Howdy averytextile-ga,
Much thanks for your feedback. Even if we take the technical approach alone
to analyze the legitimacy of the Anna Osmushkina company, it is very clear
that they are legitimate.
Please note that the domain name of annafashion.com leads to the anna.lv
website. If we do a "whois" to gain information on annafashion.com, which
will also provide information for anna.lv, we get the following.
http://www.whois.net/whois.cgi2?d=annafashion.com
"...
reg_created: 2001-02-25 09:13:05
expires: 2007-02-25 14:13:05
..."
The above is a good sign as the domain was created in 2001, and they show
an intent to be around for awhile, at least 6 years, until 2007, at which
they simply renew their domain name.
Also note that annadresses.com is a website owned by the same people as is
shown above, and the "whois" on that domain shows a creation date of 2002.
http://www.whois.net/whois.cgi2?d=annadresses.com
We can do a "whois" on anna.lv through the Latvian domain name registry.
http://www.nic.lv/DNS/En/whois.php?search=anna.lv
In general, the information between the domain names seems to be consistent,
and the address, etc. appears to be legitimate.
As the anna.lv website is a bit lean, and leads to the annadresses.com
website for purchases anyway, an examination of that site provides us
more information.
http://www.annadresses.com/
If we go to their "Help" page, we see some more positive information.
http://www.annadresses.com/public/help/
"annadresses.com accepts Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and Visa Electron cards.
annadresses.com also accepts bank transfers and money orders ..."
Very few "fake" sites will take credit cards.
Please note from the above "Help" page, that Anna Osmushkina uses NORD/LB
for their credit card processing.
"Credit Card processing provided by NORD/LB Latvija JSC"
More on NORD/LB can be found on their New York website.
http://nordlbnewyork.com/about-nordlbgroup.asp
"NORD/LB Group, is one of the ten largest banks in Germany, and in terms
of size ranks number 33 in Europe and number 50 worldwide.
...
NORD/LB has established a global presence through branches in New York ...
and NORD/LB Latvija (Latvia) ..."
I am sure the NORD/LB branch in Latvia would be able to provide references,
and it is never a bad business practice to do so before doing substantial
business with any company.
http://www.nordlb.lv/en/
"...
Telephone: (+371) 8008005
E-mail: info@nordlb.lv
..."
The company shows a substantial presence on the internet and the anna.lv
wesbite, as seen through the Internet Archive "Wayback Machine," has been
up since at least September 19, 2000. Here is a snapshot from 2001.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010402021404/http://www.anna.lv/
This press release indicates that Anna Osmushkina was showing her designs
at a New York presesntation.
http://www.usafashionshows.com/press/annaosmushkina.htm
"Acclaimed Latvian couture designer Anna Osmushkina will present her latest
creations in New York City on Wednesday, September 7, 2005. Part of Couture
Fashion Week produced by USA International Fashion Shows ..."
If we chack the International Fashions Shows' Couture Fashion Week website,
we find that is exactly what happened.
http://www.couturefashionweek.com/annaosmushkina/spring2006/photos.htm
"ANNA OSMUSHKINA
'Heaven'
Spring 2006 Couture Collection
Couture Fashion Week New York"
Please note on the above page, they reference the anna.lv website.
The company is featured in the U.K. based Guardian Unlimited in 2004.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,,1193518,00.html
"A century ago Riga was known as the Paris of the North,' explains Anna
Osmushkina, Latvia's leading fashion designer. Today, a revival of the
country's fortunes and a blossoming of creativity in the arts is once
again transforming the capital."
Anna Osmushkina also shows up in the Russian "Fashion Guide" magazine.
This page is in Cyrillic, so it might be of limited use.
http://www.fg.ru/persons_one/72.php
Bottom line is that Anna Osmushkina is a legitimate company, but I would get
references and samples to make sure they are doing well currently. I would
also stick to communicating with them through the @anna.lv email address.
If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.
Search strategy: Examined the mentioned websites in detail and did "whois"
searches as indicated.
Google search on: "Anna Osmushkina"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Anna+Osmushkina%22
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher |
