A 37-year-old bail bondsman knows two things for sure: a wad of Iraqi dinars and Syrian pounds doesn’t come close to the number of American dollars you’d pay for an iPhone4.
Too bad he’d given up his phone before finding out. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say the man wanted to sell his phone and decided to put it on Craigslist. He met with a buyer Monday at a gas station on University City Boulevard — because all reputable business exchanges happen in parking lots these days.
The buyer handed over foreign cash, which turned out to be much less than the agreed-upon 700 American dollars. But before the victim could protest — ZOOM, the suspect sped out of the parking lot.
Two lessons here (actually three): be careful whom you do business with on Craigslist; if you’re meeting them in a parking lot, always block them in with your car; and… um, don’t be asking $700 for something someone can buy on the Apple site for as little as $99.
Current conversion rates:
50 Syrian Pound =$1 USD
5,000 Iraqi Dinar=$4.27 USD (Source Yahoo! Finance)
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2011.
