch sellers.

[Encepholopod]

Pretty damn audacious to be doing this, if they were doing this in Texas or FL i'm sure these POS's would never risk it, very very small feeble men do this.

[Modiferous]

Two of the forum usernames the Rolex Robber has been using for PMs trying to get California sellers to meet him in person.

Jl017
https://www.rolexforums.com/member.php?u=295671

Daytonaguy
https://www.rolexforums.com/member.php?u=295982

He starts off with forum PMs then tries to switch quickly to a text call, and voice, almost always using a TextNow (VOIP) number.

[brandobot]

Can we sticky this thread? I think this is a great reminder to stay vigilant when meeting people in person.

Can we do an IP ban on this guy’s account? He used username “daytonaguy”. i almost met him up in person in San Jose.

Used the name “Jason” phone number 213-338-3249.

[digitalcrocodile]

This guy reputedly stole a watch from a member of the HAMC's Oakland chapters brother. I think being caught by the cops are now the least of his worries.