Bamzee.com - Online Fraud UNTOUCHABLE? to Dept of Justice & Washington Mutual Bank

[herbolaryo]

I purchased a book: Principles of Anatomy and Physiology by Tortora, 11th edition (ISBN0471689343)with the following information
Order #847890
Total of $61.50
Date of Payment: 9/26/06 via Mastercard credit card.
Invoice was sent via email with a heading of ANGELBOOKSTORE101
I emailed on 9/27/06 to verify the delivery date No reply received.
I emailed again on 10/4/06. No reply received.
I emailed again on 10/7/06. Still no reply

As of now there is no resolution to my complaint.

I am insisting on Immediate delivery of the book or refund.

I read thru Internet Fraud Complaint Center that credit card have fraud protection so...
I initially filed a complained to Washington Mutual Bank (the bank for my MasterCard Credit card)for non-receipt of merchandise.
They gave me back the money.

However now I received a letter from Washington Mutual that they will not honor the claim.

Now I don't know where I can get help for the online fraud committed by BAMZEE.COM

[herbolaryo]

I emailed the Attorney General and this is their reply:

"Thank you for your e-mail to the Office of Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Your time in submitting this information is much appreciated. Your communication now will be reviewed for response by regular mail.

Please remember that by law we cannot represent you on a personal matter and cannot give you legal advice."


When a consumer files a fraud complaint and is branded as personal.
How many fraud complaints have to be filed for it to be considered worthy of an ACTION???
I have seen in this forum a list of websites that are fraudulent. Are there no government agency which can close them down once and for all

I emailed Washington Mutual Bank (account for MasterCard credit card) for their credit card consumer protection against fraud:

They initially credited the money back to my account but now they emailed...
"Washington Mutual Investigation of your claim is in progress. Because your claim does not fall under Regulation E, we will attempt to recover the funds on your behalf directly from the merchant's bank.... If we are unable to recover the funds directly from the merchant's bank we will be reversing this credit and reducing your account balance by the same amount... Please ensure that there are sufficient funds in the account by this date.:

In other words, Washington Mutual Bank/ Master Card Credit Card will NOT honor the consumer protection claim.

Now... where can consumer protection be upheld when the Bank/Credit Card Consumer Protection does not seem to work and the Department of Justice can't offer much help.

[nomaxim]

Welcome to RR.

If we are unable to recover the funds directly from the merchant's bank we will be reversing this credit and reducing your account balance by the same amount.

This sentence seems to say that you will be charged only if your bank cannot recover the funds from bamzee's bank. NOTE: Did you use a CC or a debit card? Debit cards are not covered by fraud protection in most states.

As to bamzee itself;
The website gives no contact info except for a e-mail address.
The WhoIs info shows;

Registration Service Provided By: MeZine
Contact: admin @ websitedynamics.com (edited by me)
Domain name: bamzee.com
Registrant Contact:
oluyinka bamiro ybams @ yahoo.co.uk (edited by me, remove spaces.)
+1.6044304588
Fax:
1223 banbury rd
kalamazoo,
US
SSL Cert: No valid SSL on this Host
Created: 18-jun-2006
Expires: 18-jun-2007

I would provide the WhoIs info to your bank as this is a scam site.
Reasons being;
1. Site only registered for one year.
2. E-mail addy is a free Yahoo account.
3. Yahoo e-mail addy is in the United Kingdom.
4. Phone numbers area code is for Canada: British Columbia: Greater Vancouver
5. Incomplete address, no state or zip code is given in the US.

I would file a complaint here; http://ic3.gov/ since the actual location of these people cannot be established.
I would not expect to get the book you ordered. If you did indeed use a debit card, then I would not hold high hopes of getting your money back.

Sorry, I could not give better news at this time of year.

[herbolaryo]

I try to research if there are other complaints on bamzee.com and found this... http://shopping.yahoo.com/merchrating/user_rv.html?merchant_id=1046153

Where 7/7 of the reviews had problem with the merchant last October.
(Now I recently check, that additional 7 reviewers were added with an excellent rating... I wonder if the merchant put it themselves.)
I research also Company: ANGELBOOKSTORE101 and found out that it was banned from ebay.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...elbookstore101


Getting the lead that Bamzee.com and Angelbookstore101, I asked assistance from Ebay thru their chat session...

Your chat session has started..
Tatum: Hi thank you for using eBay's live help. My name is Tatum, may I have your name please?
herbolaryo: Good Morning Tatum. I am in desperate need of your help.
herbolaryo: my name is XXXXXX
Tatum: How may I help you today?
herbolaryo: This is with regards to one of your seller Angelbookstore101. Nondelivery of purchased book. I have been having a hard time getting a refund because there is no contact information –name, telephone and address of the said seller. The Federal Trade Commission would be mediating. However, they sent me an email requiring the contact information of the seller.
herbolaryo: It’s been very hard to get the contact details. I emailed all the persons where a feedback on him was posted. Unfortunately, all of those posted didn’t receive the product nor a refund. It has been several weeks since then, I am in desperate need of your assistance.
Tatum: You can request your seller's contact information by simply entering the item number and seller's user ID at:
Tatum:
Tatum: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQtZvbQQsofindtypeZ9
herbolaryo: http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...&iid=-1&de=off
herbolaryo: THis is the seller... Unfortunately he is not registered anymore...
Tatum: I understand, Let me try to email the information to you.
Tatum: Do you have the item number for this transaction?
herbolaryo: He diverted me on his own website for the transaction... He said it would be cheaper there... And I fell for it... Now it taught me a lesson...
Tatum: In that case I can not disclose the sellers information, as the sale was not done on the eBay site.
Tatum: I apologize.
herbolaryo: I understand the ebay policy. However, Can I forward the email of FTC as proof
Tatum: If you would like you can contact my supervisor to see if he can bypass this policy.
Tatum: His email is daymond@ebay.com


I emailed daymond and followed it up and as of now there is no reply.

IF only EBAY.COM can provide the address of Angelbookstore101 so further fraud can be prevented.

[herbolaryo]

I filed a complaint on Better Business Bureau's Online Complaint System last October 2006.
and the case was closed because they said that I have insufficient information on bamzee.com

Since I can't provide an address or telephone number of bamzee.com, the case hit a dead end.

I also filed a complaint on Consumeraffairs last October 2006.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/php/a_report.php

The only return I received is this... Complaint Accepted. Thank you for your input

I also filed a complaint on Complaints.com
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/php/a_report.php

I also filed a complaint on netcheck.com
http://www.netcheck.com/complaint.htm

I also filed a complaint on Planetfeedback.com
http://www.planetfeedback.com/index....opic_id=294479

I also filed a complaint on Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) last October 2006 and received a similar response.
https://complaint.ic3.gov/Default.aspx

If a seller just hide his address and telephone number or provide a false one, he can FREELY escape and commit fraud.
Bamzee.com must have KNOWN the loop holes for committing online fraud, and as you can see on the various complaints on yahoo reviews, ebay auction, and still going on as I personally receive various emails who are victimized by the same merchant....

And with this desperate hope that one can provide resolution...
I can probably say that the government agencies are just filing the complaint and
does NOT really have enforcement power to remove fraudulent online merchants ...

This is evident as you observe that the list of the "sticky" on Online scammers (Online Scam Stores - A list and guide) just get longer and longer...
Coz they discover the loop holes on committing online fraud and escaping it

With certainty, unless agencies act, the complaint will just remain a record, the list will just get longer.

I don't want to speculate, since this fraudulent merchant gets the credit card info, identity theft is just around the corner.

And since they are untouchable, I hope terrorist will NOT use this method to fund their acts.
It won't be a surprise anymore that one day you can find in the news that the source of terrorist funding is within the US itself.
Because our very own agencies refuse to act on what they deem "small time frauds".
It is scary to imagine a group of fraudulent merchants funding the terrorist.

It seems too easy to evade the law...
Looking at History...Sometimes many have to fall victims before one begins to really care...
I hope we learn our lesson from history so it won't be too late next time.

[herbolaryo]

Right now I notified yahoo shopping regarding this merchant since I recently noticed that they have a buyer's protection.

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/shop/cgi_merchant

And awaiting their action...

The modus operandi of fraudulent store in raising his seller ratings is likely done in this way:
1. Selling goods at the cheapest and delivering them to a few buyer.
2. Buyer who receive the goods at cheap price and fast delivery would put a positive rating. These are the minority.
3. The majority will not receive the goods and will not receive a refund.


Another way is to create new account under different username and increase his own seller rating.

In this manner, he got a positive rating initially to attract buyers then pull out once he receive the payment from the majority.
Then hide under the gray area & bureaucracy of the laws governing online shopping.
The law being.... non existent???


In any case, I hope there will soon be an international law governing online shopping & fraudulent sellers.

I did a google search now again... and seems the merchant bamzee.com is expanding his tactic to campus forums....
And his target are unsuspecting students looking for a good price for their books