Dear aluivera,
Thank you very much for this question. I checked Mecrotek and found
out that it is another scam.
The first thing I did was, of course, to check the ownership record of
the domain. This is the result:
Mecrotek Inc. (mecrotek@yahoo.co.id)
+61.8544355
Fax: -
jl. zainul arifin 25 c
medan, Sumatera Utara 21054
ID
Usually, scam businesses' domains are registered using very obvious
fake addresses. But in this case, one could almost believe that this
is a real company that registered their domain under their own name.
However, although these particular fraudsters behave a bit more clever
than others, they too have made mistakes.
The first thing is the company's legal status indicated in the company
name. An Indonesian company would not be "Inc." (which does not exist
in Indonesia), but "PT" (Perseroan Terbatas, a limited liability
company) - after all, this is what they call themselves on their
website. They seem not to be sure of their own company's legal status,
which is very suspicious.
Then, there is the address. It is noteworthy that it is incorrect both
on the company website and in the domain registration record. There is
a Zainul Arifin street (also spelled Zainal Arifin) in Medan. But that
street's correct postal codes are 21053 and 20112, not 21054.
Now it is clear that the address the fraudsters used to register their
domain is a rather clumsy fake that is intended to look like an actual
Indonesian address. Somebody who does not want to be tracked by his
victims registered this address. This alone would already be reason
enough to label Mecrotek a scam. But there are even more clues.
The fact that the domain was registered only on 1 September 2005 and
will already expire on 1 September 2006 is very revealing considering
Mecrotek's claim to be in business since 2000. If that were true, why
did they wait 5 years before registering their company name as a
domain? And why did they register this valuable domain for one year
only? It is obvious that this is a "disposable" domains only scammers
use for their short-lived frauds.
It is also noteworthy that after 5 years in business, this alleged
company has left remarkable few traces. A Google search for their
company name in connection with the place name Medan produces only two
results - both on Alibaba.com, a business-to-business online
marketplace where anybody can post his company's offers without being
checked for being legit.
The information on the Mecrotek website provides additional proof that
this is not a legit company. They claim that this is their address:
PT.MECROTEK
Jl. H. Zainul Arifin 51
Medan - 21223
Nort Sumatera - Indonesia
This is a fake address. As stated above, the postal code of Zainul
Arifin street in Medan is 21053; there is not even a postal code 21223
anywhere in that city. 21223 is the postal code of the town of
Kisaran, but not of a Zainul Arifin street there. Mail sent to that
address would end up nowhere.
Of course, there are also the classic indications of fraud in the
shape of the payment methods available: They insist on advance
Telegraphic Transfer or Wire Transfer for orders from outside
Indonesia. The reason is obvious: With this method of payment, it is
impossible to track who actually received the money or to call it
back. Only fraudsters insist on these methods of payment.
While all the things listed above are clearly demasking Mecrotek as a
fraud, the last point is particularly interesting. I checked the
address using the Indonesian Yellow Pages, and I found out that there
is really a company located at Zainul Arifin 51:
Mikrotek Komputer
Jl KH Zainul Arifin 51
MEDAN 20112
SUMATERA UTARA
Phone : 061-4575778, 061-4568976
Fax : 061-4577995
Email : mikrotek@indosat.net.id
Note the correct postal code, different from the fake code used by the
fraudsters. Also note that this business is clearly not identical with
the company the fraudsters pretend to be: They have completely
different telephone and fax numbers and a different e-mail address.
But it is very obvious that this is where they got the basic
inspiration for their fraud company. They simply replaced two
characters in the company name and clumsily changed the address.
I advise not to do any business with Mecrotek. They are clearly a scam.
Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Scriptor
Sources:
Allwhois Domain Database
http://www.allwhois.com/cgi-bin/allwhois.cgi
Indonesia News Online: Complete Postal Codes of Indonesia
http://www.indonesianewsonline.com/prangko/stamps/kodepos.htm
Indonesia News Online: Complete Postal Codes of Medan
http://indonesianewsonline.com/prangko/stamps/medan.htm
Indonesian Yellow Pages
http://www.yellowpages.co.id/
Alibaba.com: Mecrotek Company Profile
http://www.alibaba.com/member/mecrotek99/companyprofile.html |
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