Bought a suspected stolen/found GoPro from Cash Converters

CVonC on 21/09/2015 - 18:44

Guys, I was looking for a new GoPro Hero 4 Silver before my overseas trip last week. I resorted to buying a secondhand 3+ Black after calling multiple branches of Cash Converters and CEX (WeBuy) as it was only $250. The particular unit I got had a SanDisk 64GB Ultra mSD card already. Scored! Upon checking the contents, it still had pictures and videos of a Vietnamese (I believe) couple's European holiday. The last few pics were of some random middle-aged Asian guy in what seems to be an emptyish apartment unit. It was rather weird.

What should I do? Take it back to CC and get a refund? Take it to the police? Although I doubt that would result in anything. I would like to try and find the couple somehow through the power of the interwebs (I know the guy's first name) and send them their holiday photos at the very least. I don't think they're from Australia.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Poll Options

  • 1
    Take it back to Cash Converters
  • 1
    Hand it to the police
  • 12
    Find owner
  • 29
    Keep it
  • 0
    Other
General Discussion

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Comments

  • t_c on 21/09/2015 - 19:09
    +3

    Why does someone forgetting to format the SD card make you think its stolen?

    • CVonC on 21/09/2015 - 19:50

      Cos of the last few pics as I said

  • spackbace on 21/09/2015 - 19:17

    Tried a Google image search on any of the pictures?

    They may have also just offloaded it before they left the country?

    • CVonC on 21/09/2015 - 19:52

      Haven't yet

      Doubt it cos of the way it was packaged.. well not packaged. Just the gopro on a monopod with charging cable and car charger.

      How often do holiday goers offload their equipment before leaving? If they even had the time ie.

  • gooddealmate on 21/09/2015 - 19:19

    You would expect that Cash Converters have done their checks to ensure it wasn't stolen in the first place. Not your problem now, you bought it in good faith.

    As mentioned above, may be because the previous owner didn't delete the card.

    • justhooked on 21/09/2015 - 19:31
      +1

      I have found stolen items of mine in a cash converters so it does happen

      • CVonC on 21/09/2015 - 19:57

        You've bought a stolen item or you found your stolen item at a cash converters? If the latter, what was the outcome?

        • justhooked on 21/09/2015 - 23:06

          I went to the local police station with my police report number detailed the items that were at the cash converters as described in the report . they said they would look into it and asked if I had claimed insurance which I had . Looked a week later goods were still in the store
          Went back and asked why and they said it was still under investigation! So in other words
          Couldn't give a stuff as I had claimed insurance. Some of the items were still in the store
          A month later

        • CVonC on 22/09/2015 - 14:05

          @justhooked:

          So you never got them back? :/

          Wonder if CC told the police who sold it to them.

          Curious to know what items they were if you don't mind.

        • justhooked on 22/09/2015 - 18:01
          +1

          @CVonC:

          I never got them back as I had claimed the insurance, I believe the police never
          Followed up on it . The items were BBQ, lawn mover , edger and other outdoor
          Equipment , the whole lot were in the store and I knew they were mine as I had made modifications to some and others had markings on that I put on them. The modifications and marking were also on the police report

      • cim85 on 22/09/2015 - 08:25
        +1

        +1 … I have also discovered stolen items at Cash Converters - the coppers issued a hold notice on the items while they investigated. The items were collected by the insurance company as they had paid out the claim.

        • CVonC on 22/09/2015 - 14:06

          So you got a full refund from CC?

          Curious to know what items they were if you don't mind

        • cim85 on 22/09/2015 - 19:58
          +1

          @CVonC Hi there, Full refund on digital camera.

    • CVonC on 21/09/2015 - 19:54
      +1

      There is a video on there that he should have deleted lol..

      It's easier to check stolen mobile phones but gopros and other like gadgets?

      • [Deactivated] on 22/09/2015 - 02:09
        +3

        There is a video on there that he should have deleted lol..

        O_O

  • oscargamer on 21/09/2015 - 19:22

    seriously?

    format and move on

  • boonanza on 21/09/2015 - 19:30
    +5

    Maybe the Asian guy was just in the wong place at the wong time…

  • Cave Fire on 21/09/2015 - 20:22

    Well, there's still no evidence it was stolen. The camera could have been sold or gifted to the second person or maybe he lent them his camera in the first place. The couple could have just copied their photos from the card and forgot to delete afterwards.

  • try2bhelpful on 21/09/2015 - 20:32
    +1

    You think cash converters would at least format the card before selling his on. I would, at least, go back and talk to them about it.

    • CVonC on 22/09/2015 - 14:10

      Yeah I don't think cash converters do any real checks tbh. Only if it turns on. They do provide 90 day warranty though.

      Tbh I don't really see the point of talking to them. They'll probably just put it back on the shelf.

  • resubaehtgnolhcs on 21/09/2015 - 20:55
    +1

    It could have been pawned (ie. left as security for a loan) which could explain why the SD card was not formatted - originally the owner may have planned on coming back and paying off the loan. However, their circumstances may have changed and owner may have never come back to pay off the loan, hence the item is for sale as is…?

    • CVonC on 25/09/2015 - 19:58

      if that was the case then there shouldn't have been pics of the random asian guy in his apartment

  • GourmetFoodie on 21/09/2015 - 21:16

    Sadly Im not sure there is much you can do. You really don't know the true circumstances behind how it came to cash converters. It could be stolen, it could be that they asked their son/friend to sell it to CC on their behalf and he decided to play with it and take a few random photos prior to doing so. Who knows….I think you should just format the card and move on to enjoy your purchase. If it WAS stolen, they likely got insurance money for it regardless!

  • [Deactivated] on 21/09/2015 - 21:24
    +3

    On the balance of probabilities, buying an article which features others' photographs or original content can only lead to one reasonable assumption - that the article (or storage device within that article) is not new.

    However, given that you've bought this at Cash Converters, you would've known that their stock is not new. That's not the issue anyway. What I'm simply saying is that finding someobody else's photos on a storage device is no more proof of theft, than not finding any such photos implying that that device isn't stolen.

    A stolen device could eaily be wiped clean, and a legitimately pre-owned purchase could well have the previous owner's content stored on it. On its own, pre-existing content on that device is only proof of prior usage, not theft or misappropriation.

    • CVonC on 22/09/2015 - 14:15

      Yeah I totally get what you're saying. It's just that the last few pics are totally weird with no correlation to the majority.

  • Geekomatic on 21/09/2015 - 21:27
    +7

    As much as I salute your inherent honesty (really do)- the thing will never get sorted & the unit will end up at a police auction in a few months.

    Keep it & move on.

    HTH

    • CVonC on 22/09/2015 - 14:17

      Yeah I agree.. It's just that if I was in the couple's situation and had lost my holiday snaps and vids, I'd be pretty devo. And that's why I'd like to somehow contact them and find out whether or not they did.

  • scrimshaw on 21/09/2015 - 22:31

    You could try posting it on Facebook and Reddit, and hope that the couple, or friends of the couple, stumble upon it.

  • endotherm on 21/09/2015 - 22:55

    Do GoPro's have a GPS/geotagging function? A look at the photo metadata should give you a location to investigate. I find it strange you suspect it to be stolen based on a couple of pictures of a lonely man in an apartment. If you are convinced, go to the police who will be able to check the stores second-hand goods register and determine where it came from. Legally you are the new owner, and if the old "owner" wants it back they have to go through the courts to do so.

    • CVonC on 22/09/2015 - 14:27

      No they don't. But it's easy to tell where they are given the landmarks and stuff. They were in Australia too.

      And yeah I understand that I'm legally the new owner. My main concern really is if the couple did actually lose their pics, I want to return it to them. Losing a gadget is fine. But sentimental memories is a heart breaker.

      • endotherm on 22/09/2015 - 16:28

        Landmarks are fine but I was hoping a GPS coordinate would give you a door to knock on. What is the date of the photos? Is there a large gap between the holiday snaps and the grimm suicide photos :)? Perhaps the card comes from a completely different device and CC just threw in some random card for testing. Does the camera type match the camera used to take the photos (I assume that info is also in the metadata)? Perhaps the camera was set up for motion detection and what you have are photos of the thief before he stole the camera from the holidaymakers? Not a good idea to confront some random stranger in an attempt to do the right thing if this is the case!

        • CVonC on 25/09/2015 - 20:07

          nah unfortunatley no GPS data at all

          i don't think the dates were set correctly either.. the first lot of pics were dated 01/01/2013. so likely it wasn't set from the default date. last date of pics was 03/08/2014.

          the weird pics if the guy in the apartment are dated somewhere in between but the filenames indicate they are all after the holiday.

          all pics were taking on the gopro according to exif.

          and no, pics of the guy were kinda like side selfies (burst) and of his own emptyish apartment :S

  • YaBigGoose on 22/09/2015 - 00:01

    What if you track down the original owners who then say it was stolen (when it's not) expecting it back.
    You bought it from a legit seller (Cashies, as legit as you could call them) in good faith.
    If you're that bothered just format the card.

    Or give the GoPro to me (:P just kidding hahah).

    • CVonC on 22/09/2015 - 14:29

      You bring up a good point. If they do want it back then I don't have a problem at all with that. As long as I get my money back too.

  • ozzie freddo on 22/09/2015 - 17:35
    +1

    Full marks for you being so kind to think of the previous owners.
    Based on all the good points raised so far, it's a real minefield of issues to solve…if only it was as simple as on all those TV dramas where all the loose ends are magically tied together to reveal "who dunnit".
    But in deciding that it is all too hard and doing a reformat of the memory just think how many people you are saving from having to look at the couple's boring holiday snaps.

    • CVonC on 25/09/2015 - 20:09

      lol.. yeah.. i'm just putting myself in their shoes.. they're quite nice and varied holiday snaps tbh..

      i think i'm inclining to put it on social media

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