Choice Electronics * smartbuy-shop.co.uk * FRAUD! *SCAM!*

[master00]

www.smartbuy-shop.co.uk (Choice Electronics)IS FRAUD.

Check this out: http://www2.shopping.com/xPO-Sony_Handycam_DCR_DVD405
They sell Sony Handycam® DCR-DVD405 DVD Camcorder for $470.00 and their logo says Electronics 4 Sale.

DO NOT BUY FROM IT! Please report it!!

[master00]

Anyone can tell me where to report those bastards?
I have no idea where to start.

www.smartbuy-shop.co.uk (Choice Electronics) whois information:

Domain name:
smartbuy-shop.co.uk

Registrant:
DONALD G PLOSS

Registrant type:
Not supplied

Registrant's address:
700 Hayden Road
Centreville
MD
21617
US

Registrant's agent:
Global Registration Services Ltd [Tag = GRS]
URL: http://www.globalregistrationservices.com

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 30-Jan-2006
Renewal date: 30-Jan-2008

Registration status:
Registered until renewal date.

Name servers:
park19.secureserver.net
park20.secureserver.net

WHOIS lookup made at 23:54:47 29-May-2006

[nomaxim]

Anyone can tell me where to report those bastards?
I have no idea where to start.

Your local police. Make sure you take all reciepts and e-mails that you have had with them.

[robcataus]

Is your claim based on their low price? How do you know it's a fraud? I would love to know, since I was very close to buying something from them...

[master00]

If you don't believe me, go ahead and wire the money through Western Union as they asked.
Very soon, you will find out who's lying... me or those scammers - www.smartbuy-shop.co.uk (Choice Electronics).

Btw... I think they have seen this thread, because have changed their logo on shopping.com. But first time when I checked, it was Electronics 4 Sale's logo.

Also, somebody else is interested in their services...

[Admin RR]

Choice Electronics is a complete scam. They only accept western union. Again, as has been said many times before, NEVER EVER EVER USE WESTERN UNION TO PAY FOR GOODS ANYWHERE. Western Union is a cash transfer service for you to wire money to mom and pop, not to pay for goods. You will never see your money or your goods if you use Western Union or another wire transfer service to pay a scammer like this.

Choice Electronics is the same site as the other scammers listed here:
http://www.resellerratings.com/forum...d.php?t=118666 (How about elettro-ok.com?? (and Venco Electronica, electronics-4sale.com, Anekautama))

They keep changing their name, logo, and domain - same scammer. Not a big problem though, it' s easy to spot them - they don't accept credit cards, a HUGE RED FLAG.

[halliburke]

I wish I could have stumbled across this posting a few days ago... because I got all the information about the tackiness of Choice Electronics after I wired the money to them.

I was gullible enough to buy something from them, a mistake that I am determined to never repeat. The whole Choice Electronics website (http://www.smartbuy-shop.co.uk) is a scam. I sent them $617 for a couple Nokia 8800's via the Western Union wire transfer service and I have not heard from them since (it's been 4 days). If you read this, please do not buy anything from them unless you enjoy giving money to crooks

If anyone else has fallen prey to these losers, I would encourage them to go to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) here --> http://www.ic3.gov/ and to submit a complaint against these guys.

Also, just for some further information, I did a whois lookup on the Choice Electronics website and I cross-referenced the information I got with some information obtained from a free people finder search at Yahoo and this is what I came up with as a contact for the person who registered the domain name smartbuy-shop.uk.co:

Donald G. Ploss
****************
****************
****************

(Note: I have edited out the contact information and address of Donald until further notice. Mr. Ploss's name, contact information, and phone number information will be mentioned and logged in the reports that I will file with the FBI, FTC, and other agencies that I will write to regarding this incident.)

I ran a search on this fellow on peoplefinders.com and this Donald fellow seems to be 58 years of age and that this guy really does exist. If this is the case, then it's quite possible that this crime can be stopped because he seems to be living here within the US and there is likely a virtual paper trail with IP addresses. Anyways, this my contribution... I hope it is helpful.

[nomaxim]

Unless Mr. Ploss is himself a victim of fraud. Say something like a stolen credit card. That's mostly how these sites operate.

As for Western Union, well they start here on thier Consumer Fraud Awareness page a number of very useful tips. Like;

Western Union does not recommend sending money to anyone you don't know. Only transfer money to someone you know personally or whose identity you can verify!

If you feel you have been the victim of fraud, you can access the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at http://www.ifccfbi.gov/ or contact the Federal Trade Commission through their web site at http://www.ftc.gov/.

Those links are for both the FBI and FTC.

[halliburke]

I hadn't considered that, but it is certainly a possibility. Thanks for the tip nomaxim... again, I wish I had come across this forum before I made the mistake of sending the money via wire transfer.

I plan on reporting all I know about this incident to the FBI (IC3.gov) and if anyone else has been ripped off by these thieves, I would highly suggest that report your incident to the FBI by going to http://www.ifccfbi.gov/ as that might increase the chance that an investigation would take place to hopefully bring down this fake online store.

I would also highly recommend that you call the Western Union fraud center at 1-800-448-1492 and explain your situation. You might want to drudge up your emails with Choice Electronics that have the contact name that you are supposed to pay as well as the pickup location... this is useful information that Western Union will keep and use to assist any investigations.

[Lodger1043]

I know how this post may be received by some of you, but as a friend of Don Ploss's I needed to respond to some of the speculation in this thread. Don is not and has not ever been affiliated with Smartbuy-shop.co.uk. Whoever is responsible for setting up this bogus site has also stolen Don's id to use him as a front.

Don (and the children in his home) have been receiving multiple phone calls about this site, including some from those here I imagine. Please stop calling his home. He is not involved and is currently trying to get his name removed from the registration.

Does anyone think that someone who set up a fraudulent website that is stealing money from people would actually use their real name and address to register the site?