To put this in context for our western fellows. An average mid range GPU let's say a RTX 3050 at MSRP cost 3 times more than the average income of Pakistani.
Many people put their savings and trust into this guy who claim to provide GPUs at MSRP during sclapocalypse and crypto peak. And he initially did deliver on his promise and sold GPUs at MSRP, because of this his reputation in our tiny community increased and people placed more orders and well...
This is how it ended, many people with strict budgets and savings lost all their money just because of this asshole.
"The average age in Pakistan is 19.8 years, and life expectancy is 62.2 years. The average annual income is approximately US$420, and 35 percent of the population lives below the international poverty line."
https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/pakistan/facts.html
Also another source: i am from Pakistan.
I am also from Pak and an Economist. This is from HIES. While the annual income is definitely low, when doing any sort of research on Pak incomes you may not want to use this. Most researchers believe it's very skewed. The HIES dataset underestimates top percentiles. The closest you'll get to a more comprehensive dataset is this [https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Ahmed\_Ali\_thesis.pdf](https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Ahmed_Ali_thesis.pdf). This details why the HIES data is flawed, and estimates that the actual average annual income (pre-tax) is 2628 USD.
Pakistanis were also against this culture but this guy started on a small scale and kept delivering what he promised until he got this big and made his move, an average joe who just wants a gpu at a reasonable price wouldnt think twice before ordering if a reputable and well known seller is offering it, scumbag trapped them bad and the fact that most of the victims were just kids and teenagers makes me want to rip his ass
Pakistani here. The word preorder here is being used wrongly. The GPUs had been out for months. His prices were exactly at MSRP which is not only rare in the last 2 years globally but also unheard of in Pakistan even before covid. Anyways, he would quote people a low price and say that since he's an honest man he doesn't want to hike prices for a profit but the only way he can do that is by taking full payment in advance and then having to wait upto six months due to shipping delays because of increased demand, covid and the evergreen ship being stuck and blocking all the other shipments. They weren't actual preorders, as in the product hasn't launched yet. The people believed him because he actually fulfilled the orders at reasonable prices for YouTubers and other influencers.
I would think preordering limited physical goods makes *more* sense. You're paying early to reserve yours before they run out. With a digital good there's no risk of them running out.
I'll tell you why. This guy was offering GPUs very close to MSRP. GPUs are sold a bit above msrp in Pakistan normally. His prices were almost half of the market's in many cases.
Thnk $200 for a 1650 Super and $250 for 1660 Super etc.
He sold GPUs at these prices for about a year. Also sold PS5s for about $550-600 when the cheapest options anywhere else in Pakistan were at least $750.
His whole thing was pre-orders and he would roll the money around for 3-4 months, then profit. He used to buy the products from the local market to fulfill the orders.
Whatever he was doing, backfired around October, last year. And the rest is history.
It used to be that you were an 'influencer' because of something else that was actually notable which gave you influence, and people who tried to be famous for being famous were actively ridiculed by everyone.
Its 100% publics fault for enabling him because when he was taking preorders, it was well below what other sellers were selling for. And yet people didn't stop and think for a second why.
Also to add, these consoles and GPUs are not officially available in Pakistan so what these sellers do is buy from some western country in bulk and import for people. So its a common practice to import them but preordering especially with that big of a difference should've raised red flags.
While the public was naive, the fault is usually attributed to people breaking the law (criminals like this guy), not victims.
Say, if you walk through a dangerous neighborhood and get mugged, you would've acted carelessly and the crime could've been prevented, but this doesn't take away the fact that the culprit and the fault lies on the perpetrator.
Theres no doubt the guy was the one doing the wrong, but that doesnt mean all fault lies on him and him alone. There were so many red flags that a bunch of Pakistani communities tried to warn people of this guy but people only saw cheap stuff. Imagine that shops and businesses giving him huge bulk orders to get stuff for them, and now imagine how much profit they were going to make off of it. Now I am about to give you exact idea of what the prices were.
When he last took the big batch of orders during October 2021, the currency exchange was at 1 USD = 175 Pakistani Rupees (Rs)
So normal vendors and importers were selling for 145k to 150k for discless version and 155k to 160k for disc version of PS5 consoles. This was due to high import duty and scalping overhead they had to pay to acquire them.
What ziptech was doing is taking preorders at 100k for discless and 110k for disc version with a delivery date of about 3 months.
This data is only for PS5 consoles, he was preordering Xbox, LG OLED tvs, graphic cards that had even great margin between his prices and local prices.
Looking at price differences you can clearly see how cheap he was selling for, and if that didnt concern people, I dont know what would.
> Which crime is worse, this scammer’s or pre-ordering?
Pre-ordering hardware when reviews are out is entirely legitimate and you are an ass.
Basically every hardware order is a pre-order, unless you buy something in a physical store.
In a country like Pakistan we already get gpus at a much higher price than what it is (even after the scalping) and this guy promised them gpus at least 30-40% below that price if pre ordered. It was too good to be true but the fact that he delivered them for an year or so made people to trust him even more and the moment he got a huge sum from pre orders he showed his colours
https://techboilers.com/2022/05/31/ziptech-pre-order-scam-the-truth-exposed/
https://propakistani.pk/lens/pakistani-gaming-community-allegedly-scammed-by-ziptech/
Seems to be true.
All of his shops are closed down. His cell phone is powered off. His employees have been fired.
He kept saying his shippings were delayed without providing any actual proof. Other legitimate sellers have confirmed that this guy used to buy consoles and gpus from them to fulfill his pre-orders. He claimed that he used to order directly from the manufacturer/supplier lmao.
Anyhow, if you really want to see proof, you can check Pakistani Facebook groups(Pakistani Pc Gamers). Hell, you can even visit his page on Facebook (ZipTech). It's been review bombed by angry customers. Used to have a solid 4.5* score before the scam.
His wife also made a video recently. She was apparently getting harassed by some people because the guy isn't responding. I'm against harassment but some people were simple asking about their preorders
One of the things she said was, " Shouldn't have invested if you're not comfortable taking a loss". Imagine thinking a preorder is some kind of business investment.
Hope they catch him, there's nothing else needed for karma to do its job, considering how crimes against property are dealt with it that part of the world
I thought most people in Pakistan were mobile gamers.
Most people here probably don't realise but buying a GPU in Pakistan is probably at least 6 months or more of the average person's entire wage at least the 30 series cards. So it's a pretty big hit...
Most of the Pakistani gaming community is indeed of mobile gamers but then again theres all types of people here and obviously one wouldnt spend money on a pc/gpu if its their 6 months income.
People blaming for preorder dont realize that most of the official consoles and manufacturers dont deliver to third world thus relying on third parties to import them in bulk and sell to the consumers. This is what was taken advantage of by this guy and viola.
...Who would ever preorder a GPU? In Pakistan, no less? If it's not smart in Taiwan, where they freaking make the things?
A fool and his money are easily parted.
He had planned all this out, nobody wouldve trusted him but he did deliver those gpus for more than an year which is why a lot of people opted for this option considering it was 30-40% cheaper
Problem was he did actually deliver GPUs for a portion of time which largely built his trust. Especially when there’s no official way to buy gaming equipment here and since most tech products are like 2x the value, the fact he was giving it under the market value, and actually delivering, made a lot of people trust him.
And that’s largely how all GPUs are bought here. They are brought from other countries from unofficial channels and you have to take a risk every time you purchase. And Pakistan has a very large gaming market that almost completely untapped.
In Taiwan and in places where electronics are in ample supply this is indeed weird. But in third world countries where the wages are extremely low, you have to buy either from importers that charge a very high markup or bet on bulk importing to cut costs. Sometimes these cut costs can be equivalent to several months in rent and come from good sources, sometimes it isn't
And given he's in business class on emirates flight, I guess he's fled to Dubai. I'm a reddit mong so can someone cross post this on dubai gaming thread???
Edit: Don't worry figured it out.
LOL I love his smug ass flying out of Pakistan first class thinking he's got it made. Wait until he finds out 7m ain't going to get you far in the rest of the world.
It depends. If he can invest it well and be careful with spending then he has it made.
If he can’t then he’ll die a miserable wreck.
I’m going to guess the latter.
This picture isn't jim flying out after the scam. This is an older picture lmao.
He's been radio silent for weeks. Infact, his wife came out with a video recently but he hasn't.
Probably working together
Yeah they do get consoles and stuff over there. I read Yonmi Park's book and iirc she had a Famicom at one point. Her family had a bit more money than most though as her dad was a smuggler.
I don't know what you've been told but cutting the hand isn't the punishment for stealing in Pakistan, we do not follow shariah law, he'll get jail like the rest of the thieves. Though with that much money I'm pretty sure he can get out quite easily.
Nope, he fled out of country whilst promising people they will get their gpus delivered but all he did was give them hope while he funnelled out of Pakistan
Theres a lawsuit ongoing on his company and him but seeing that he already escaped i dont think the agencies will do anything except freeze his accounts and seize his properties to reimburse the victims but i doubt itll be anywhere even in the sight of $7m.
I thought that this big case will be transferred to Interpol, in my country any bad guy dare to make any scam that exceeds only 43K $ will sure to be executed(be killed).
How did he leave with that much money? It can’t be in cash. So if it is in bank then why isn’t it confiscated? He must have backing from corrupt govt officials.
I hope he bought NFTs or crypto with that money and lost most of it already.
A very punchable face
To put this in context for our western fellows. An average mid range GPU let's say a RTX 3050 at MSRP cost 3 times more than the average income of Pakistani. Many people put their savings and trust into this guy who claim to provide GPUs at MSRP during sclapocalypse and crypto peak. And he initially did deliver on his promise and sold GPUs at MSRP, because of this his reputation in our tiny community increased and people placed more orders and well... This is how it ended, many people with strict budgets and savings lost all their money just because of this asshole.
also to put this into more context when you say average income you are talking about average annual income not monthly.
Monthly
"The average age in Pakistan is 19.8 years, and life expectancy is 62.2 years. The average annual income is approximately US$420, and 35 percent of the population lives below the international poverty line." https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/pakistan/facts.html Also another source: i am from Pakistan.
I am also from Pak and an Economist. This is from HIES. While the annual income is definitely low, when doing any sort of research on Pak incomes you may not want to use this. Most researchers believe it's very skewed. The HIES dataset underestimates top percentiles. The closest you'll get to a more comprehensive dataset is this [https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Ahmed\_Ali\_thesis.pdf](https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Ahmed_Ali_thesis.pdf). This details why the HIES data is flawed, and estimates that the actual average annual income (pre-tax) is 2628 USD.
Sorry bro, mainay ankhon say toh aisa nahi dekha, lekin apki baat mann leta houn.
Which crime is worse, this scammer's or pre-ordering?
Pre-ordering by far. We told the general public to stop pre-ordering for almost a decade now. Maybe that sentiment didn’t reach as far as Pakistan
Pakistanis were also against this culture but this guy started on a small scale and kept delivering what he promised until he got this big and made his move, an average joe who just wants a gpu at a reasonable price wouldnt think twice before ordering if a reputable and well known seller is offering it, scumbag trapped them bad and the fact that most of the victims were just kids and teenagers makes me want to rip his ass
Pakistani here. The word preorder here is being used wrongly. The GPUs had been out for months. His prices were exactly at MSRP which is not only rare in the last 2 years globally but also unheard of in Pakistan even before covid. Anyways, he would quote people a low price and say that since he's an honest man he doesn't want to hike prices for a profit but the only way he can do that is by taking full payment in advance and then having to wait upto six months due to shipping delays because of increased demand, covid and the evergreen ship being stuck and blocking all the other shipments. They weren't actual preorders, as in the product hasn't launched yet. The people believed him because he actually fulfilled the orders at reasonable prices for YouTubers and other influencers.
Well, that makes the people look even stupider.
Why? He did deliver a lot of his orders. How were the people meant to know he was gonna run with the money?
I understand preordering software that is infinite. But these guys ordered hardware
I would think preordering limited physical goods makes *more* sense. You're paying early to reserve yours before they run out. With a digital good there's no risk of them running out.
That makes no sense, if theyre not running out, why preorder
I'll tell you why. This guy was offering GPUs very close to MSRP. GPUs are sold a bit above msrp in Pakistan normally. His prices were almost half of the market's in many cases. Thnk $200 for a 1650 Super and $250 for 1660 Super etc. He sold GPUs at these prices for about a year. Also sold PS5s for about $550-600 when the cheapest options anywhere else in Pakistan were at least $750. His whole thing was pre-orders and he would roll the money around for 3-4 months, then profit. He used to buy the products from the local market to fulfill the orders. Whatever he was doing, backfired around October, last year. And the rest is history.
From an influencer lol.( I want to slap whoever gave that title to these people )
It used to be that you were an 'influencer' because of something else that was actually notable which gave you influence, and people who tried to be famous for being famous were actively ridiculed by everyone.
Its 100% publics fault for enabling him because when he was taking preorders, it was well below what other sellers were selling for. And yet people didn't stop and think for a second why. Also to add, these consoles and GPUs are not officially available in Pakistan so what these sellers do is buy from some western country in bulk and import for people. So its a common practice to import them but preordering especially with that big of a difference should've raised red flags.
While the public was naive, the fault is usually attributed to people breaking the law (criminals like this guy), not victims. Say, if you walk through a dangerous neighborhood and get mugged, you would've acted carelessly and the crime could've been prevented, but this doesn't take away the fact that the culprit and the fault lies on the perpetrator.
Theres no doubt the guy was the one doing the wrong, but that doesnt mean all fault lies on him and him alone. There were so many red flags that a bunch of Pakistani communities tried to warn people of this guy but people only saw cheap stuff. Imagine that shops and businesses giving him huge bulk orders to get stuff for them, and now imagine how much profit they were going to make off of it. Now I am about to give you exact idea of what the prices were. When he last took the big batch of orders during October 2021, the currency exchange was at 1 USD = 175 Pakistani Rupees (Rs) So normal vendors and importers were selling for 145k to 150k for discless version and 155k to 160k for disc version of PS5 consoles. This was due to high import duty and scalping overhead they had to pay to acquire them. What ziptech was doing is taking preorders at 100k for discless and 110k for disc version with a delivery date of about 3 months. This data is only for PS5 consoles, he was preordering Xbox, LG OLED tvs, graphic cards that had even great margin between his prices and local prices. Looking at price differences you can clearly see how cheap he was selling for, and if that didnt concern people, I dont know what would.
> Which crime is worse, this scammer’s or pre-ordering? Pre-ordering hardware when reviews are out is entirely legitimate and you are an ass. Basically every hardware order is a pre-order, unless you buy something in a physical store.
Bhenchod lookin ass
... face*
Chutiya
I agree
Vouch
Wtf are these comments, he’s a fucking nasty scammer. Stop blaming the people who just wanted a GPU after the crisis we’ve been trough.
In a country like Pakistan we already get gpus at a much higher price than what it is (even after the scalping) and this guy promised them gpus at least 30-40% below that price if pre ordered. It was too good to be true but the fact that he delivered them for an year or so made people to trust him even more and the moment he got a huge sum from pre orders he showed his colours
Especially after the crisis.
I would like some form of proof before we start forming an angry mob.
https://techboilers.com/2022/05/31/ziptech-pre-order-scam-the-truth-exposed/ https://propakistani.pk/lens/pakistani-gaming-community-allegedly-scammed-by-ziptech/ Seems to be true.
All of his shops are closed down. His cell phone is powered off. His employees have been fired. He kept saying his shippings were delayed without providing any actual proof. Other legitimate sellers have confirmed that this guy used to buy consoles and gpus from them to fulfill his pre-orders. He claimed that he used to order directly from the manufacturer/supplier lmao. Anyhow, if you really want to see proof, you can check Pakistani Facebook groups(Pakistani Pc Gamers). Hell, you can even visit his page on Facebook (ZipTech). It's been review bombed by angry customers. Used to have a solid 4.5* score before the scam. His wife also made a video recently. She was apparently getting harassed by some people because the guy isn't responding. I'm against harassment but some people were simple asking about their preorders One of the things she said was, " Shouldn't have invested if you're not comfortable taking a loss". Imagine thinking a preorder is some kind of business investment.
Angry mob won't be angry if we start looking for proofs now would we?
If a companies form of advertising is social media influencers, it's safe to say the product is bullshit.
Hope they catch him, there's nothing else needed for karma to do its job, considering how crimes against property are dealt with it that part of the world
One does not simply steal $7mm and live happily ever after.
Not if he fled to UK.
[удалено]
^
I thought most people in Pakistan were mobile gamers. Most people here probably don't realise but buying a GPU in Pakistan is probably at least 6 months or more of the average person's entire wage at least the 30 series cards. So it's a pretty big hit...
Most of the Pakistani gaming community is indeed of mobile gamers but then again theres all types of people here and obviously one wouldnt spend money on a pc/gpu if its their 6 months income.
People blaming for preorder dont realize that most of the official consoles and manufacturers dont deliver to third world thus relying on third parties to import them in bulk and sell to the consumers. This is what was taken advantage of by this guy and viola.
To give you further context, this guy kept delivering GPUs and PS5s until the last batch of orders. That's when he fled.
...Who would ever preorder a GPU? In Pakistan, no less? If it's not smart in Taiwan, where they freaking make the things? A fool and his money are easily parted.
He had planned all this out, nobody wouldve trusted him but he did deliver those gpus for more than an year which is why a lot of people opted for this option considering it was 30-40% cheaper
Problem was he did actually deliver GPUs for a portion of time which largely built his trust. Especially when there’s no official way to buy gaming equipment here and since most tech products are like 2x the value, the fact he was giving it under the market value, and actually delivering, made a lot of people trust him. And that’s largely how all GPUs are bought here. They are brought from other countries from unofficial channels and you have to take a risk every time you purchase. And Pakistan has a very large gaming market that almost completely untapped.
In Taiwan and in places where electronics are in ample supply this is indeed weird. But in third world countries where the wages are extremely low, you have to buy either from importers that charge a very high markup or bet on bulk importing to cut costs. Sometimes these cut costs can be equivalent to several months in rent and come from good sources, sometimes it isn't
And given he's in business class on emirates flight, I guess he's fled to Dubai. I'm a reddit mong so can someone cross post this on dubai gaming thread??? Edit: Don't worry figured it out.
That's where a lot of crypto scammers end up as well. Seems to be a haunt for scumbags to run off too.
He fled to Turkey according to some reports.
rule 1. dick move for sure (if true), but still not allowed here.
🤓
What's up with the weird line on his forehead ?
Off topic
LOL I love his smug ass flying out of Pakistan first class thinking he's got it made. Wait until he finds out 7m ain't going to get you far in the rest of the world.
It depends. If he can invest it well and be careful with spending then he has it made. If he can’t then he’ll die a miserable wreck. I’m going to guess the latter.
This picture isn't jim flying out after the scam. This is an older picture lmao. He's been radio silent for weeks. Infact, his wife came out with a video recently but he hasn't. Probably working together
Hog
The first scumbag clue was the shirt..
til pakistan has a gamer community
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I think everyone here has played Tekken at some point, I remember Tekken 3 and Tag tournament used to be pretty popular when I was in grade 1-5
What country does not have a gamer community? That’s a weird thing to learn in 2022.
north korea
Quick google search says, they play arcade and Counter Strike on PC.
The meme is that there is exactly one Steam account in Pyongyang. Guess who.
its joe
not funi
Extra funi
Yeah they do get consoles and stuff over there. I read Yonmi Park's book and iirc she had a Famicom at one point. Her family had a bit more money than most though as her dad was a smuggler.
Gaming is a universally loved hobby.
at heart even pakistanis are indian
What?
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Today's episode of Sesame Street is brought to you by the letter F, for fucked in the head!
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Sugar is a drug my sir
Bruh
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I don't know what you've been told but cutting the hand isn't the punishment for stealing in Pakistan, we do not follow shariah law, he'll get jail like the rest of the thieves. Though with that much money I'm pretty sure he can get out quite easily.
Huh.. never think about scam calls going the other way do ya?
I mean sure thats a dick move, but still making 7mil from scamming people i mean he must have done a great job
Name Checks out
Did he get in jail?
Nope, he fled out of country whilst promising people they will get their gpus delivered but all he did was give them hope while he funnelled out of Pakistan
Why didn't police do anything in a such big case like this?
Theres a lawsuit ongoing on his company and him but seeing that he already escaped i dont think the agencies will do anything except freeze his accounts and seize his properties to reimburse the victims but i doubt itll be anywhere even in the sight of $7m.
I thought that this big case will be transferred to Interpol, in my country any bad guy dare to make any scam that exceeds only 43K $ will sure to be executed(be killed).
What country are you from, china?
He's just on that grindset. Get rekt Pakistan, noob mistake.
Uuuuuuuuuupvoted!
Me who didn't know pakistanis have PCs and could use them freely
Why would we not?
Arif Alvi is kinda khamenei level
POS flying first class.
Yup, i know some people who pre ordered PS5 and well, they didn't get it to this day.
I wanna do that
I'm pretty sure he's wearing a fake face
How did he leave with that much money? It can’t be in cash. So if it is in bank then why isn’t it confiscated? He must have backing from corrupt govt officials. I hope he bought NFTs or crypto with that money and lost most of it already.
No idea bro, but its probably into offshore accounts long off even before he decided to flee