18-Year-Old Accused of TV Scam
eBay Buyer Pays $2K for Picture of TV
August 28, 2004 ? Andrew Aquilini thought he snagged a great bargain for a 52-inch plasma screen television on eBay. Instead he ended up paying $2,000 for a 52-inch photograph of a TV set.
Aquilini, 51, of Edison, N.J., said he was enraged when the photograph arrived at his home, and e-mailed the seller, 18-year-old Brian J. Kim, for an explanation.
"He said I should have known that the advertisement was for a picture of a television," Aquilini said.
Kim, of Buford, was arrested Thursday at Phoenix High School and charged with theft by deception for allegedly cheating at least three people with the TV photographs, Gwinnett County police Cpl. Dan Huggins said. Kim was being held Friday in lieu of $5,600 bail.
"He felt he did not do anything wrong because he put the word `picture' in the ad," police Sgt. Bill Jack of the financial crime unit said.
Christian Farris, 40, of Sedalia, Mo., said he also thought he had found a real deal when he encountered the ad on the Internet with a $1,600 price tag, a fraction of the high-end set's typical cost. Instead, he received the large photo.
"I was floored. What am I going to do with a picture of a TV?" Farris said.
Aquilini, Farris and another purchaser from Pelham in southwest Georgia all complained to eBay, which forwarded the information to Gwinnett police.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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