Breakfast Granola for 8/5/9

File this under "Don't take fake shakes":

Two men who authorities say went door to door in a San Jose neighborhood in an effort to sell fake plasma TVs and broken computers as brand new merchandise were arrested by Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies.

Darryl Williams, 48, and Vernon Green, 53, both from Richmond, were taken into custody last week on suspicion of attempted grand theft by fraud, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.

[....]

Deputies searched the [suspects'] minivan and found 10 packages, each labeled as a brand new 46" Sony plasma flat-screen television that contained wooden blocks (about 46 inches in length and 3 inches in diameter) and 25 packages, each labeled as a brand new Dell laptop computer, that contained broken computers.
"One computer was missing 10 keys and was about 10 years old," [Sgt. Rick] Sung said.

At first, both men denied selling any merchandise to anyone in the area and that they were just 'hanging out,' Sung said. Once deputies discovered the fake merchandise, the suspects told the deputies that they were selling the merchandise as "gag" gifts.

Unfortunately, FMD Apache Chief and myself know someone who has fallen prey to such scams. REPEATEDLY. Let's just say that "Melty" has a lovely red ceramic Dell laptop and an equally priceless scrap metal iPod.

The moral of this story: Caveat emptor.