ONLINE SHOPPING SCAMS / FRAUDS WEBSITES

At 29th of August besthdelectronics.com was registered on godaddy.com and went online as a shopping website.
In reality it was nothing more than a scam/fraud website with only one purpose, steal your credit card and identity information and most probably resell them for peanuts.
This website was not and is not alone or the only one. Another one the kgadgets.co.uk also registered the same date was very similar to the previous in terms of design and had the exact same purpose. This also went offline a few days after I discovered it.

There are a few things in common on scam / fraudulent shopping online web-pages.

1. T have too good to be true prices. That is the bait. Visitors think they are mis-prices or just excellent deals and go for it regardless.
2. They have no online reputation. Zero or minimal Google results. A shopping site that just started has of course zero reputation but usually somehow throughother means, even if just online.
3. So far they had no contact details at all. No telephone number, no vat registration, no post address, no owners name, no email, not even P.O. box.
4. They had an online contact form, you could fill and ask questions but they NEVER replied.
5. Because usually they copy other websites, they have inconsistencies. For example they may state they are 10 years in business, but then you look their webpage copyright and it is for different number of years.
6. These particular ones after you made a purchase, they rushed to ask for credit card details BEFORE providing postage information. I mean ok, some provide free postage, but they tell you they do so.
7. Once you made a transaction through their system, your order would be canceled! Of course since they do not sell anything, they don't want to raise suspicion on themselves.

I am pretty sure they have read this blog and have seen my remarks that reveal their fraudulent nature. And this probably means that next time, they will probably make sure to cover most if not all the points above, for example by using some kind of fake telephone number, or some sort of fake VAT registration number, or some fake address, or some fake or real email.

The bottom line is this: BE CAREFUL OF ONLINE SHOPPING SCAMS / FRAUDS. There are a lot out there. If by any chance you had shared your details with some suspicious website, I would suggest to cancel your card at once!

and God bless as my Nigerian "friends" say.

Online Stalking - Cyberstalking

The Guardian has an interesting article why you should NOT share your real information with possible scammers

How to sell stuff online. A brief guide

Lifehacker has an article on how to sell stuff and of course includes a section on avoiding scammers.

Lottery scam

ukwinninggame2@gmail.com

P O Box 1010,
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref:UK/9420X2/68
Batch:074/05/ZY369

Date:18/09/2010.
The National Lottery Logo

ATTENTION: John Green,

CONGRATULATIONS!This is to inform you that you have been cleared a winner of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY online Sweepstakes International program.

I am happy to inform you,your Original Certificate and your Certified bank cheque has been forwarded to the courier company.

Find below the details of the courier company.


TNT COURIER SERVICE
ADDRESS OF HEAD OFFICE:Parkway Trading Estate,
Crawford Lane,London

NAME:MR Gary Kitson(dispatch officer)
EMAIL:uktntcorierdept@hotmail.co.uk

TEL: +447404111962

You are advised to send the courier company a mail to their email address for their courier cost.When contacting them,you are to include this order number as your subject.Please you are advised to write down the order number and save it.

ORDER NUMBER:Y562725

Note: you are to Quote your complete names,Ref/Batch Numbers and your direct phone number so that they can honour your letter.Once again i say congratulations and always inform me with your dealings with the courier company.

Thanks,

Grant Harry(Mr)
Claims Agent
UK National Lotter

www.direct-techs.co.uk review

As a commenter noted on a previous post

www.direct-techs.co.uk
is most probably a scam! Extreme caution is advised.

No contact information, no email or address or other important info!
registered on 16/Aug/2010 look here
copyright of website since 2008 (?!??!?!)
Not many google results with this webpage either!
They got an empty page in delivery information and returns!!!

Nigerian scammer (wants to avoid customs...)

Mrs Churchill Christiana
zevallosdavid33@gmail.com
instanttransfer@accountant.com
service@intl.paypal.com
+447024068558

Name: Saint Mary
Address:26 Omosholape Street,
City: Surulere State: Lagos
Zip-Code :23401
Country: Nigeria


Dear Seller,
Thanks for getting back to me. I really appreciate your reply. I’m a
missionary leader and right now we are in a church camp for
evangelical purpose. This my first time on this site and I hope this
is not a scam ? Because I've once been duped before. Actually, I want
to buy this item to my pastor daughter in Lagos,Nigeria. As a gift.
I will have loved to come and pick it up my self and pay cash in hand,
but I have just been transfer to Norway for a Missionary Assignment.
Please kindly get back to me with your PayPal Email for immediately
payment and don't forget to send me the amount of the item to my Email
(zevallosdavid33@gmail.com), because they are fast and reliable and
secure with no stress of all payments.
I'm offering you £150 for the item and £50 for the shipping and
handling cost via Royal Air Mail Express post 3-5 working days.
I will like you to secure the item for me from the site, so that
another People won't take this item from me.
I wait to hear back from you for immediate Payment.
Regards and God bless,
Mrs.Churchill.

Dear Seller,
I have successfully transferred out the sum of £200 for the Camera,
and I have also just gotten a confirmation letter of my payment from
PayPal Customer care Desk E-mail
(instanttransfer@accountant.com) Payment Accounting Department. I will
like the item to be ship out today, once you get the confirmation
letter from PayPal Service Payment Center Accounting Department
Office, kindly send out my item to the name and address given below
via Royal Air Mail Post 3-5 working days and forward the shipping
details to PayPal Payment Center representative Email
(instanttransfer@accountant.com) for Verification, clearance and quick
confirmation of your money and also get back to me with the tracking
number so I can forward it to the receiver to be aware of the item been send.

Please note: don’t write out the amount on the parcel at the post
office to avoid custom, Rather write GIFTED ITEM on the Parcel...

Once again here is the shipping address:
Names   : Saint Mary
Address: 26 Omosholape Street ,Surulere,Lagos,23401,Nigeria.
God Bless you as you do.....Amen.
Regards and God bless,
Mrs.Churchill

UK lottery scam

info111@national.com
ukwinninggame2@gmail.com

We wish to congratulate you over your email success of 516,778 GBP.

bainesjoan@w.cn

Kindly fill the form below
Your full names:
Age:
Sex:
Country:

Best Regards
Mr Baines Joan