Southern California - Beware of new Bike SCAM South BAY

The Manager of Helen's Cycles (my old shop) Daniel Bomfim just had his Look 595 Ultra stolen last week through a clever scam!



Below is what happened to Daniel:



Bonking ... not feelin' wellStolen Look 595 - Watch out for this scam

Look 595 Ultra Size L (55,56), Black and White, all dura ace, Look 130mm stem, deda Aluminum bars.
Serial# S210I6LD10

Be aware of this scam.
I was sitting outside a coffee shop, a guy walked with a pretty nice road bike and asked me if I could keep an eye on it while he gets coffee.
He comes back out and starts to ask me about the local riding scene. He tells me he just moved here from Costa Rica, and is staying just up the road with his uncle, who he tells me owns a bike shop in Long Beach.
After a while I tell him I have to go. He tells me he is going the same way and will ride part of the way with me.
Part the way up, he says he lives right there, and asked me to hold his bike while he gets his uncle's shop's business card. Comes back saying he forgot the house key.
Another guy walks up from down the street, and he introduces him to me as his cousin who lives around the corner. Then asks his cousin to take his bike and come back with the business card. So now the cousin is gone with the first guy's bike.
We wait a little, talk bike stuff, he asks to see how light my bike is, then to hop on it for a spin "right here".
Yes, he rode away with it.
I didn't want to come across like a jerk. But I guess we should learn to tell someone that we are not comfortable with other people riding your bike

Thanks,
Daniel





Also today we heard…..


The same guy stole another bike on San Vicente with the same scam, and also tried to steal one of a Helens Cycles customer's bike while that guy was riding. So he is around, even uses the same name ("Fabian" and speaks w/ poor English).

So please Beware and let Daniel know if you happen to see his Bike!

Look 595 Ultra Size L (55,56), Black and White, all dura ace, Look 130mm stem, deda Aluminum bars.
Serial# S210I6LD10


I also had another forwarded to me awhere the individual asks for help fixing a flat and as you hold his bike, he rides off on yours.

They both appear to be legit.

Cary

Contact info:
Daniel S. Bomfim
Helen's Cycles
Manhattan Beach, California
310-321-5290

Classic confidence scam.

Classic confidence scam.

Yeah...and people wonder why I don't trust anybody I don't know or refuse strangers from riding my bike.

Thieves, lowest form of life.

I'm a suspicious one myself, so much so that sometimes I think I might end up being a jerk to people that aren't a threat.

I was locking my bike up and taking my panniers off to do a little grocery shopping a few weeks ago. This guy approaches me and starts saying how nice my bike is and how he used to ride and wanted to get back into it. I offer him some advice on how to get back in the saddle and I was friendly until his demeanor got a little odd and he started asking me how much a bike like mine cost. That's when I decided to keep on riding and shop at a different store.

A few days ago a guy about 20 years old is at the bike rack when I ride up to lock my bike up and do some grocery shopping (different store than above). He's smoking and seems to be nervous. As I'm locking my bike up he asks if I can also lock his bike up as he doesn't have a lock and just needs to run into the store real quick. I was a bit suspicious but went with it. I did my shopping and everything was fine. He thanked me and that was that. I still think about that one and try to figure how that could have been a scam even though it wasn't in this case.

I'd like to say I'm to smart to be fooled but the victims probably thought that too.

Really sucks about the bike, hopefully it will turn up. I hope he understands the importance of filing a police report immediately. I think alot of people think it will never turn up, but here is a happy story for you.

A group of musicians who I went to college with were performing at a church of all places when someone broke into about 8 cars in the parking lot. Many of the musicians had spare instruments stolen out of the back of their cars or even their trunks. Some people left their better more expensive instruments in the car because they were using those later that evening at the Disney Concert Hall. A notable instrument that was taken was a cello which was not brought inside for the risk of damaging it. It was worth over $80,000. One of my good friends had his nicer bassoon stolen that was worth over $36,000.

Long story short, a few weeks later, cops end up raiding an apartment that was reported as having stolen goods. Everyone's instruments were found along with a whole bunch of other merchandise. Looks like these scammers found a good way to steal but not a good way to turn what they stole into cash. Let's hope he gets his bike back.

I would have said

I am not your beotch, watch your own bike

and

no one rides the whip but me

not super friendly but I would still have my bike



the 'tude is from me having a bike stolen once a long time
ago and my heart has been stone since

maybe the OP's bike wasnt actually stolen. 14 years ago i was selling my motorcycle and 3 guys from new york showed up. one of them was interested. he asked if he could take it for a test drive. since only one person can ride a motorcycle i said yes but i said his buddies had to stay with me in the front yard. they said fine.
the interested buyer said he wasnt very good on a motorcycle and it was going to be his first bike. he said he was going to ride it for about 5-10 minutes. he then rides away. 10 minutes goes by and i am thinking he stole my motorcycle. 15 minutes goes by and i tell his friends "you know, if he is not back in 3 minutes i am calling the cops" they say "he'll be back, i promise you he isnt stealing your bike". 20 minutes goes by and i say "thats it, i am calling the cops". his buddies replied "dude, maybe we should go look for him, maybe he got lost. we are worried too". i said "no way you are leaving my house. i am writting down your license plate number and calling the cops right now". they begged me not to call the cops but then finally said "you should call the cops cause we honestly dont know, maybe he did steal your bike but that doesnt sound like him". 10 minutes later the cops show up and fan out through the neighboorhood. 20 minutes later they said they found the rider and the bike abou 100 yards from my house in a little ravine off the road. he had crashed and broken his collarbone and some ribs.
the guy ended up buying the bike to make up for the damage.

moral of the story ? go look in the ravines and ditches by your house. maybe the rider and bike are in there, lol

Would never happen to me! I would never touch your bike so don't friggin' ask to ride mine!:mad:

For me, expensive stuff are like underwear...you just don't share those things, only with those very close to you. In all honestly if someone were to ask me the things he asked I'd probably tell them I have to get going I've got to be somewhere.

Would never happen to me! I would never touch your bike so don't friggin' ask to ride mine!:mad:

Even if it's one of your longtime riding partners or someone in your club? I would think it I had a nice to unique bike that someone was thinking about buying one like, I'd let them test ride it....but, not some stranger.
Chris

Even if it's one of your longtime riding partners or someone in your club? I would think it I had a nice to unique bike that someone was thinking about buying one like, I'd let them test ride it....but, not some stranger.
Chris

Agreed. I have a buddy who helps me with my bike every now and then when I have mechanical oddities I can't diagnose or simply because I don't know everything about bikes yet. I'll let him ride it if need be to get a better understanding of what's going on.

Would never happen to me! I would never touch your bike so don't friggin' ask to ride mine!:mad:

Even if it's one of your longtime riding partners or someone in your club? I would think it I had a nice to unique bike that someone was thinking about buying one like, I'd let them test ride it....but, not some stranger.
Chris

I doubt that's what Beans meant...but maybe not.

I have tools that are many, many times cheaper than my bike that I wouldn't loan to a neighbor (don't misread this, I would do the work for them instead) yet alone to some stranger I've known for a few minutes. I agree with Beans, I wouldn't dream of asking someone I don't know to ride their bike and someone I don't know asking to ride mine would send up a huge red flag.

The victim stated that he didn't want to be a jerk by not letting the guy ride his bike...I believe that's exactly the kind of people con artists prey on.

I wonder what the cleat and pedal situation was. Probably unlikely that the thief clicked in and pedaled off.

Even if it's one of your longtime riding partners or someone in your club? I would think it I had a nice to unique bike that someone was thinking about buying one like, I'd let them test ride it....but, not some stranger.
Chris


Well maybe a friend in that case. But really, I wouldn't ride another bud's bike. I had a bud ask if I wanted to ride his Orbea. As much as I would have liked to ride one, I didn't. Just feel uncomfy thinking of what might happen....To much Judge Judy I guess!:roflmao2: