My Submariner C Stolen

[GOB]

I'm the unfortunate recipient of a scam that netted out in my Submariner gone and no money to show for it. I am partially at fault for the whole thing, but just wanted to post this in case anyone runs into my watch that was stolen/scammed from me.

I put the watch for sale on a local classified ads website. Got contacted 3 hours after post by someone who obviously knew about watches and asked the right questions. This website does not allow for high resolution pictures, so he asked if I could send him some. I did and he called back right away saying he will buy it from me. In Panama, many people work in Colon (major shipping hub, free trade zone) and have other people do work for them, such as picking up stuff in Panama City. He asked for my banking information, which I provided, and he said he would wire me the money. When I told him that I would only release the watch after the money is in my account, he said "I'll give the money to my driver and have him deposit it in your account so we can do this today". I did get notification from my bank that a deposit was made, but, and here is where I MESSED UP ROYALLY, I did not know if it was a cash deposit or check..... When I saw that the deposit was made, I gave the watch to his driver who was waiting for me at the lobby of the building I live in. "Luckily" for me, I took a picture of my watch and the driver's license so I could prove to the buyer who I was handing the watch to (which he had previously told me his name and that it was his driver for years). Today, the bank calls me to tell me that the check bounced due to insufficient funds.

The buyer, will not respond my emails nor will respond to my calls. Local cell phone company confided in me that his phone is a pre paid chip, hence no contract, hence no contact information. The phone has seen activity (calls in and out) up to today, so it is obvious that he is blocking my calls. The bank confided in me that this is a check from an account that has been closed for a while and that the signature on the check does not match any of the signatures on record. Furthermore, the account never behaved in a manner that would afford this purchase. I went to the police and even though they know it's a fraud, the local laws take this as a "intent to cheat a citizen" (forged signature).

I have the serial number of the watch. I have the scammer's temporary cell phone. I have a high res pic of the driver's license of the person who picked up the watch. What I don't have is my watch or the money that should replace the watch.

[versatile1]

That sucks so bad!
Sorry to hear

[kilyung]

A sh!te... sorry to hear the news. That's a pretty common scam these days. Need to really familiarize yourself with the wire details. Hope you catch the guy. Don't forget to report the watch as stolen to Rolex.

[salty_snack]

That sucks. Hopefully something works out and this doesn't become an expensive lesson. Is it insured?

[Mastergreenhand]

Ouch. Whenever it's a rush, gotta pick it up today kind of thing, be weary. Never hurts to do due diligence. Also a guy picking up the watch not the buyer is a huge red flag. Sorry this happened to you man.

[superdog]

Sucks. Hope you get it back.

[lja1821]

Sorry ot hear hope some good news comes your way..

[Cesium133]

Sorry to hear of your situation. Get the police report and notify Rolex. If the watch shows up for service it will be flagged as stolen. Also, keep an eye for your watch being sold online. There was a TRF member that had their watch stolen and eventually found it for sale online and they were able to get it back. Hope the situation works out for you in some way.

[FTX I]

Sad to hear. Hope you can work things out.

[Urosfan]

Sorry for the loss

[nick c]

Wow sorry to hear

[kcmo]

I'm terribly sorry for what you've endured. I was a victim myself of the same several years ago. Was your watch insured? I hope so.

[themast]

Sorry for your loss.

I would think that the "driver" was indeed the scammer. I mean, the scammer who contacted you was also the driver that came to pick up the watch.

[polarinda]

The police can track the license plate, no? Unless it's a stolen car.

[MitchSteel]

Ouch, man.Sorry to hear.

[samsmart]

Dude that is the worst rolex story ever. Sorry to hear that.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

[HL65]

Very sorry to hear!

[ben67]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I'm terribly sorry for what you've endured. I was a victim myself of the same several years ago. Was your watch insured? I hope so.

Originally Posted by salty_snack

That sucks. Hopefully something works out and this doesn't become an expensive lesson. Is it insured?

Very sorry to hear this and I hope you get it back.

Maybe a silly question but ...

Would insurance cover this type of scam where the watch was willingly given to the driver ?????????????????

Ben

[mjclark32]

Sorry to hear, hope you get it back

[CarFreak]

Sorry to hear - thanks for posting.

[sleddog]

Sickening..

[crowncollection]

terrible story, all the best in your efforts to get the watch back

[Erok]

If you had it insured, claim it as lost/stolen. At least you will be made whole.

[Chainring]

Very sorry to hear that story. I once allowed myself to be victim of a scammer. I was lucky that was I was able to track the scammer down and had some friends in Texas DPS uniforms (real ones) pay him a visit at 4am at his house. I got my money back immediately. I'm sorry to say you may not be so lucky.

[opaline460]

Sorry to heard sigh!

[nch209]

Arrrrrahhhhh, sorry man. I feel for you! All of these scams are pushing me away from many trades and buy/sells. Just too much of a hastle any more...

[GOB]

Thanks for the support. Sure helps alleviate the incredible self hate I have towards myself now. My wife is trying to cheer me up and my friends have all told me it could have been worse, but at the end of the day, I feel bad towards myself for allowing this to happen.

More info:
Local Rolex AD is my best friend. Watch already reported stolen at Rolex.
No such thing as insurance for jewelry here in Panama.
I did think about hiring some "non society friendly people" to track the driver and "make" the driver confess what he knows, but at the end of the day, I am trying to be a better citizen and not become one of them. Trust me, I have the ability to make that driver never breathe again, and not get my hands dirty, but I have chosen to take the higher road.
At the end of the day, I am in fact dealing with one, or two, person(s) that are not within the law, and one or both know where I live (at least the building). I have a beautiful wife and kids, so I do not want to put them in harm's way AT ALL, so I think I just have to take this as a $7,450 lesson.

For the experts out there, shall I post my serial number? Would help if someone wanted to know if the watch was stolen or not, but I also see that the known vendors always Photoshop out the serial numbers.

Lesson to all, do deal in cash/certified check, only sell to known/verified dealers, or just keep the dang thing! In 15+ years of selling and buying watches, this is my first loss, and a big one as far as I am concerned. I did get the blue dial Yacht Master to replace the Sub (thinking I had the $$ from the Sub) and I want to return it out of guilt. My friend (AD) will take it back and my wife says to keep it, but I feel so bad about myself since all that watch will do is remind me of the stupid mistake I did.

Just posting this to vent and for others to learn about my mistake in hopes that nobody falls to the same trap and if I can post the serial number, help others avoid buying a watch that is known to have been stolen.

[Oyster Al]

Sucks and my heart goes out to you. Thanks for sharing your story and the lesson we should learn from this.

[accce]

Any insurance?

[Hairdude1]

Ouch! Sorry to hear