Dear willie6666,
I have examined all companies. Here are the results:
=== Mufu-Tech ===
This company is obviously a scam. I came to this conclusion for the
following reasons:
- The strongest evidence that Mufu-Tech is a scam comes from the
official database of registered Indonesian companies. No company of
the name Mufu-Tech Tunas Global or similar is registered in Indonesia,
although the "CV" (the abbreviation for the legal form) before the
name means that it is supposed to be their proper registered name.
- They claim that their company exists since 2000. However, their Web
domain "mufu-tech.com" has been registered only very recently, in June
2006. I find it very unlikely that a company waits six full years
before doing something as essential as registering their company name
as a domain.
- Something else is suspicious about their domain registration record.
Not only was the domain registered only on 22 June 2006. It will also
expire after just one year, on 22 June 2007. This is the typical
behaviour of online fraudsters: For their scams, they register
short-lived "disposable" domains which they simply abandon once they
are not of use any longer.
So what we have is an unregistered "company", telling stories about
when they have been established, using a typical scammer's domain. I
see no reason to trust Mufu-Tech.
By the way: Their website seems to be made from elements they just
"found" (read: stole) somewhere on the web. They did not even care
whether the combination makes sense: Why does the top of the page show
a glass of orange juice and a newspaper with a crossword? It has
nothing to do with entertainment electronics; but it is a clear sign
that the fraudsters are rater dumb and careless.
=== Macau Store ===
This company is a scam. I came to this conclusion for the following reasons:
- According to the contact information on their website, their address
is Jl. Purnawarman No.13-15 in the city of Bandung, post code 40162.
That address is fake, and its a clumsy fake. The correct post code of
that address is 40117. And it isn't just a mistake: They used this
fake address purposely because they also used it to register their Web
domain. A real, reputable company does not have reason to hide behind
a fake address. Only scammers do this, to cover their tracks.
- Their domain registration record delivers another typical example
for a short-lived disposable scammer's domain. It was registered only
three weeks ago, on 28 September 2006. And it will expire after only
one year, on 28 September 2007.
- The claims on their website are extremely unrealistic: "Macau Store
Started to design communicating related products since 2006 at a
garage in Bandung - Indonesia. Now our completely manufacture factory
makes the best quality and after service."
That is nonsense. They claim to have started as a garage shop at some
point in the fast few months, and that they are a top manufacturer (!)
now? This is too much "rags to riches". They obviously tried to
impress their victims, but they went too far with this story.
A "company" using a fake address, a typical scammer's domain, and
telling fairy-tales about their fabulous rise out of nothing. There is
no reason to trust them.
=== Marleanan Shop ===
This company is a scam. I came to this conclusion for the following reasons:
- The contact information on their website is a clumsy fake. They say
that their main address is Jl. Asia Afrika 103 in Bandung 40121, and
that their branch is located at Jln. Kaca Piring 22, Bandung 43915.
However, the correct post code of Jl. Asia Afrika 103 in Bandung is
40112, and the post code of Jln. Kaca Piring 22 is 40271. Again, using
fake addresses is not what a reputable company would do, but only
fraudsters.
- On their website, they claim to be in business since 2001. But their
domain record shows that their Web domain was registered only on 1
September 2006. A real company would hardly wait 5 years with doing
something as vital as register their domain.
- The domain will expire already on 2 September 2007. So it is very
obviously one of the typical "disposable" domains scammers prefer to
use.
- The domain record hold more interesting information. Allegedly, the
domain was registered by one Dave Loney living in Ontario, Canada. I
find it extremely hard to believe that an Indonesian company would
register their domain through an individual in Canada. But it is not
uncommon for scammers to take just some name and address they find in
a directory or anywhere else, and to use this data to register the
domain for their fraudulent activities. They do that do cover their
tracks. It is also interesting that the telephone number of the
alleged domain owner is (519) 681-7143. That is the number of "Squeaky
Kleen London Inc.", a cleaning service in Canada that has nothing to
do with Indonesian electronics resellers, which shows that the
scammers really don't care what false identities they use for
registering their domains.
- On their website, the scammers say: "Founded in 2001,
Marleananshop.com has more than four and one half million registered
customers and more than 450 employees globally." This would mean that
the company must be rather important and well-known. However,
searching for the company's name on the Web leads just to a handful of
results, mainly on business-to-business marketplaces where anyone can
post offers without being checked for being legit. That is indeed not
enough for a company allegedly that big and in business for five full
years. It just shows that this "company" has been around for only a
few weeks now. They are lying with almost every single word they
write.
- Finally, the company is not listed anywhere in the official
Indonesian companies register.
So there is absolutely no reason to trust these scammers.
=== Asiatronik.com ===
This company is a scam. I can say this for these reasons:
- They claim that they have been founded in 1999. Yet, their Web
domain was registered only rather recently, on 20 August 2006.
Certainly no real "international trading company" would wait 7 years
before registering their company name as their domain.
- And the domain will expire after only one year, on 20 August 2007.
This short time span is typical for scammers; it's just another
"disposable" domain.
- The company profile on their website is ridiculously fuzzy. What
does "Estimated Annual Sales: US$1 Million - US$2.5 Million" mean?
Don't they know more exactly the value of their annual sales? There is
a 150% difference between those two numbers; a real company would not
write something that silly. The same is true for "No. of Employees: 11
- 35 People" - does this mean that they don't know how many employees
they have exactly? This shows that the people behind this "company"
are not businessmen, but only rather dumb criminals.
- They call themselves "Asiatronik Inc.", which is nonsense. An
Indonesian company would not have the American legal form
"Incorporated". They would be a CV (Commanditaire Vennootschap) or PT
(Perseroan Terbatas), but not an Inc.
- And of course, no company of the name "Asiatronik" is registered in Indonesia.
They are clearly scammers. I recommend that you do not any business with them.
=== PotensiTech.com ===
This company is a scam. I say this for the following reasons:
- I checked their domain registration record. It is full of typical
scam features. First, there is a fake address. Allegedly, the company
is located at Thamrin Street 241, Tangerang 53012. But the post code
53012 has absolutely nothing to do with the city of Tangerang, and
there is no street of that name in that city.
- The domain was registered only 2 weeks ago, on 6 October 2006, and
it will expire already after one year, on 6 October 2007. So we have
the typical features of a "disposable" scammer's domain here.
- When the scammers registered their domain, they called themselves
"POTENSI TECH Co,Ltd" - but Co. Ltd. is not a legal form for
Indonesian companies at all.
- The scammers did not only produce an incredibly primitive and ugly
website, they also made ridiculous mistakes when they stole images
from other sites on the Web. They obviously did not care for whether
the images make sense at all, they just took what looked nice. Look at
the "Awards" listed in the box on the right hand side of their main
page, and you will see for example awards for "2004 Illinois Retailer
of the Year" and "Illinois Family Business of the Year". An Indonesian
company would not get awards for being the best Illinois company. The
scammers' stupidity is extremely obvious here.
This is one of the worst and clumsiest scams I have seen in the past
few months. These criminals lack all talent for their fraudulent
activities.
Sources:
Allwhois Domain Database
http://www.allwhois.com/
Indonesian Ministry of Industry: Companies Register
http://www.dprin.go.id/ENG2005/Content2.asp?mode=21&view=frm
Indonesia News Online: Postal Codes of Bandung
http://www.indonesianewsonline.com/prangko/stamps/bandung.htm
Indonesia News Online: Complete Indonesian Postal Codes
http://www.indonesianewsonline.com/prangko/stamps/kodepos.htm
Godaddy Whois
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/whois.asp?prog_id=godaddy&ci=288
Squeaky Kleen London Inc.
http://www.sklondon.com/ |
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