Trout Republic

This week found Ol’ Dutch running the normal errands -- you know things like the farm supply store, Home Depot, the sporting goods store and the Big Box plus gas in the truck -- while Miss Trixie did the laundry.
It was business as usual for me and Cooper driving to these places and he hung his head out the window like a dog. Well, I guess he is a dog so there is that too.
My last stop before returning to find Trixie was for fuel. While there, two young men pulled up beside me and began to talk at me. While I have been blessed with hearing aids, I am reluctant to wear them and when strangers talk to me, they may as well be talking to a fence post.
They finally got out of the car and Ol’ Dutch immediately sized them up for the danger factor. Even at my advanced age, as Miss Trixie likes to say, I figured I could probably take both of them in a toe-to-toe so I hung around to hear just what they had to say.
It seems that their boss came into a windfall in the stereo and surround sound department and they were willing to pass that savings onto me. I could totally understand their generosity since I am such a good guy. Well I am a guy anyway.
They flashed brochures in front of my eyes like a Disney layout of the old cartoon drawings making a blur of numbers and models and figures without the cartoon sequence Walt Disney used to show us every Sunday Night.
Soon we got to the bottom line: how much would it cost me to get said stereo out the door of the minivan?
Now Ol’ Dutch is usually pretty cautious around such doin’s and there is probably no bigger skeptic than me but I sure liked the looks of that stereo.
The boxes were all sealed with company logo tape and it appeared legit and they went from the starting price of $500 down to $100 in about three minutes.
I mean, how bad a deal could that be? Let me tell you exactly how bad a deal.
So this being one of my saner moments I texted Miss Trixie who has those internet magic fingers and within 15 seconds she was able to tell me that it’s the newest scam on the street.
Watching the video she sent I was able to see that inside the boxes is nothing more than cement and plastic. Saved by the proverbial bell. Miss Trixie. Ding!
Of late there are so many scams on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace that the phrase “let the buyer beware” is not even close to how doubtful you need to be when you find the deal of a lifetime.
Boats and cars, tractors and event tickets and wheels and tires are the scammers favorite items to cheat people on so it seems. Most of the time you can tell it’s a scam as the seller lists an email separate and apart from the webpages. That way they are untraceable.
Most of them involve having the buyer wire funds for the purchase with a money back guarantee if you don’t like the item. I have long been onto this game and often will respond just to see what their spiel is.
One guy even offered to ship me a bass boat from Greece and when I asked if they could just drive it over to Florida they said “sure.”
So, folks, always remember the old adage: if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. And as hard as it is to say this Miss Trixie came in handy once again saving me from the purchase as I am full up on concrete blocks.

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is [email protected]. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.