Any good society depends on a certain sense of trust between citizens, but at the same time we need to always be on guard against those who would exploit our kindness. It’s hard to know where exactly to draw that line, but we're pretty sure it’s way south of leaving a stranger alone with a watch worth seven million yen.
On July 25, two men met in the parking lot of a convenience store in Saitama Prefecture to negotiate the sale of an 18-karat yellow gold Rolex Yacht-Master II. Despite its value, the seller was willing to part with it for just 6.3 million in a sale arranged through a second-hand online shopping site.
After the potential buyer walked up to the seller’s car wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and thick gloves, the buyer handed him the luxury timepiece for inspection. After looking at it for a bit, the buyer asked the seller to go into the store to buy some tea. The seller then made the fateful decision to go.
After taking about two minutes to purchase the beverages, the man walked out of the store only to find that the buyer and watch were both long gone. Still dealing with the crushing reality of what had just happened, the man reported the incident and tried to contact the buyer. However, after texting “I left it in your car,” and “I don’t have your watch,” the buyer deleted his account.
▼ A news report on the incident
The victim told media that “[instead of getting into the car] he opened the door and crouched down behind it to look at the watch. That was suspicious. Now that I think about it, we were outside the whole time which made it easier for him to escape.” Although he seemed in good spirits during interviews, he also admitted, “I was too stupid and honest.”
It was the general sentiment shared by most of the online comments reacting to the news:
“He was way too kind to go and buy tea.”
“The guy said it himself, he was “too stupid and honest.’ You should trust people but also be careful with expensive items.”
“He should have called off the deal the moment ‘parking lot’ was suggested.”
“Some people just don’t have a good sense for danger I guess.”
“I would have drove away once I saw the T-shirt and shorts.”
“Since selling between individuals is becoming easier, people need to be more aware of the risks involved.”
“He was just too kind…”
Among the comments there was a lot of victim blaming going on as well, and even the victim himself told media that feels he’s partly to blame for what happened. However, in his defense, he did have the awareness to get the buyer on video with his smartphone which, along with the surveillance cameras outside, should go a long way in helping police track down the suspect.
Source: Ameba Times, YouTube/FNNプライムオンライン
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© SoraNews24
36 Comments
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shogun36
This has to be one of the dumbest stories I’ve heard in a long time.
Mocheake
Plain dumb. Money can buy you an expensive watch but it can't buy you a lot of other things, one of them being brains.
Joe Blow
The thief certainly timed that well ;)
Lindsay
A fool and his Rolex are easily parted.
Eastman
...and winner of this years Darwin prize is-Rolex watch seller!!!
applause everyone!!!
Kobe White Bar Owner
Guys got to have a few broken cogs!
MarkX
So he has a video of the thief, right? Take it to the police and find the guy. Where did this young guy get the watch? Is he a host or something? Times are hard so he is selling off his gifts from customers? Maybe it is an insurance scam?
Michael Machida
There is absolutely no common sense in this article. Meeting in a parking lot. Going into purchase tea because the guy holding your pricey watch asked you to. Coming back out and actually being surprised that the buyer was no where to be found after spending 2 full minutes in the convenience store. And by the way, who paid for the tea? I bet it was the owner of the watch. So he got ripped off twice.
The Rolex and the tea where not paid for by the buyer.
Rodney
¥7miilion for a watch that doesn’t have a compass, altimeter, world time, gps, waterproof to 100m?
Sanjinosebleed
Yeh let's all blame the dumb trusting rolex owner and not the scumbag who stole it...Surely the police should be able to catch him with surveiilance cameras...oh that's right this is japan, the police have trouble finding their way to work...
purple_depressed_bacon
Clearly money couldn't buy the seller common sense. Talk about being utterly gullible and naive. What fool would part with a 7million yen item let alone leave it with a stranger they met online? This one apparently.
wallace
¥7 million for a watch and you can't even make a call or Hey Siri!
Derek Grebe
What's the betting the watch is very well insured, and that the "thief" and the "seller" have met before?
Paul
I feel sorry for the seller, he is very naive and trusting. Which is good, one should be able to trust another human being to be honorable. It is a great shame that so many are prepared to abuse others trust. So many have no honor. Scum of the earth that's what they are!!!
factchecker
What's dumber about this clown is he can afford a million dollar Rolex, yet still chooses Saitama as a place to reside. A fool and his money are soon parted.
Desert Tortoise
Rolex watches have hidden serial numbers and Rolex perhaps uniquely tracks their watches with detailed records. Every single watch they have ever produced has a record of who it was sold to and subsequent owners, a record of every time it was serviced and where. Every time one comes in for service that information goes to their headquarters. In time that watch will turn up at a watch repair business somewhere and it will be identified as stolen.
starpunk
You better believe it! It's 1 AM where I'm ar and this story is making me LOL just before I hit the sack. Now this is where the seller actually does 'win', he just won the 'honored' title of Big Dummy.
vctokyo
A guy who bought a bike off me asked if he could ride it around. I asked for his ID and held it until he returned. Don't trust anyone. Never put your wallet or iphone to save a seat at the food court. But in Japan this is quite normal and that's how scammers take advantage of it (unfortunately).
Fighto!
Not a million dollar Rolex. A ~$50,000 Rolex.
As for Saitama - yes, it is famously a 'burb for the working classes. But I'd assume there would be some pricier apartments there, too.
quercetum
The seller said, "go and get some tea" お茶を買って来て. In Japan the customer is king and the seller naively did as he was told.
Michael Machida
If the seller was smart, when the buyer asked him to go buy tea, the seller should have said: "Sorry, I don't have any money with me, but you go ahead..." and keep the watch with him at all times. But hey, that's just me. The customer is NOT King until he pays first.
Then he can be a King or a Queen or a Tug Boat Operator. I don't care!
WilliB
Is there a non-lethal version of the Darwin Award?
Nuno Teixeira da Cunha
He filmed the criminal so he is kind but not 100% stupid. Let the police do their work and soon the crimunal will be in locked in prison for a long time
Yuuju
There’s also this thing when some people just have hypnotic abilities. I know quite a lot of stories.
NOMINATION
Next door to my wife's office years ago was a small golf shop. One day, a customer came in and the owner started talking about his watch collection for some reason. He showed the customer his collection which included Rolexes worth tens of millions of yen a piece. Next morning, the owner came back to the store and found the store broken into with all of the watches of course gone. You can't trust any random person even if they seem friendly and genuine.
WilliB
In the video, it seems the police are dusting the door handle for fingerprints. I wonder what the point is, seeing the guy was wearing gloves.
Peeping_Tom
Rolex watches are traceable, due to an inbuilt mechanism.
This joker is on CCTV and on the seller's phone.
He WILL be caught.
Much to J hater's dismay!
WA4TKG
I wouldn’t own a ¥7 Million Rolex in the first place.
Gobshite
Police dusting for prints when the thief wore gloves? Not sure who is the dumbest here, them or the watch owner
Fighto!
Umm, that fact was pointed out very clearly above by Desert Tortoise.
"J haters" or not, it kind of pays to read the thread!
CrashTestDummy
The guy was not smart in the least, but the criminals are worse. Surprised he owned a 46,000 USD Rolex. He should have had that thing chained to himself.
WilliB
WA4TKG
I was surprised to see how ugly that contraption is. I suppose people wear it just just to show off, but does it impress anyone who is not interested in ugly, expensive watches?
Gobshite
Or maybe should have worn it on his wrist?
Desert Tortoise
When I was on active duty there was a fellow pilot who used to buy these $25 fake Rolexes in Hong Kong by the dozen. Every street seemed to have, ahem, "entrepreneurs" selling these things. Looked real, but the sweep second hand was the give away. A Rolex sweep second hand moves continuously. Back in the US he would be at a party somewhere and loudly complain about "this piece of junk Rolex". Then he would take it off his wrist and throw it into a backyard fire pit or indoor fireplace. People would gasp and put their hands to their mouths ^_^
Meanwhile while he was buying his fake Rolexes I made a deal on a no-kidding Tag Heuer wristwatch I've worn almost daily for 34 years. Every few years it needs a battery and a re-seal. It's on its second wristband in 34 years. The high initial price is more than paid back.
Joe Blow
Guys buy these things thinking they'll impress women, but they only impress other guys who are into these things.