Been Threatened via Text Messages - What to Do？

CharityCase on 13/12/2016 - 16:46
Last edited 13/12/2016 - 17:38 by 1 other user

Hi guys, I need some help.
I will try to make this post short and easy to read.

I try to help my friend to find someone who can duplicate keyfobs, for the apartment she just leased from an agent. The reason she wants to get the keyfob copied from somewhere else is because the strata charges a ridiculous money for that.

I found this guy online and directly contacted him via texts, during the chat he confirmed he can copy the keyfob and gave me a quote which is close to what the strata charges. I mentioned that someone else that I talked to can do it much cheaper (I am an Ozbargainer and I compare prices), I didn't even ask him to lower the price or make a counter offer.

Suddenly he became very aggressive and claimed he is only one who has the licence for duplicating keyfobs and all others are "idiots and scammers". He asked me to give him the mobile number of the other keyfob copying guy whom I also found online if I want "no troubles". He also mentioned my real name (which I have no idea where he got it from, maybe by searching my number online and found my old Gumtree posts,etc). During the chat he was very hostile and aggressive and called my dickhead and made threats to me. I am kind of scared now since he found my real name and seems like he will try to screw me up in any possible ways.

Now what should I do? Would the police bother investigating this or should I just block this guy and maybe change my number?

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks in advance!

• 

  try2bhelpful on 13/12/2016 - 17:11

  +1

  Report this guy to the cops, so you have this on record in case anything does happen. This "tool" will probably cool down and leave you alone but if he keeps hassling you make him aware you have reported him to the cops and that you are keeping his messages as evidence. Just keep in mind that he might be right about the other guys being scammers so pay them in a way that can be backed out easily. I would definitely not get him to make the fob, do you really want him having a key to your friends apartment? Have you tried negotiating with the Strata title to see if they will drop the price or at least give her some sort of refund if she gives back both fobs at the end of the lease time.

  • 

    CharityCase on 13/12/2016 - 17:47

    Now I am more concerned with the safety of both myself and my friend rather than getting the keys copied . I also send the photo of the key fob which has a number on it and I also told the name of the building to him so he probably knows where my friend lives…

    • 

      firstworldproblems on 14/12/2016 - 17:47

      bro.. don't take offense to this but you have an anxiety disorder don't you?

      • 

        CharityCase on 14/12/2016 - 17:54

        No I don't. I still sleep well at night after this because he did not harm me physically however I still feel a little upset since there's someone who know my name and where I live threatened me and I have no idea about his identity.

      • 

        firstworldproblems on 14/12/2016 - 18:05

        blocking him? has he even contacted you since? changing your number? why? i guarantee you right now he's totally forgotten about you.

        worse case scenario: he actually knocks on your door. the likelihood is 1 in 1000. you open it, but you have a zippo lighter in one hand and a bottle of metho in the other. he turns around and walks away. the likelihood of that is 999/1000. you then call the cops and deal with it then.

        bullies exist because people don't stand up to them.

      • 

        cloudy on 14/12/2016 - 22:14

        as OP said, he didn't give the guy his full name, yet he has somehow found out. Obviously this person is taking this a bit seriously, going online searching for OP details via gumtree (this would worry me too).

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  k-rokfm on 13/12/2016 - 17:33

  +2

  Block his number

• 

  Diji1 on 13/12/2016 - 18:32

  +4

  He's gonna get you!

  • 

    Kangal on 13/12/2016 - 18:41

    Not if you invite him over and answer the door in full-nude.
    Have rubber toy in hand to show him you mean fun.

    • 

      xoom on 13/12/2016 - 18:55

      +4

      Invite him over. Then pee on him to show dominance.

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  mbck on 13/12/2016 - 18:58

  Where did you meet this guy?…wait…gumtree?

  For the next few weeks just travel in pairs as a precaution. Stop communicating. Report to the police so you have a record as someone mentioned. Put all your socials on private (like it should already be private anyways…).

  Get a 9mm, baseball bat, a tank…oh wait no ignore this part…

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  Cousin Eddie on 13/12/2016 - 19:10

  +3

  Put on your big boy pants and deal with it. Whats this guy done anyway. It's not a police issue. Life is full of conflict. Don't waste time about what if. Move on. You chose not to use his service and he was insulted. Leave it at that. You don't get far in business insulting people. Sometimes the cheap alternative isn't the best alternative. Everybody pays the piper!

  • 

    CharityCase on 13/12/2016 - 19:52

    Of course I would not use his service and I'm more than happy to just walk away if he didn't make threats to me. There is no way he can approve he is legitimate keyfob copier with a licence as he is no different from the other guys I found online who offer the same service.
    I totally forget about getting the keyfobs copied now as I concern about my safety more

    • 

      Slippery Fish on 14/12/2016 - 11:26

      Lol. People with this personality type should #NOT be ignored, it will fester and he will either move on or lose his shit.

      Ring and appoligise for offending him and mention the strata has copied keys for you as they are the only ones who are allowed to.

      You dont have to mean it but this will cool his jets.

    • 

      firstworldproblems on 14/12/2016 - 17:45

      personally, and this is because i suffer from way too much pride to let someone even think that i was intimidated, i'd have laughed at him and given my actual address. men who truly inspire fear don't tell you what they're going to do to you. it's kinda like how the person who is actually getting the most sex isn't the one who keeps bragging about it.

      just put it down to affective dysregulation. now, if only he could put as much passion into lowering his costs and more effectively compete in the free market, then perhaps he'd be a total winner.

  • 

    try2bhelpful on 14/12/2016 - 07:23

    +1

    Really, "big boy pants"? This guy has become very aggressive, with no provocation, and he is someone who cuts keys for people, knows their addresses and even looked up this person's phone number, online, to find out their name. This is not someone I consider to be entirely benign nor someone I would ignore. The police will probably say there is nothing they can do, but if something does happen they at least have a record that they have been notified. Like you, I assume the key cutter will cool down and realise he has made a complete idiot of himself but I am not thrilled that someone with that personality type has access to keys for peoples homes.

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  trustnoone on 14/12/2016 - 00:31

  Honestly I'd either way just hit up the police station, just tell them you're worried since he got all this information off you (names and stuff) and you don't know what this belligerent person could do as he threatened you, so you'd like to make a report in case anything happens (I'm sure they'll be happy knowing they don't have to do much besides a report). I've never made a police report before but I assume they just note down the information and time and date and just keep it for a while incase the need arises. Then I'd just ignore the guy and never message him back, you don't need that negativity in your life, theres not much he can really do, and theres no reason for him to do so, like verbally if you reply back its easy for him to be a **** but physically doing anything just seems a bit farfetched.

  I guess you could try De-escalacting the situation (though I have no idea how bad the guy would react, and probably not worth your time), tell them that you apologise but apparently the price that you were told was incorrect and the guy does have great prices but your friend has changed their mind on getting a new one, or that they are redoing the locks of the whole place to not need fobs anymore as the person is old, or doesn't understand them, or loses them often etc.

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  [Deactivated] on 14/12/2016 - 07:40

  If you are legit, why didn't you give him your real name to start with?

  • 

    CharityCase on 14/12/2016 - 09:35

    I'm not quite sure what u mean here but the legit way to get ur apartment keyfobs copied is through the strata however strata charges $400 for that little keyfob which is too much for my friend, that's why she asked me if I can help to find someone who can copy it for lower costs.

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  Olokun on 14/12/2016 - 07:54

  All you have to do is send a message to the guy saying that you are no longer going ahead with getting the key copied, thank him for his time and that you will be ceasing communication.

  If you continue to receive messages after making it clear that you do not wish to be contacted anymore then you have a good reason to be concerned and to approach the police regarding this matter.

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  CharityCase on 14/12/2016 - 10:03

  Just a little update: this guy posts many ads on different forums and websites in many languages (English Chinese Thai Vietnamese korean ) and he has two mobile numbers. I did a little search on Google using his number and found out I was not the only one got threatened and abused.
  Several users commented and complained about this guy on Australia Reverse Phone, apparently they all had similar experience, found this guy online through his ad, contacted him made enquiries about his key card copying service then got abused and threatened, some victims already reported to police but I dont know why he is still active. I also don't understand his motivation behind all of this , if he does copy key cards (legally or illegally ) for money, why would he threaten his potential customers?

  • 

    xoom on 14/12/2016 - 12:17

    why would he threaten his potential customers?

    its usually to shame them, embarrass them to cough up the cash. similar to every drongo on gumtree. case in point a seller being called a bed wetter by a buyer of a laptop after making a ludicrously low ball offer.