Suspected Stolen Air 2 in Sydney Aus

[kazaly]

There is an Air 2 with Fly More Combo and a locked account being advertised by Cash Converters in Merrylands: Link to Ad
I tried to get a serial but Cashies refused so I suspect they know it's a hottie.
Maybe someone in this forum knows of someone who has suffered a recent theft?
Or knows a friendly local copper?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I think is would be daft for a pawnbroker to advertise knowingly stolen goods, surely that is a criminal offence in Australia?
I'd bet it's more likely they bought it not knowing it could be bound and have been caught out with a lemon.

 

[msinger]

The "locked account" mention in the listing doesn't necessarily mean it's stolen. Some other possibilities -- maybe Cash Converters forgot to ask the seller to unlock the drone (something a lot of people have been forgetting recently) or it was sold to Cash Converters by a relative/widow of the drone owner.

 

[kazaly]

I think is would be daft for a pawnbroker to advertise knowingly stolen goods, surely that is a criminal offence in Australia?
I'd bet it's more likely they bought it not knowing it could be bound and have been caught out with a lemon.

Quite likely Yorkie, and yes, it is a criminal offence but that is no excuse for knowingly disposing of a suspected stolen item commercially.
Cash Converters is a large pawn shop chain in Aus with a bad reputation for fencing stolen goods.
The only reason this transaction came unstuck for them was that the drone had been account locked by the victim.
Had it not been for that they would have sold it on.
As it is, rather than trying to sell it for parts, they could have contacted the local coppers as they should have recorded the pawn client's details and DJI are quite capable of identifying the victim via the serial #

 

[kazaly]

The "locked account" mention in the listing doesn't necessarily mean it's stolen. Some other possibilities -- maybe Cash Converters forgot to ask the seller to unlock the drone (something a lot of people have been forgetting recently) or it was sold to Cash Converters by a relative/widow of the drone owner.

I've been online with a DJI rep and apparently the locking of an account is a deliberate act and not the equivalent of forgetting to unbind.
It seems this is the DJI equivalent of locking a lost or stolen mobile phone via its IMEI number.
If there was a simple oversight, the pawnbroker should have the customer details so contacting for correction should be possible (and advisable as this drone is now discounted by almost $900).
The Cash Converters chain in Aus has a bad rep for receiving stolen goods.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Eek, I have bought from the UK version of it, that's worrying.

 

[msinger]

I've been online with a DJI rep and apparently the locking of an account is a deliberate act and not the equivalent of forgetting to unbind

Sometimes people use the phrase "locked out" meaning the previous owner still has the aircraft bound to their DJI account. If you're in fact confirming DJI locked the aircraft due to it being reported as stolen (which is something they do), then, yes, it's most likely a stolen aircraft.

 

[Dumeinao]

Great to know the difference.

I have a Delorme InReach v1 from 10 years ago. Apparently I somehow ended up owing them $15USD at the end of my 1 year contract and didn't know back then. They reported it on my credit and it took 7 years to fall off.

BUT ALSO, I recently found the unit in my hiking accessories box and thought it would be fun to see if it was still functional and usable as the v2's are out now.

Turns out the IMEI / Serial is locked and not able to be used.

I haven't contacted them yet but it would seem to be a similar situation.

FWIW the v1 really sucked to use back then, even on top of Half Dome, Mt. Whitney and places you'd THINK it would work great.