Dear agausling,
Mponktric Inc. is a scam.
The first thing I did was to check the official Indonesian database of
registered companies [1]. No company of the name "Mponktric" exists in
Indonesia. This is already proof that this "company" is fraudulent. By
the way, the legal status "Inc." does not even exist in Indonesia; it
would be "P.T."
There is more evidence that "Mponktric Inc." is nothing but a scam:
- I checked the ownership record of their Web address "mponktric.com"
[2]. According to the record, the domain was registered by one Kenneth
S., resident in Hillsboro, USA. The record reveals the full name and
address of this person, but for reasons of privacy I can't post that
information here since I found out that this individual actually
exists. But I am certain that he does not at all know that his name
was misused by scammers for registering a domain.
Why would an actual Indonesian company register their domain through a
private Individual living in the USA - and through a French domain
registration service? This would be unnecessary complicated since
there are domain registration providers in Indonesia, too. Actually,
this something scammers often do: The simply take any person's name
and address from a directory and misuse them for their criminal
purposes.
- The domain registration record also reveals that the domain was
registered only on 13 January 2006. This is very suspicious since on
their website, Mponktric claims to be in business for eight years now.
Why would a real company wait eight full years before registering
their name as their domain, although this is a very important thing?
It shows that this "company" is no older than their website.
- They insist on payment via Telegraphic Transfer or Wire Transfer.
This is typical for scammers. Fraudsters insist on these payment
methods because it is impossible for the victim to track who actually
received the money or to call back the transfer. Reputable companies
offer other, better payment options.
- They claim that their company was located at M. H. Thamrin Street
31-33, Jakarta 10350. That address is a clumsy fake. The correct
postal code of that address is 10230.
- The photos on the front page of their website are extremely poor. It
is obvious that they show just some shelves in any electronics store
and that they were quickly and secretly taken with a photo cell phone
or a small camera.
- Finally, they have stolen their self-description ("Mponktric is a
professional manufacturer and exporter of video games..." etc.) from
the standard profile of a Chinese company that really exists:
http://chuyar.hisupplier.com/ - http://www.chuyar.com/
There can be no doubt that Mponktric is a brazen scam. I must advise
not to do any business with them.
Regards,
Scriptor
Sources:
[1] Indonesian Ministry of Industry: Directory of Companies
http://www.dprin.go.id/ENG2005/Content2.asp?mode=21&view=frm
[2] Allwhois Domain Database
http://www.allwhois.com/cgi-bin/allwhois.cgi
[3] Switchboard Telephone Directory
http://www.switchboard.com/
Indonesian Yellow Pages
http://www.yellowpages.co.id/index.html
Indonesia News Online: Complete Postal Codes of Indonesia
http://www.indonesianewsonline.com/prangko/stamps/kodepos.htm |
