Dear motti2606,
I have examined the companies on your list, and here are the results:
-- Phones at Wholesale --
A scam. Their website is defunct now, but cached versions of many
pages are still available; enough to say that this "company" is
fraudulent:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&lr=&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&safe=off&q=+site:www.phones-at-wholesale.net+%22www.phones-at-wholesale.net%22
Most revealing is the postal address they claim to be located at:
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:If2dLMkeZusJ:www.phones-at-wholesale.net/index.php
The alleged postal address - San Marino, Italy 47890 - is already very
suspicious. First, San Marino is not an Italian city but an
independent nation, surrounded by Italian territory. They use postal
codes provided by their Italian neigbors, but they would never use
"Italy" in their addresses. It is simply wrong, and no citizen of San
Marino (and no Italian either) would make this mistake. The correct
address would be: "Contrada del Collegio 33, 47890 Repubblica di San
Marino". The street name, the house number and the postal code do
exist, but they have actually just been "stolen" from this business,
dealing in collector's dolls:
http://www.bambolearianna.it/elenchi_rivenditori/rivenditori.asp?Paese=Europa&Regione=S.%20Marino
Phones at Wholesale's payment options are typical of fraudsters, too:
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:baTB1KLOymIJ:www.phones-at-wholesale.net/index.php
Basically, since certainly no one will ever travel alle the way to San
Marino to try to pick up the desired items, they insist on payment via
Western Union or Moneygram. Those are payment methods preferred by
scammers because it is impossible for the scammed victim to ever find
out who actually received the money or to call back the funds.
Reputable companies do never insist on these payment methods; let
alone European companies, since payment via direct transfer is very
common in Europe, while Western Union is almost unknown.
I also examined who owns the Web domain, www.phones-at-wholesale.net.
I found out that it had, allegedly, been registered by an individual
resident in Palm Beach, Florida. Of course, it is absolutely
unrealistic that a European business would have to rely on an American
individual to register their domain - there are countless domain
registration providers in Europe. I found out that the name and
address (but not the telephone number) of the alleged owner of the
domain are really existing (for privacy reasons, I can't mention them
here). However, I am sure that he has nothing to do with that scam:
Fraudsters often just pick a name and an address from any directory or
other source to register their domains. After all, they want not to be
traced.
There can be no doubt about the fraudulent nature of Phones at Wholesale.
-- Mangsakti Co, Ltd --
A scam. I examined their company profile at ecplaza:
http://www.ecplaza.net/tradeleads/seller/3810135/ipod_nano_2_gb_brand_new.html
They try to make potential customers believe that they are an American
company by simply adding "California, United States 92821" to their
address. While 92821 is indeed the postal code of a Californian town,
Brea, the rest of the address has nothing to do with the United
States. Medan is actually a city in Indonesia, and there is indeed a
Krakatau street in Medan, with the Indonesian postal code 20239.
This is very obviously not a mistake, but an intentional attempt to
deceive potential customers. Only scammers would do that.
-- PT Panca Persada --
A scam. According to the official Indonesian database of register,
only one company with a partially similar name exists in Indonesia,
Panca Persada Mulia PT. However, they are not connected with dealing
in entertainment electronics - they are manufacturers of cotton
fabrics. Neither are they located in the city of Medan, but in the
town of Magelang.
I examined their offers at Alibaba.com:
http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11055092/Sony_Plasma_TV.html
There, they claim that the postal code of their Indonesian address -
Jl. Labuhan Ruku Timur No. 81 in Medan - is 20318. Neither does that
postal code belong to Medan, nor is there a Labuhan Ruku Timur street
in that city.
They are just pretending to be a legit company and they are using a
fake postal address. This clearly shows that they are fraudsters.
-- Xuanletro Co,. Ltd --
A scam. Their company profile at Alibaba.com has already been removed,
but I could still locate a cached version:
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:3Ip89QReY-UJ:www.alibaba.com/company/10536669.html
They claim that their address is Jl. Kali Untung No.178 in Medan,
postal code 25987. But neither is there a Kali Untung street in the
city of Medan, nor is the postal code 25987 assigned to that city at
all. Using a fake address is an unmistakable sign of a scam.
It should also be noted that "Co. Ltd" is not even a legal form of a
company in Indonesia where PT, CV, FA and PMA would be used. Neiter is
any company of that name listed in the Indonesian companies' register.
-- PT. Electro Trade Centre --
A scam. There is no company of that name listed in the official
Indonesian companies' register.
Also, they claim that their address is Jl. Kebayoran Barat in Medan
(they don't even bother to mention a house number in their alleged
address). But there is no Kebayoran Barat street in that city at all.
That evidence clearly indentifies them as a scam.
-- Abertha Ellectronics. Ltd --
A scam. There is no company of that name listed in the official
Indonesian register of companies, neither with the wrong spelling
"Ellectronics" the scammers use, nor with the correct spelling.
Concerning the spelling: It is very revealing that the name of this
alleged company only shows up on the Web with the wrong spelling,
while the correct spelling does not lead to results:
://www.google.de/search?q=%22Abertha+Ellectronics.+Ltd%22&btnG=Suche&num=20&hl=de&newwindow=1&safe=off&c2coff=1
Certainly an existing, reputable company would not make such a
ridiculous mistake. Besides, "Ltd." is not a legal form used in
Indonesia.
They claim that their address is Jln. Mhd. Yahmin No. 18-19 in Medan;
but no street of that name exists in that city.
There can be no doubt that this "company" is a scam.
-- PT. Mobileindo --
A scam. No company of that name is listed in the official Indonesian
register of companies.
In addition, their address is a fake. They claim to be located at Jl.
Multatuli 34 in the city of Batam; but there is no street of that name
in Batam.
Concerning the Chinese company Bestpower Industrial Development Co.
Ltd.: Due to a lack of resources, and due to language barriers, it is
unfortunately hard to research Chinese companies. Therefore, I had to
skip them.
Finally, a word about payment methods. If a company insists on Western
Union or Telegraphic Transfer, this is reason enough to be suspicious.
It is impossible to ever find out who (and where) actually received
the funds, or to call back the transfer. Scammers insist on these
payment methods because they allow them to remain anonymous; it's safe
for them.
Bank transfer as a payment method is not necessarily a sign of a scam.
However, in countries where individuals can easily open a bank account
without having to present a valid ID (or where corruption allows them
to do so), a scammer who received payment from a victim can simply
cancel his bank account and then vanish into thin air.
Hope this answers your questions!
Regards,
Scriptor
Sources:
Indonesian Ministry of Industry: Directory of registered Companies
http://www.dprin.go.id/ENG2005/Content2.asp?mode=21&view=frm
Indonesian News Online: Complete Postal Codes of Indonesia
http://www.indonesianewsonline.com/prangko/stamps/kodepos.htm
Indonesian Yellow Pages
http://www.yellowpages.co.id/index.html
Allwhois Domain Database
http://www.allwhois.com/cgi-bin/allwhois.cgi |
