The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cabbie tells of watch scam bid as he sat in car park
A cabbie has warned that rogue traders may be operating a watch scam in the Dundee area.
Paul Cooper, who has driven taxis for more than 15 years, was approached by a man in the Asda Milton of Craigie car park.
He said the man drove up to his taxi in a black car and offered him two watches in a bag.
The man had claimed he was scheduled to fly home from Edinburgh Airport and didn’t want to pay tax on the items.
Paul, from Barnhill, said “alarm bells” started ringing when the man offered him a third watch for a three–figure sum.
He said the man
– who spoke with a foreign accent – had not been aggressive in his approach.
Paul said he wanted to speak out to ensure others weren’t scammed.
He said: “I had been sitting in the second row of parked cars in Asda.
“The guy pulled up and he spoke with an Italian accent. He was on his own in the car.
“Initially he offered me two watches in a bag for free and told me to ‘take them’.
“Then he gave me a story that he was scheduled to fly home from Edinburgh Airport.
“He had a map out in his car and said he’d left Aberdeen.
“He said he didn’t want to pay tax on the watches.
“After that he offered me a third watch for £250. I told the guy I wasn’t interested.”
Paul added: “I contacted the police just to make them aware about what had happened at the supermarket.
“The police told me they had heard about one or two similar incidents.”