Be aware, they are spotted in Seattle asking about directions to the airport. They claim to bring clothes back from the fashion shows they attended to Italy and because of the 45% VAT, they want to get rid of it by giving to people for free and ask for a payment for their VAT. They just look like people in the photo posted here. In fact i am pretty sure it is the same person. It seems there are more than one group doing it, it might be an organized international fraudulent organization with clear operation protocols and ways of getting the goods they claim to belong to the famous brands. The quality of the jackets are reasonable however, the small of the chemicals makes people uncomfortable. They were last spotted traveling in pair in a white Infiniti and claim to own another Porsche. In fact, the brand and license plate of their cars are not as important in this case, since they can easily rent a different one with a fake ID each time. Their passport photos looks nothing like the real person and they have a certain taste of fashion. It seems they have been doing it for a long time and their techniques are getting smoother each time since they first spotted in 2011. They seem to be doing it all over the world, thus reporting to the local police will likely have very limited effect. Besides, the contact information provided on the different versions of business cards don't actually work, so don't even bother contacting them. People above mentioned that they might not be Italian but Russian, this might be possible for at least one of them who can speak Russian. It also might be possible some of them are Spanish since at least one of them speak Spanish as well. However, judging from the look, accent, behavioral code and the past similar incidents, the majority of them are probably Italians.
Their logic don't usually add up: (1) Designers for Armani or any other famous brands will usually be rich enough to afford the VAT. (2) They don't need to pay VAT if they bring stuff back to Italy as they brought out of the stuff from Italy by themselves. (3) If number two is not true, it will self contradict with their claim that the stuff is made in Italy. (4) Why do they need cash instead of transfer if it is so legit, cash deal has been known for a very effective way of tax evasion and underground dealing. (5) If they are so good at reading the map and can drive to the airport after you speak to them briefly, why don't them just read the map by themselves. (6) If they are for the fashion show, why can they not ask the people at the fashion show for traveling arrangement and direction? (7) Why can they not ask the direction from their hotel staff? (8) It is unbelievable that designers for major companies cannot afford and don't know how to use GPS. (9) Even if the story about paying VAT is true, it is unbelievable that they don't think about it earlier and giving stuff away to stranger pedestrians they meet on their way to the airport. (10) If the stuff are made in Italy, why do they have to bring them back from the show overseas to their families? (11) If they are so concerned by VAT, they can mail the cloth they try to take back. There are definitely multiple ways they can get rid of the clothes other than giving to random people. (12) Armani or any other big company designers don't use the company official email address on their business cards is highly suspicious along with the fact that not only they don't use the official email address, they also wrote their business name in their personal address ends with any of the major email service provider name after '@'. (13) There is no reason for them to ask for payment if they truly just want to give them away. (14) Even if all is true, why do we have to cover for their VAT and their own mistake of taking so many Italian branded apparels back to Italy. Why not them just ask us to pay for their retirement, education, ... (15) They can just give the extra clothes to the local stores that sell them.
Some of the information we can infer about them and their organization: (1) It is a world wide organization with well established link and way of conducting fraud. (2) They travel and have no fixed place of operation. (3) They are considerably rich to afford all the travel, good clothes and all the money pretty much came from the victims. They only do it for such a long time because it is profitable and many victims might go unreported or unaware. (4) They are not part of the Mafia, as they are afraid of low level local law enforcement authority means they don't have a deep and a widespread connection with them unlike the Mafia type organizations which feeds on corruption. They also did not specifically use violence to achieve their means, it is rather by definition and style, not mafia like. In fact, they seem to be quite afraid of violence. They are more likely to be a international fraud organization originated in Italy. (5) They are mostly Italians with possible Russian and Spanish members. (6) They are quite polite and have above median quality clothes, thus they at least put a lot of effort into it and they have been doing it for years. Thus, it might make catching them hard if they put a lot of thoughts into it and have been doing it for years. (7) They have a stable supply of their goods they use for fraud.
If they are gone, they are gone. If encountered, it is the best to walk away. However, if anybody who have a sense a justice encounter them the next time can offer to show them the direction of the airport/bank by going with their car (if they offer that option) or try to drive it (they do offer that sometimes to act more legit as not familiar of the local traffic) and bring them to the authority. Offered enough evidence, they can be convicted as frauds.
For US victims, it is the best to bring their card or products they give you to the police to identify their fingerprints. If they travel around the world and are foreigners, the US custom would have had already their finger prints taken down before they enter.
Violence will not solve anything, it will only make you guilty and them the victims. Which will not only achieve justice but brings out more injustice.
However, at least they did in a polite and civilized way, nobody is physically harmed. If we say no, they just drive away. They won't go out into fraud if they have a way to make better living, thus giving them the asked money is a charity to them. They are just another tragedy created by the failed economy and welfare system.
We need to start spreading the message to more places and possibly form an association of victims of their scam and try to offer evidence of their crimes around the world as a group to make our voice bigger and give their operation a blow. Their tactics only work when we are not aware of them and they move around to seek out for virgin population they haven't raped yet. Anyone interested in forming a group and fight back together feel free to contact
starlyx1050@gmail.com