website SCAMS

[redhusky3]

Hi everyone, so this post is to hopefully inform everyone from website scams for the upcoming Christmas holiday especially. I think it would be nice to share SCAMS, hopefully saving the next "victim" from frauds, scams, stolen credit card numbers, internet fear and disappointment.

And of course as we all know from cel scams, here are some rules of thumb, please add what rules you have.

• NEVER ORDER FROM CHINA. (Notorious for fakes)
  If its cheap, its probably too good to be true. (Who wouldnt want the most out of their dollar?)
  Search on the internet and check what others say about a site.
  Any mass site with a HOTMAIL email address is self created and COULD be a fraud.
  (In my opinion) Always pay with PAYPAL or something other than directly your credit card on the internet.

Here is my SCAM from Uggnext.com

Ok so my -stupid- sister wanted another pair of Ugg boots (since her last pair was stolen). She went to buy Ugg boots size 7 on - Uggnext.com - This site supposedly sells 100% real Uggs. Total SCAM! Her "uggs" arrived today and they were size 9 (not the ordered size of 7). And guess what. Knowing what Uggs were really like...the ones in front of her were obvious fakes. Fake fake fake fake. 100% Fake. It turns out that she paid with a credit card...not paypal. They said they were paypal verified but i looked on their site and it looks like a copy and pasted image. What the hell? How stupid can someone be? But yes, someone has our credit card number. (stupid).

I want to become like 007 and catch them but I dont know how. Anyone know how?

If I knew she was going to order Uggs from a website other than the official, I would have checked it out myself but I was in college and knew nothing of it. As soon as I checked out the site uggnext on google, yeah the very first thing that shows up is that its a SCAM.


Please share your scam stories so that we may dodge the next bullet successfully.

[zerospace]

Well, this should come as no surprise to you, then. Do a "whois" on uggnext.com and you'll find they are registered in China. It should be noted, though, that WHOIS information can easily be false (and in many cases is false or can be hidden).

To be honest, before I'll do business with ANY site, I always look them up on the Better Business Bureau ( http://www.bbb.org ). There's also lots of great sites that allow visitors to post reviews of online merchants. BizRate.com is one I frequently check. And of course, like you said -- Google (or any search engine) is your friend. If LOTS of people are saying bad things, than you might have something to worry about.

Scams are easy to avoid if you do your homework first. My rule of thumb is this: if I can't find any information on whether or not the site is reputable or owned by someone reputable, I won't order from it. Generally, I stick to well-known online shops and always always look for secure (SSL encrypted) sites when entering credit card information. If they don't have an SSL certificate, your data streams across the Internet totally unprotected . There are new SSL certificates out there now that turn your browser's address bar GREEN. These mean that a business has undergone an extensive certification (basically, they must be verified as a legitimate business, etc) to get the certificate, and generally should mean the site is trustworthy.

Lastly: If you do fear that your information may have been compromised, I would most certainly watch my credit report/credit card statements, etc for at least a year after anything like that. If you find anything suspicious, place a fraud alert on your credit report via one of the major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion), and of course, notify your credit card companies, etc.

I've only dealt with the theft of one of my CC numbers, once. Some of my family members have had check card numbers compromised, too. It's a headache and a half! In neither case could we ever figure out how it actually was stolen. Sometimes it's stuff that's beyond your control (banks or other retail card processing systems hacked, etc).