Scammers come in all shapes sizes and countries. Some are masquerading as a legit business to start with and end they are off with your cash.
One company that I was scammed by and help the police close down had all apperances of a legit business. Licensed, BBB member, nice office complex etc. In the end his scam was, according to police, he would take in cash for items in quantity, then after you complained enough about not getting your products he would take some of the cash you sent and go to BESTBUY and purchase a few items to make you feel like there was hope of getting your order. In the end you may of received 10% of your actual order and what was left was profit. Scam worked for about 4-5 months then it all came collapsing down around him when the orders stopped coming in and he had no more funds to buy merchandise with to keep everyone at bay. After that I created Roberts Rules of wholesale buying.
First, No wire transfers.
No western union or any other type of money gram.
PAYPAL only if you are using a Credit Card. PAYPAL will cancel the scammers account and freeze whatever funds are their, but if you paid via ECheck or cash out of your bank it's gone with the scammer.
Credit Card, COD, LC, ESCROW.com or FLY and Buy only. That's it. They are the only methods that afford you the opportunity of getting your cash back or protecting your hard earned money. If your spending 10K on a order whats another 200-300 to fly and inspect and watch it get loaded on your truck.
If everyone followed these rules the scammers would be out of business in a short time frame. The legit companies would be forced to alter their practices to sell their wares.
The problem is everyone, including myself, is greedy and is looking for the lowest price and thinking about all their money thats going to be made when in reality it's all just being lost.
As i review most of these posts where money was lost, it was by one of the methods listed above to avoid. I know every business that requires wire transfers are not frauds, but the vast majority are, why risk your hard earned dollars, it's not worth it. If you want to throw your money away, send it to me, I'll at least have the courtsey to say Thanks.
Hi Im new to this web site so i wanted to find a ligitimit seller. I wanted to buy motorola phone (pink). I spent 3 hours on the messager to a company (claiming to be one any way). When it came to payment they said western union. I knew that this is dodgy as there is no guarentee that the products would be recieved. They said they only accepted this as a first payment and credit cards and pay pal where used later. When I questioned why I could not use the others as they are alot safer for both parties ( I know as a seller too that it is safer as you can dispute and get your money back if items are not recived) they said that they had had "funny things happen" with paypal. When I asked to ellaborate they egnored the question. They began to not reply to all the messages where as at first they where typeing all the time I had a job keeping up. They claimed to be a company in london which they may be but having read others horror stories I realised it makes no difference. If they were ligit then they would want their buyers to buy with confidence and not use the Western Union which has a bad reputation. No web auction site will take it (Ebay advise against it and Ebid) so don't you.I feel that if I had done western union then the items would not of arrived I think I had a lucky escape from what could of been a bad christmas!
DON'T BUY USING WESTERN UNION IT IS A GAMBLE THERE IS TOO MUCH FRAUD IN THIS COUNTRY!!!!
Do not agree to pay now ship later.
Ask for a full contact number and address verify by calling, do not hesitate to spend long distance charges it will save you money at the end.
Do not wire transfer payment on a individual account, it should be payable to a company.
Call the bank if you can to verify the account holder.
If the seller ask to much about the payment term do not waste your time ist a 100% FRAUD
Compare prices at retail store, some seller will intimidate you by low prices quotes.
I know because I was scammed just last week by a fraud seller in INDONESIA JAKARTA, I just consider the money as a gratitude for his FUNERAL!!!! He won himself a reservation in *.
Scammers INFO:
Product: C.V Buana Phone
Address: jakarta Indonesia
Phone: 628137045230 (it does work and you can actualy talk to the monster)
email:sales@buanaphone.com
Website: Buanaphone.com ( he has the website for a perfect crime)
Contact Name: Robert Sitorus
Michael Lee
Owner: Limbubu Rongei ( the recipient of the payment)
Bank: Bank central Asia.
Western Union
If they are sending them COD, or you pay after inspecting them, that's great. Just make sure what is on the box is in the box and they work.
And Shilas that sounds like a UK scam that someone TRIED to pull on me. They will say pay when you receive it. But then they will ship a box of crap (wood, etc.) and give you the tracking #. They then insist you pay for half now and half upon receiving the items. If you do so, bye bye money. I told this * to **** off when he tried this on me and he had the box of wood destroyed before it reached me. Nobody would ever send you 10 items, let you receive them and then have you pay them Western Union at your convenience. COD is done via CC or certified check/cashiers check. I assure you this is a scam, stay away. Or I guess you can tell him to send it but please don't pay until you have the items in hand and have inspected them thoroghly.
NO!!!, not unless you want to roll the dice. A number of verified scammers are Trustpass or Gold members. You hate to lump everyone into one big group (they are all not bad), but when dealing with your hard earned money I would take every precaution possible.
You can ask around and see if they have a good history with other buyers, but I would move slowly and cautiosly just to stay safe.
thanks alot