I am thinking of purchasing a second hand computer and the seller
wants me to use www.escrowstd.com to remit payment.  The better
business bureau had no information on the site (it is an italian
company) have you heard of this site before and where can I check out
whether or not this is a scam?

Dear supervolt04,

Even without detailed analysis by a business investigation service, I
can say for sure that the so-called "ESCROWSTD Corporation" is nothing
but a scam.

I checked the allged business address provided on the website: Via Veneto 18,
Rome 00187, Italy. While that address does indeed exist, it is
actually the location of the Hotel Alexandra. Nothing else is located
there, let alone a corporate headquarters:
http://www.travelimpressions.com/destinations/europe/italy/rom_hap.html
http://www.ehi.com/travel/ehi/italy/rome-hotels-hotel-alexandra-rome.htm

The hotel is located there since 1910; so the address of ESCROWSTD
Corp. is definitely fake. Reputable, legitimate companies do not use
fake addresses.

I would like to add that the web address www.escowstd.com is
registered by a most obscure owner, reportedly located in China:

Organisation Name.... escrowstd com
Organisation Address. shuzhou
Organisation Address. shuzhou
Organisation Address. 215000
Organisation Address. JS
Organisation Address. CN

Admin Name........... escrowstd com
Admin Address........ shuzhou
Admin Address........ shuzhou
Admin Address........ 215000
Admin Address........ JS
Admin Address........ CN
Admin Email.......... topbpnet@hotmail.com
Admin Phone.......... +86.5128648053
Admin Fax............ +86.5128648053

Note that the address is incomplete, and that the e-mail address is an
anonymous Hotmail account that can't be traced. These registration
data obviously fulfill only one purpose: To prevent that anyone can
trace the actual owner of the domain and of the ESCROWSTD website.

Again, a reputable company would not do so. Legitimate companies do
not try to conceal their identities and locations.

Therefore, the conclusion can only be: ESCROWSTD Corporation is a
scam. I must recommend not to do any business with them.


Sources:

Italian Telephone Directory, Business Search
http://www.paginebianche.it/aziende.html

Allwhois Domain Registration Database
http://www.allwhois.com/cgi-bin/allwhois.cgi

Search terms used:
"Via Veneto 18"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&q=%22Via+Veneto+18%22&btnG=Suche&meta=
"Via Veneto 18" 1910
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&newwindow=1&q=%22Via+Veneto+18%22+1910&btnG=Suche&meta=

Hope this helps!
Regards,
Scriptor

thank you for the quick response and research, great turnaround time!

It is listed as "suspicioius" on a couple of websites:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=escrowstd

I was scamed by escrowstd.com :( I was promised a powerbook and never
received anything.

Yes,  I used it for a camcorder.  They are selling things on Amazon
then using different emails at yahoo.com and then referring you to the
secure transaction.  You could even check the persons email address
and they tell you how many tranactions that they have.  They got me
for over $1000.00.  Now they have dissappeared.  I wonder how many
people they stole from?

The person that went to western union to get my money was Alonso Boaz
Address Via di Monte Rome Italy 00153.  At least that is what he used
to pick up my money.  Escrowstd.com was a total scam.