Dear agausling,
Evidence suggests that CM Groups is a scam.
The first thing I did was to check the registration record of their
Web domain. According to the record, the domain "cmgroups.com" was
registered by this individual:
Christoper Markus (gmstorefuture@gmail.com)
+1.7617096091
Jl.teratai no.34 Bangkinang
Pekanbaru, Riau 28296
Indonesia
That a Singapore-headquartered company registers their domain through
an individual resident in Indonesia is not impossible, but rather
unlikely. However, in this particular case, it is more than only
suspicous because the address of Christopher Markus is a fake. There
is a town named Pekanbaru in Indonesia, and there is a Teratai Street
- but the correct postal code is 28155, not 28296. Using fake
addresses for registering domains is clearly not something reputable
companies do.
In addition, the domain was registered only on 14 January 2006,
although on their website the "company" claims that they were founded
in May 2003; it is unrealistic that a company would wait three years
before registering their domain. And the domain will expire already on
14 January 2007, after only one year. While that is too short a time
for a real company, this is typical for online frauds: The use of
"disposable" domains that are simply abandoned once they are not of
use any longer.
The next step was to have a look at the Singapore government's
database of registered companies. No business of the name "CM Groups"
is registered in Singapore, and no company containing the words
"Christopher Markus" (because of the CM initials and the alleged
Christopher Markus who reportedly registered the domain) exists
either.
The photos on the CM Groups website are stolen from other websites, as
I found out. For example, this photo:
http://www.cmgroups.com/home_banner02.jpg
was stolen from the website of iSkin Inc., a Canadian company:
http://www.iskin.com/images/wildside_mini/home_banner02.jpg
And this photo:
http://www.cmgroups.com/0046.jpg
was actually stolen from macbillboard.com:
http://www.macbillboard.com/pages/billboardspage5.html
http://www.macbillboard.com/pictures_billboards/0046.jpg
I don't believe that a reputable company would simply steal their
photos from other websites.
This "company" is not trustworthy at all. The fraudsters used a fake
address to register their domain, they are stealing images from other
websites and the company is not registered in Singapore. I recommend
not to do any business with them.
Regards,
Scriptor
Sources:
Indonesian News Online: Complete Postal Codes of Indonesia
http://www.indonesianewsonline.com/prangko/stamps/kodepos.htm
Singapore Directory of Business ,Company and Limited Liability Partnership Names
https://www.psi.gov.sg/NASApp/tmf/TMFServlet |
