Some Canadian tourists who were recently offered bargains on Apple iPads and laptops have learned the hard way that the deal was too good to be true.

Others ended up being robbed.

Five times since Aug. 18, two men have pitched bogus products to tourists in the Military Road area of Niagara Falls and the Town of Niagara. The boxes, which appear to be authentic, state police said, are filled with rolled-up newspaper.

In two cases, people were threatened — one with a knife — when they attempted to walk away from the deal.

State Police Investigator Christopher Puckett said the sales pitch unfolds during daytime shopping hours.

“Canadians could be targeted because they are coming here to shop, with money, and maybe [the scam artists] think they are less likely to file a report,” Puckett said. “But we want to warn people that this is happening. We need to warn people that they could be desperate. They are not going away empty-handed.”

Puckett said in only one of the five cases — when a woman refused to take the bait in the Walmart parking lot on Military Road — did the swindlers walk away, probably because many other people were present.

In the most recent case — just after 1 p. m. Tuesday in the Tops parking lot on Niagara Falls Boulevard— a Niagara Falls, Ont. woman forked over $150 for a laptop only to discover a box full of paper when she returned home, police said.

The most violent episode occurred at 3 p. m. Aug. 28 in the Fashion Outlets parking lot on Military Road, where a Mississauga, Ont., woman was robbed at knifepoint of $400 when she attempted to look in the box before handing over the cash.

The woman told Town of Niagara police that the iPad boxes appeared to be legitimate when one of the scam artists showed her a shopping bag with two. But when she attempted to look inside a box, the bandit pulled a knife and took her money. Both he and his accomplice ran from the scene. The woman was uninjured.

State police said a similar theft occurred Aug. 29 in the parking lot of the Big Lots store on Military Road. When a Canadian man refused the deal, the bandits demanded that he hand over all the money in his wallet. No weapon was involved, troopers said.

The first incident occurred Aug. 18, in the parking lot of Tim Hortons on Miltary Road, where a victim handed over $400 and found rolled-up newspaper in the box.

The thieves are described as two African-American men, who are well dressed, with no facial hair and between 35 and 45 years old. One was described as 5-foot-10 and of slender build, and the other, 6 feet tall and of medium build. They drove a dark-colored minivan.

“Buyer beware and be careful,” said Trooper Rebecca Gibbons, state police spokeswoman. “When you say ‘no,’ you still may be in danger.”

Puckett can be contacted at 297-8730.

nfischer@buffnews.comnull