Here I thought the scammers only got the feeble...escaped by the skin of my teeth

[greglepore]

Long story short-we've been shopping for a horse trailer to downsize to now that we don't really "camp". We want a 2 horse gooseneck, alu, with a box around 12 ft and a dressing room. Not common or they're not nice. We found this...https://rutherfordtrailers.com/product/2000-cc-2-horse-gooseneck/

Its not "crazy" under market, but very unique and very nice. I was ready to pull the trigger and pay by cc (my wife is going to Aus for her daughter's wedding afterparty and needs air points) but seconds before, I googled for reviews. Turns out the biz is completely non existent, has stolen thousands, and the address is a residential subdivision.

Damn. I get the elderly getting taken, but I came moments away. Why can't someone at least police domain names? I mean go try to buy a chargriller from walmart, at least half the ads are walmart. something . com, not actually Walmart. Its endemic.

[masraum]

Glad you checked and just missed it!

[A930Rocket]

I was thinking about that the other day, when you are looking online for something, and you see it on a website. What’s to keep the website from being a scammer?

[onewhippedpuppy]

That’s pretty bad, an entire fake website takes some effort. You would think a registered website address and web hosting would be possible to trace? Assuming law enforcement actually pursued such things.

[oldE]

Until service providers are held to be complicit for their part in hosting websites that are criminal activity, things won't change.
Glad you did some due diligence before pulling the trigger.

[CurtEgerer]

I Google every business I'm not completely familiar with these days. There are so many of these non-existent businesses! A friend got taken on a bike frame last year. The scammers even hijacked a legit major bike shop website, so it all looked familiar and legit. The prices were crazy low, making him buy immediately before they're sold out. I almost did the same after he told me about it, but the prices made no sense so I decided to do a quick search first.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

That’s pretty bad, an entire fake website takes some effort. You would think a registered website address and web hosting would be possible to trace? Assuming law enforcement actually pursued such things.

So to make it even more strange, and make me feel even more stupid, my spouse originally found the trailer on a site called "irondeals". Now some of you might be familiar with Ironplanet, a heavy equipment sales auction site, and this was so obviously a play on it that I immediately checked. Clearly a scam. So I figured they stole the photos and searched for that particular trailer, and found the Rutherford site. So I even alerted them in an email that "some scammer" had their photos, LOL.

I think the law enforcement problem is that these folks are likely offshore? But the ip should be easy to trace. I don't have the tech knowledge to do that, but I'd report it to the appropriate state ag if its a domestic ip and someone clued me in.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

I Google every business I'm not completely familiar with these days. There are so many of these non-existent businesses! A friend got taken on a bike frame last year. The scammers even hijacked a legit major bike shop website, so it all looked familiar and legit. The prices were crazy low, making him buy immediately before they're sold out. I almost did the same after he told me about it, but the prices made no sense so I decided to do a quick search first.

There are even fake "Chris King" websites. I mean, that's pretty niche. I suspect these hoods are using AI to generate these.

[Chocaholic]

A scammer was going to take a credit card? A call to your bank once the scam is discovered and you’re in the clear. What am I missing?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

A scammer was going to take a credit card? A call to your bank once the scam is discovered and you’re in the clear. What am I missing?

I would assume using something like Venmo or PayPal as opposed to a direct vendor account?

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

A scammer was going to take a credit card? A call to your bank once the scam is discovered and you’re in the clear. What am I missing?

In fairness, we didn't get that far. But you're right, we'd have been protected, but had to cancel the card and general hassles.

[Scott Douglas]

My latest episode with scammers went like this.

I got an email from Lowe's saying I could get a free tool kit by answering a survey. Tool kit looked like it'd be worth my time so why not.

I took the survey and it then said all I had to do was pay the shipping fee of $9.95 and the kit was mine.
$10 bucks for shipping a tool box full of tools sounded good to me, so I paid.

Next screen says thank you for signing up for some app and there's a monthly fee after the first month.
I immediately got busy finding out how to cancel my 'order' with them. They had an email address and a 1(800) phone number for customer support.

I called them and requested a refund immediately. They hemmed 'n hawed until I said that this was a total fraud and I'd report it as such to my credit card company and whoever else I could think of.

The refund was pretty quick in coming after that. I called the credit card company too, waited an hour to talk to the fraud dept but that was because they sent an email saying there was suspicious activity on our card. Didn't recognize that purchase either so denied the charges. Asked how they got my card number and they said it was probably from answering the survey. Said it happens all the time.

I hope I've learned my lesson on this crap. What a waste of time.

[masraum]

I know some very sharp folks that have gotten caught out by scammers. It happens. Usually it's when a person is a little distracted, much like most car accidents.

[Cajundaddy]

Scammers are everywhere and can really hang you out to dry. Glad you dodged a bullet. I am surprised no one has shut down their website due to fraud.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Uncle Sam does it too.
When you go to renew your government passport online you get sent to a 3rd party that wants over $400.
I cried fraud, CC company said NO fraud they are legit and its not their fault your lazy they said.
The 3rd party outfit credited my CC back.

I got off my butt and went to the post office, its only $130.