Scam websites [Read before posting..'has anyone used/bought from..'?]

Ruu_Old

There seems to be a great deal of posts asking whether such and such a site is legitimate. Here are the signs that you should be avoiding it.

• Site accepts Western Union or bank transfer only as payment.
• Site is poorly designed, nasty flash text and poor navigation.
• Poor grammar.
• Contact emails used are hotmail, yahoo, or other web based providers.
• Domain is recently purchased.

When in doubt, drop the URL into Google Search and normally it will show up results of where they have been found out or other users opinions. Feel free to add stuff here then I will clean up every once in a while and add to original post. Thanks and be safe!

Bargain Alerts team.

TM

Might also be worth checking sites such as http://www.resellerratings.com/ for reviews of the sites in question? Pure scam sites as well as genuine sites with customer service issues may well be identified quickly on such sites.

rgfuller

Many of these scam sites also have pictures showing their fake offices/warehouses.

muffler

Just to add - if it's too good to be true then it is.

Avoid it like the plague.

lorweld

I found this site too which may be of help to somebody! You can check the credit rating of Uk and Irish based companies

http://www.checkrate.co.uk/data_services.php?page=verified_business_registration

Its worth credit checking companies before placing orders on their web-sites or over the phone etc. So you can be sure that they will be there to deliver the goods, especially if you are paying by debit card (if they go bust before they ship your order and you have paid by debit card, you can just about wave good-bye to your hard earned).

With the current economic climate more and more desperate people are setting up bogus companies or legitimate (but failing ones) taking OUR money then going bust

Keano

Ruu, I presume when you said add to here that people can post a link to site that is a scam and should be avoided? I just don't want to be post bogus websites and making extra work for you.

god's toy

Some can look s good as this and yet are still fake. http://theunbelievablegiftcompany.co.uk/Default.aspx

bobbyg

Not sure if this has been posted before but has to be a scam on carzone.ie.
I emailed to different sellers about cars that seemed like great value and this is the reply I got BOTH times by different sellers.

BMW 318Ci Coupe 2002

The price is 4800 euros
Petrol, 2 doors, manual transmission, silver.
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has BMW service book,the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings.It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland .The car is at the moment in Liverpool, UK.
I live in the USA, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Liverpool for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.
Here are some photos.

Many thanks,Ann.

2002 Audi A3 Ambiente
Price : 4100 euro

Option : NCT 01/2010, Tax 08/2008, ABS Brakes, Air Conditioning, Airbags, Alloys, Car Alarm, CD / Radio, Electric Mirrors, Electric Windows, Full Service History, Ipod Compatible, Lady Owner, Metallic Paint, Power Steering, Remote Central Locking, Sunroof

Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has Audi service book,the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings.It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland .The car is at the moment in Liverpool, UK.
I live in the USA, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Liverpool for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.
Here are some photos.

bored_newbie

I ordered a dvd triple pack on http://www.dvdi.co.uk on July 10th. Still no sign of it and their website just says:


Site Currently Unavailable

DVDi.co.uk is temporarily unavailable.

Please email sales@dvdi.co.uk with any enquiries.




I emailed them yesterday and no reply as yet. Anyone else order from them?


Some more bad experiences from others: http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/forums/thread.asp?Forum=222&Thread=647709

Saruman

god's toy wrote: »

Some can look s good as this and yet are still fake. http://theunbelievablegiftcompany.co.uk/Default.aspx

Thats a nice site, someone should buy it and make it legit
I think BBC's Watchdog set it up to show how easy it is to be scammed.

the whois details are eh... "unbelievable"

ShaneU

Anyone know if this site is fake? http://www.xboxliveuk76.com/

They're selling xbox live subscriptions at under half price.

Vokes

Dunno if it's fake but i'd certainly steer clear of it.

No contact details (just a form to fill out) on the Contact page would raise alarm bells.

TM

They also have an email address (link at the top of the page):

dobrytata@gmail.com

That, the site name xboxlive76 (why 76?!!?) and the arguably "too good to be true" offer would make you wonder about the legitimacy of the site alright

zuroph

bobbyg wrote: »

Not sure if this has been posted before but has to be a scam on carzone.ie.
I emailed to different sellers about cars that seemed like great value and this is the reply I got BOTH times by different sellers.

BMW 318Ci Coupe 2002

The price is 4800 euros
Petrol, 2 doors, manual transmission, silver.
ABS, Air Con., Airbags, Alarm, Alloys, CD, Cruise Control, Fogs, Immobiliser, Leather, Metallic Paint, Side Airbags
Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has BMW service book,the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings.It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland .The car is at the moment in Liverpool, UK.
I live in the USA, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Liverpool for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.
Here are some photos.

Many thanks,Ann.

2002 Audi A3 Ambiente
Price : 4100 euro

Option : NCT 01/2010, Tax 08/2008, ABS Brakes, Air Conditioning, Airbags, Alloys, Car Alarm, CD / Radio, Electric Mirrors, Electric Windows, Full Service History, Ipod Compatible, Lady Owner, Metallic Paint, Power Steering, Remote Central Locking, Sunroof

Excellent Condition, the car was kept in a garage , it has Audi service book,the tires have been changed recently, and doesn't need repairings.It has no engine problem, no scratches.
Registered in Ireland .The car is at the moment in Liverpool, UK.
I live in the USA, I bought the car for my brother who lived in Ireland and then moved to UK. Unfortunately he died recently and I cannot take the car with me.
You do not have to pay any taxes for this car. It is very easy to register it to your name .
I have all the documents ready for sale. The car documents are on my name, so it is very simple.
As payment I only accept cash and we will have to meet in Liverpool for the sale.

Thank you and I hope you will decide to buy my car.
Here are some photos.

can someone explain to me how this scam would proceed?

muffler

zuroph wrote: »

can someone explain to me how this scam would proceed?

Certain things are better left unsaid.

Kamili

zuroph wrote: »

can someone explain to me how this scam would proceed?

There was a radio programme about this recently, can't remember if it was joe duffy or on spin 1038 but they went into the details on it.

The magazines/websites usually put out a warning about that type of thing, tis scary what people do to try get money...

Stark

zuroph wrote: »

can someone explain to me how this scam would proceed?

It's the Liverpool tourism guys. It's a scam to get you to visit Liverpool.

zuroph

lol!!

so no1 wants to elaborate?

Kamili

basically its a scam!!!!

Johnny_191

As my good friend George always says "Can I just get your bonk account details and SORT code, we can wire you the monies directly!"

NUTZZ

Saruman wrote: »

Thats a nice site, someone should buy it and make it legit
I think BBC's Watchdog set it up to show how easy it is to be scammed.

the whois details are eh... "unbelievable"

:pac: did you see the registrants address??;

Unbelievable Street
Unbelivable Village
W1H 4QA
GB

:rolleyes:

muffler

The post code W1H 4QA = The B Institute, 85 York Street, London.

orchidsrpretty

My sister is after buying some things off this website registered in China www.ezsaling.com looks fake to me but hopefully someone can prove me wrong? She said she payed be paypal, but should she cancel her card just in case?
Thanks.

zuroph

some dodgy stuff on it, but paypal link seems legit on testing. id question the authenticity of the product.

mkpoker

Saruman wrote: »

Thats a nice site, someone should buy it and make it legit
I think BBC's Watchdog set it up to show how easy it is to be scammed.

the whois details are eh... "unbelievable"

Looks better than some of the real sites...

eamon234

Spotted this on Google ads while searching for laptops in case anyone comes across it - has the obligatory office cam too!

http://www.evadisonline.co.uk

Beats me how Google keep these ads up this one has been spotted and reported for the last month.

Macbook Air for 700 odd quid kinda gives it away.:D

LarWright

Just saw this thread and thought I'd add one in!

http://www.uksoccershop.com

Last May (2008) I bought a jersey with specific print. It arrived about 2 weeks later with the incorrect print, and when I replied they told me that it was an oversight and they would replace it and pay all shipping costs. I set the jersey back registered post, and sent various emails.

They said they'd received the jersey and would despatch a new one.

Still to this day, after about 100 emails I have not received my replacement, and they won't reply to me now.

I got onto EU consumer affairs and they said they are aware of this company doing similar things with other customers and are looking into it.

Also beware, I paid via PayPal, but they weren't very helpful saying I received the item, and even tho it was wrong, I still received something, even though at this stage I had sent it back and had not received the replacement!

Lumi

Do not under any circumstances sign up for the free trial on this site

http://www.easyweightlosstea.com/

If in any doubt, read some of the horror stories here http://www.complaintsboard.com/search/wu_yi/page/2

:mad:

padgio

I replied to an ad on Gumtree for a talking parot, I was told that there were 14 of them, located on the Isle of Mann and I would have to visit these people so that they could approve my ownership of the parots, when I asked what kind of things the parrots said, It turned out that they all spoke with a Nigerian dialect, at least thats how they spelt the words

muffler

padgio wrote: »

I replied to an ad on Gumtree for a talking parot, I was told that there were 14 of them, located on the Isle of Mann and I would have to visit these people so that they could approve my ownership of the parots, when I asked what kind of things the parrots said, It turned out that they all spoke with a Nigerian dialect, at least thats how they spelt the words

Mighty

rebelchick2

A word of warning to anyone thinking of buying contact lens on this site!!!! I ordered my lens 4 weeks ago, 2 weeks ago they were supposed to have been shipped(supposed to be 2 days or less before they are shipped) and just received them this morning along with a 25euro charge for VAT and post. I clicked on the Irish website bit and presumed they were coming from within the EU but it turns out they were coming from US and ended up more expensive that many other sites! Also their customer service is crap!

BE WARNED!!!!!!

triv88

http://www.****/ This is dodge site by gsmsolutionsltd.com.They charged me over 100 euro to "repair" my xbox 360 last year,which i later found out was not in need of repair at all.Cunning piece of work

"As seen on tv" yeah right:rolleyes::mad:

Gerfish

Just a note to warn people off " add.ie " AKA "Irish Free Classifieds"
The electronics section ( Cameras, phones, TVs, game consoles etc.) is littered with ads from scam artists offering stuff at unbelievable prices. As always if it sounds too good to be true etc........

Paparazzi

triv88 wrote: »

http://www.****/ This is dodge site by gsmsolutionsltd.com.They charged me over 100 euro to "repair" my xbox 360 last year,which i later found out was not in need of repair at all.Cunning piece of work

"As seen on tv" yeah right:rolleyes::mad:

Are the photos of their offices real? or are they taken from other online sites?

triv88

It is not a real pic of this place thats for sure.There is no reception area at all or other staff to see

you ring a doorbell,speak to the guy through the intercom,he unlocks the main door and brings you into this empty landing area,all smiles,gives you a receipt,takes your machine,and then retreats through a back door like a trapdoor spider

AddTeam

Gerfish wrote: »

Just a note to warn people off " add.ie " AKA "Irish Free Classifieds"
The electronics section ( Cameras, phones, TVs, game consoles etc.) is littered with ads from scam artists offering stuff at unbelievable prices. As always if it sounds too good to be true etc........

Hi,

This is the owner of add.ie here and I'd like to exercise the right to reply. As a free to list site (and one of the largest in Ireland) it is a challenge to moderate all ads at all times, however we do moderate ads on a daily basis....some get through as is the case even with the paid sites in Ireland. On a daily basis we delete many ads and review all registrations. The vast majority of advertisements on the site are genuine.

We encourage everyone to exercise due caution when replying to ads, and we have a knowledgebase here - http://www.add.ie/pg-help.html

Please report any ads you feel are dubious to addteam@add.ie and we will delete where appropiate.

Regards
Alan

Bros123

http://www.trade-beauty.com/


Just a warning on these guys.
Do NOT even think of buying anything from them!Prices ARE too good to be true and if you send them money through Western Union you can say goodbye to it!
The website looks professional but its all just one big scam!
Just letting everyone know before someone gets burnt.;)

donmeister

In fairness if your buying a N97 brand new online for $295 using Western Union and don't kop something is up, you deserve to be scammed tbh.

EDIT: not a bargain, so GTFO :P

Bros123

donmeister wrote: »

In fairness if your buying a N97 brand new online for $295 using Western Union and don't kop something is up, you deserve to be scammed tbh.

EDIT: not a bargain, so GTFO :P[/QUOTE

Well I know that but it might help someone who gets carried away!And I suggest you GTFO.;)

cronos

Dont GTFO, but do put the website in the correct sticky. Please see the following link.

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055334539

Bros123

http://www.trade-beauty.com/


Stay well away!Scammers of the highest order!

Bros123

cronos wrote: »

Dont GTFO, but do put the website in the correct sticky. Please see the following link.

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055334539

Done and dusted.
Mods feel free to wipe clean!:D

FredH3as

Kevin!

When you go to Check out, they spelt it 'Chect out'

You would think that they would spend time trying to perfect the site, to look legitimize

Dancor

http://www.hkeles.com/

^^^^

Seems to be doing the rounds in emails. Getting the following message:

''Hi,
I bought a TV last week from a website:www.hkeles.com. I have
received the product. The quality is very good. They also sell
phones,motor,psp and so on. Because of the financial crisis, their
products are very cheap. by the way, they only sell new and original
products .If you need these products, you can have a look . I think
you will get many benefits.
Greetings!''

It sends it to everyone in your address book apparently. Dont know how it works.

Either do I but unfortunately they sent the e-mail from my Gmail account (from googles searches, seems to only happen with gmail) to everyone in my contacts

lobber

Dancor wrote: »

http://www.hkeles.com/

^^^^

Seems to be doing the rounds in emails. Getting the following message:

''Hi,
I bought a TV last week from a website:www.hkeles.com. I have
received the product. The quality is very good. They also sell
phones,motor,psp and so on. Because of the financial crisis, their
products are very cheap. by the way, they only sell new and original
products .If you need these products, you can have a look . I think
you will get many benefits.
Greetings!''

It sends it to everyone in your address book apparently. Dont know how it works.

This happened to my gmail as well. I am getting loads of undeliverable mail notifications back as a result of it.

Am really curious how it got into my contact list?

grizzly_beer

You can easily check if someone else has accessed your Gmail account,
On Gmail if you scroll to the very bottom of any screen theres 3 lines of small black text, the top one is "last account activity" next to it is a link for "details" it will show you the last few times logged in and the IP address of whoever logged in.
If theres no unfamiliar IP address then its probably a virus on your own computer doing it.

jos22

lobber wrote: »

This happened to my gmail as well. I am getting loads of undeliverable mail notifications back as a result of it.

Am really curious how it got into my contact list?

samething happen to me and a friend.

logs show a china base ip addressed had access our accounts at the time of the spamming

lobber

I have a message now from gmailing me now advising me that they have detected 'suspicious activity' on my account and ask me to change my password.

Sometimes hard to know if this is legit!!!

Villain

Its a virus that runs on your pc and uses your gmail contacts.

Run Malwarebytes to clean it.