Scammer purchases $5,500 vintage speakers with stolen credit card

DENVER (KDVR) — Aural HiFi officially opened its storefront in November 2022. But before then, the owner said they had stolen a $5,500 speaker set.

“We have Klipsch Cornwall speakers that we spent a long time on,” says Jeremy Irwin, owner of Aural HiFi.

Irwin says he spends about 100 hours getting the speakers ready for sale. He said in September he was contacted by a man who wanted to buy it.

“I sent the invoice, he bought it online and said he sent an employee to pick it up,” said Irwin.

Customers said they paid by credit card online and then someone took the speakers at Irwin’s house with the help of one of his employees.

“I have a camera at home to keep an eye on the dog so he’s on camera for 20 minutes,” Irwin said.

A few days later Irwin said the money was missing.

“Three days later I got a chargeback, it was purchased with a stolen credit card,” said Irwin. “The credit card owner got his money back, the thieves got their hands on the speaker and we were conned.”

Irwin filed a report with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office including a photograph of the man who had come to take the speaker and his license plate number.

“How impertinent of him,” said Irwin.

Irwin said he tried to call the man after he learned the allegations were fraudulent. She said the man never answered.

“I had one of my employees call and he answered,” says Irwin.

FOX31 and Channel 2 reached out to the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office for updates on the investigation. They told us they would not be able to speak to investigators until Monday. Irwin shared a copy of the report with our news team.

“When you put a lot of time and effort into something, it’s hard to sell at first but to steal,” says Irwin.

He said their team had changed the policy regarding online ordering. He said at pickup they would ask for ID that matched the name on the card. He said they would also wait for online order delivery to make sure the transaction was successful.

“I think part of the scam is getting the item before the stolen card shows up,” said Irwin.

The speaker has a serial number and they have been monitoring it online to see if the person is trying to resell it.

“If he puts it somewhere for sale, we’ll see,” said Irwin.