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William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
UPCs on Lego sets. Full story here:
http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/win_100k.htm
"WASHINGTON COUNTY - - Early this morning (11/17/05), members of the Washington
County Interagency Fraud and Identity Theft Enforcement Team (FITE), along with
members of the Regional Computer Forensics Lab, served a search warrant on a van
parked in the Target parking lot located at 10075 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy.
The owner of the van was alleged to have stolen over $115,000.00 worth of Lego’s
from the Target Corporation and then sold the toys on eBay.
William A. Swanberg
Detectives questioned a man they suspected of cheating Target stores in five
western states out of over $150,000.00. William A. Swanberg, 40, was detained by
Target security officers after he purchased ten boxes of the Star Wars
Millennium Falcon Lego set. Detectives say that Swanberg had developed a method
to replace the bar code on the more expensive Millennium Falcon set with one
from a less expensive Lego set. He purchased the Lego’s at a greatly reduced
price and then sold them on eBay for close to the retail price.
Target identified the scam after Swanberg allegedly committed the same crime in
Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. Target loss prevention agents had been on
the lookout for Swanberg after their corporate office notified them that he
might be in the Portland Area. When Detectives contacted Swanberg at the Target
store he didn’t want to talk to them about his activities. Detectives obtained a
search warrant for Swanberg’s newer model Ford E-350 van and served it at
approximately 4:00 a.m. this morning. They recovered 56 Star Wars Millennium
Falcon Lego sets valued at approximately $99 each, 22 other miscellaneous Lego
sets, and 5 Harry Potter Lego sets from the van which are thought to have been
stolen from other Target stores in the area. Detectives also seized a notebook
computer where Swanberg identified Target stores in the area and plotted their
locations on mapping software. Swanberg was lodged in Washington County Jail on
two counts of Theft I.
In anticipation of the coming Holidays, The FITE Team is encouraging people to
be especially careful with their financial information. For tips on preventing
fraud and identity theft visit the FITE web page listed below.
The FITE Team (Fraud & Identity Theft Enforcement) is a multi-agency team
currently comprised of Detectives from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office
and the Hillsboro Police Department."
and
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrowest/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_west_news/1132289704309000.xml&coll=7#continue
"WEST SLOPE -- The name Lego comes from the Danish words "leg godt," which
translates to "play well."
It's a lesson William A. Swanberg could learn.
On Thursday morning, Washington County sheriff's investigators searched
Swanberg's van and say they found it packed with the stuff of Christmas dreams:
dozens of high-priced Lego toys.
Swanberg, 40, of Reno, Nev., was arrested the day before at the Target just east
of Oregon 217 on Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway.
Sheriff's investigators and the retailer's security officers accused Swanberg of
theft. They say he cheated Target stores in five Western states by using fake
bar codes to buy more than $115,000 worth of Lego toy sets for 20 cents on the
dollar.
Washington County sheriff's Detective Troy Dolyniuk said Swanberg ran a scam to
acquire and resell the toys across the West. The detective offered this account:
Swanberg would take a real bar code from a cheaper Lego set and reprint it on a
sticker he would slap on an expensive Lego set.
When Swanberg went through the checkout line at a Target, he would hand the
store clerk the item with the fraudulent bar code and show a pile of the same
items in his cart, the detective said. To speed things along, the clerk would
scan the faked bar code sticker multiple times.
Swanberg later sold the items for nearly the full retail price on eBay, Dolyniuk
said.
He was an efficient shopper. Dolyniuk said the van's contents show he had hit
seven Portland-area Target stores on Wednesday -- five in Multnomah County and
two in Washington County.
Swanberg was detained by an employee of the Target on Beaverton-Hillsdale
Highway about 2 p.m. Wednesday and arrested just before 5 p.m.
He was arraigned Thursday on two charges of first-degree theft and held in
Washington County Jail on $250,000 bail.
When authorities looked through the tinted windows of Swanberg's van early
Thursday, they could see stacks of Lego toys. They tallied 56 Star Wars
Millennium Falcon sets (with a $98.99 sticker price); 22 Star Wars Ultimate
Space Battle sets ($49.99); five Harry Potter sets; and three large Ferrari F1
Large Racers ($69.99).
Dolyniuk said the Ferrari sets trace back to a Toys R Us.
The detective credited the sharp eyes of Target's corporate security people for
tracking Swanberg and catching him in time for the holidays.
"Hopefully, we kept him from spoiling some kid's Christmas," Dolyniuk said."
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
> UPCs on Lego sets. Full story here:
>
> http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/win_100k.htm
>
> "WASHINGTON COUNTY - - Early this morning (11/17/05), members of the Washington
> County Interagency Fraud and Identity Theft Enforcement Team (FITE), along with
> members of the Regional Computer Forensics Lab, served a search warrant on a van
> parked in the Target parking lot located at 10075 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy.
> The owner of the van was alleged to have stolen over $115,000.00 worth of Lego’s
> from the Target Corporation and then sold the toys on eBay.
>
> William A. Swanberg
> Detectives questioned a man they suspected of cheating Target stores in five
> western states out of over $150,000.00. William A. Swanberg, 40, was detained by
> Target security officers after he purchased ten boxes of the Star Wars
> Millennium Falcon Lego set. Detectives say that Swanberg had developed a method
> to replace the bar code on the more expensive Millennium Falcon set with one
> from a less expensive Lego set. He purchased the Lego’s at a greatly reduced
> price and then sold them on eBay for close to the retail price.
>
> Target identified the scam after Swanberg allegedly committed the same crime in
> Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. Target loss prevention agents had been on
> the lookout for Swanberg after their corporate office notified them that he
> might be in the Portland Area. When Detectives contacted Swanberg at the Target
> store he didn’t want to talk to them about his activities. Detectives obtained a
> search warrant for Swanberg’s newer model Ford E-350 van and served it at
> approximately 4:00 a.m. this morning. They recovered 56 Star Wars Millennium
> Falcon Lego sets valued at approximately $99 each, 22 other miscellaneous Lego
> sets, and 5 Harry Potter Lego sets from the van which are thought to have been
> stolen from other Target stores in the area. Detectives also seized a notebook
> computer where Swanberg identified Target stores in the area and plotted their
> locations on mapping software. Swanberg was lodged in Washington County Jail on
> two counts of Theft I.
>
> In anticipation of the coming Holidays, The FITE Team is encouraging people to
> be especially careful with their financial information. For tips on preventing
> fraud and identity theft visit the FITE web page listed below.
>
> The FITE Team (Fraud & Identity Theft Enforcement) is a multi-agency team
> currently comprised of Detectives from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office
> and the Hillsboro Police Department."
Reposting in several additional groups. This is an important story with
potential impact upon a whole bunch of people.
Thanks for posting the article. I've been reading the comments over at the
Bricklink forum, where the sale/resale aspect may have widespread repercussions.
Dave!
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I have not met or traded with Bill before. Still, this news shocked me, as if
suddenly I discovered that one of my close friends were a criminal.
It's sad, sad, sad. Stealing is wrong. Stealing for profit is very wrong.
Still, he could have commit the scam to lots of things more valuable, but when
he was caught, the police found only Lego sets in his truck.
Hao-yang Wang
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
| |
William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for
switching.
|
I would expect that he is now a former inventory admin.
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Bob Parker wrote:
| |
In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
| |
William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for
switching.
|
I would expect that he is now a former inventory admin.
|
Bill hasn’t been an admin for awhile, several months if I remember correctly.
Daniel
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Helljin
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Daniel Barrett wrote:
| |
In lugnet.mediawatch, Bob Parker wrote:
| |
In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
| |
William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for
switching.
|
I would expect that he is now a former inventory admin.
|
Bill hasn’t been an admin for awhile, several months if I remember correctly.
|
No, he was an Admin up to the point Dan got wind of this. He was not only
demoted but kicked off the site 100%.
I can see Bill doing this no problem. His ego and attitude led him to think he
was better and smarter than everybody... guess the Target security was smarter
than he was ;)
People ALWAYS get what they deserve, and Bill deserves eveything bad that is
going to come his way.
Mark
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Wow.
How effin' sad.
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
> UPCs on Lego sets. [...]
How pathetic. They say innocent until proven guilty but it sounds like they got
him dead to rights.
I hope this doesn't end up giving all AFOL's a bad name!
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
> UPCs on Lego sets. Full story here:
>
> http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/win_100k.htm
>
> and
> http://www.oregonlive.com/metrowest/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_west_news/1132289704309000.xml&coll=7#continue
I never did like that guy, but I never would have guessed this. He'd better be
able to make up a much more violent or daring crime to tell his cellmates. I
can just imagine what his prison life would be like:
Cellmate Bubba: "Hey you! Yeah you, the scrawny cracker in the corner. What
you in for?"
Swanberg: "I printed off some UPC's and put them on...uh, I mean...I killed a
guy. Yeah, that's it. I killed a guy! And uh, he was bigger than you, and I
did it 'cause he looked at me funny."
Cellmate Ernie: "What?! I heard you conned a bunch of Target stores out of a
bunch of those LEGO toys. You know what else I heard? I heard you wet yourself
and cried like a mamma's boy when the polile hauled you away."
Swanberg: "No, that wasn't me! That must've been some OTHER 40 year old guy
from Reno named Swanberg. OUCH! Hey stop. Really--I'm a tough hardened
criminal. OWW! Let go you guys, I'm serious. You don't want to make
me--OUCH!!!"
Cellmate Bubba: "Make you what? Make you get a concussion?"
I think there might be some rough times coming up for Bill Swanberg.
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In lugnet.mediawatch, David Gregory wrote:
He'd better be
> able to make up a much more violent or daring crime to tell his cellmates.
As I read the report I thought exactly the same thing, although my joke was
going to involve making sure he didn't drop the soap. :-)
Steve
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
> UPCs on Lego sets.
That's so simple I'm surprised I never thought of it, not that I'd ever commit a
crime of course.
Steve
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Steve Lane wrote:
> In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> > William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
> > UPCs on Lego sets.
>
> That's so simple I'm surprised I never thought of it, not that I'd ever commit a
> crime of course.
>
> Steve
Actually, it's one of the oldest scams in the book; that's why those automatic
tellers at Home Depot, etc, have the weight system setup. I'm surprised it
worked so well, I guess the cashier's display just said "ITEM LEGO TOY" or
something like that.
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Tom Dickson wrote:
> I guess the cashier's display just said "ITEM LEGO TOY" or
> something like that.
Most cashiers working in huge toy stores simply don't care.
Pick the one that looks most inexperienced, tired, or both,
and you can probably get away with the most amazingly simple
scams, provided you don't do it too often. That, I think,
was Mr. Swanberg's mistake. (Apart from the fact that he did
it at all, of course. Sacrilege. *Stealing* Lego. Sheesh.)
Stefan G
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for
> switching UPCs on Lego sets.
Ouch! I feel bad because I have traded with this guy and a lot.
He had great deals. Everything was always 20% less than retail ...
even the new stuff.
I would even have he find me special orders.
I always wondered how he could find stuff I needed and for so
inexpensive but now I know ...
I guess he won't be responding to my e-mail that I sent him Sunday
wondering what happened to his store? LOL
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Bryce McGlone wrote:
I hope Mr. Swanberg bought a supply of Preparation H, cause he’s gonna be
hurting... :V)
-HRH
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Bryce McGlone wrote:
Bryce! This is awesome! :-) *ROFL*
-Anne
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Bryce McGlone wrote:
I love the graphic, but you need to change the vehicle to an E350, which is a
van, instead of an F350, which is a pickup truck.
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Bryce McGlone wrote:
How embarrassing for his family, friends, and the entire LEGO community. Now he
has made CNN with this nightmare.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/25/lego.theft.ap/index.html
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HAH!
Isn't it ironic that Target has the Falcon on sale for $49.99? :-)
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
> UPCs on Lego sets. Full story here:
>
> http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/win_100k.htm
There's an update... they searched his house in Reno, and had to rent a 20-foot
truck to haul away his inventory. The story says he sold more than $600K worth
of brick over the last 3 years. Unfortunately, they also mention BrickLink.
http://www.kptv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4163550
Man, this would have to happen in my neck of the woods... he was arrested at the
Target about a mile from my house. I went by the day after he was arrested, and
they had 24 Falcons on the shelves.
- Kelly
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Kelly McKiernan wrote:
> In lugnet.mediawatch, Andrew Bulthaupt wrote:
> > William A. Swanberg, the inventory admin on Bricklink was arrested for switching
> > UPCs on Lego sets. Full story here:
> >
> > http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/media/win_100k.htm
>
> There's an update... they searched his house in Reno, and had to rent a 20-foot
> truck to haul away his inventory. The story says he sold more than $600K worth
> of brick over the last 3 years. Unfortunately, they also mention BrickLink.
>
> http://www.kptv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4163550
<snip>
This is now on CNN as well,
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/25/lego.theft.ap/index.html
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Mr. Swanberg has finally made it to the Daily Rotten...
http://forums.dailyrotten.com/480/00019423/_index.html?712=154
-HRH
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