Legal or Scam? http://www.lfpdistrogroup.com/

[hrnguyen]

I was wondering if anybody could help me out and let me know if this is a legal or a scam company. I have been in contact with them for a couple of day now, this is in their email:

'Unfortunetly, at the present time, we are unable to process credit card orders with our merchant account. We had put through a large order which turned out to have been purchased using a fraudulent card and our account has been temporarily suspended.'

and

'Unfortunatly at this time are merchant sevices are still frozen and it could take quite some time before its resovled, if you would like to proceed with your order the only methods of payment are cashiers check,bank wire or TT. I can give you references and send you our US incoporation papers if you wish. Also, please be sure to check out our company profile on TradeKey.com, where we are a trustpass member with over 2800 trustpoints'.

http://www.lfpdistrogroup.com/index.html

Thank you in advance for all of your help

[nomaxim]

Welcome to RR.

Their websites 'Contact Us' pages gives;

LFP Distro Group Incorporated
Suite 1100
28 State Street
Boston , MA
02109
USA

phone (857) 221-9128
fax (617) 830-9857

The WhoIs info gives;

Registrant:
lfpdistrogroup inc.
28 state st
boston, Massachusetts 02109
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: LFPDISTROGROUP.COM
Created on: 06-Aug-07
Expires on: 06-Aug-08
Last Updated on: 23-Aug-07

Administrative Contact:
phaneuf, louis francois jfdistro @yahoo.com (edited, remove space)
lfpdistrogroup inc.
28 state st
boston, Massachusetts 02109
United States
(857) 221-9128 Fax -- (617) 830-9857

The website was just registered last month and only for one year. Also uses a free yahoo email account. The phone number comes back with Whitepages.com as;

(857) 221-9128 is Unpublished or Unavailable
Type: Cell Phone, Provider: Nextel Communications, Location: Boston, MA

The address comes back with Whitepages.com as belonging too;

HQ Global State Street
28 State St, Ste 1100
Boston, MA 02109-5717
(617) 573-5292
(617) 573-5035
(617) 573-5059
(617) 573-5177
(617) 573-5166
(617) 573-5037
(617) 573-5203
(617) 619-3545
(617) 619-3763
(617) 619-3518
(617) 619-3554
(617) 573-5133
(617) 573-5012
(617) 619-3585
(617) 619-3695
(617) 573-5220
NOTE: there are 100 business's listed at this address, I complied all the above phone numbers.

I also checked the with the The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division for a corporate listing with the following results;

No Records Matched Your Begins With Search for Entity Name: LFP Distro Group Incorporated
-and-
No Records Matched Your Begins With Search for Entity Name: lfpdistrogroup.com
-and-
A search for Louis Phaneuf shows;
DSCI CORPORATION
The location of its principal office in Massachusetts:
No. and Street: 1050 WALTHAM ST.
City or Town: LEXINGTON State: MA Zip: 02421 Country: USA

Here is their TradeKey Profile;

Total TrustPoints: 3000
Date Joined: Jul 2007
Last Login: 22 September, 2007
Total Feedbacks: 2
Contact Person: Mr. louis phaneuf (Sales)
Company: LFP Distro group inc.
Address: 28 state st, boston, ma, USA
Zip/Postal: 02109
Telephone: 1-857-2219128
Fax: 1-617-8309857

The fax number here comes back with Whitepages.com as;

(617) 830-9857 is Unpublished or Unavailable
Type: Land Line, Provider: Dsci Corporation, Location: Boston, MA

I would also point out that the TradeKey profile only has 2 feedbacks since JUL2007.

I would suggest waiting until they fix the problem with accepting CC payments before even considering dealing with them. Even then the address's and phone numbers are all out of line. You look to be dealing with someone using a cell phone and a free Yahoo email account instead of the contact info given for the companies. No way to tell if this person is who they say they are.

[hrnguyen]

Thank you very much for your help.

[nomaxim]

Additional info, now that the BBB site is back up;

BBB report for HQ Global shows;

General Information
ID: 29785
Company Name:
Global Business Listing Corporation
Company Address: 28 State Street, Suite 1100
Boston, MA 02109

Number of Employees: 1
Phone Number:
(866) 932-9992
Fax Number:
(866) 932-9996
BBB Member Status: This company is not a Member
Type of Business:
MARKETING PROGRAMS & SERVICES
Web Site Address:
http://www.globalbusinesslistingcorp.com

Customer Experience
The Bureau has requested basic information from this company. The Bureau has not received a response.

The address for LFP Distro Group Incorporated given does not belong to them. It belongs to a business listing company. So we in fact have no address for LFP Distro Group Incorporated.

Website for dscicorp.com and their BBB report shows;

General Information
ID: 96695
Company Name:
DSCI Corporation
Company Address: 1050 Waltham Street, Ste. #510
Lexington, MA 02421
See the location on a Mapquest Map
See the location on a Google Map
Type of Entity: Corporation
Incorporated: 2001 in Massachusetts
Principal:
Sean Dandley , C.E.O.
Number of Employees: 40
Phone Number:
(866) 438-3724
(781) 862-8300
Fax Number:
(781) 862-4545
BBB Member Status: This company is not a Member
Type of Business:
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE
Web Site Address:
http://www.dscicorp.com
Nature of Business
DSCI Corporation is a telecommunications company.

This company is in telecommunications, they do not sell iPods, PS3's, XBOX's, or other electronics.

I would not recommend using lfpdistrogroup.com at all. All their contact info belongs to other company's.

[twistedbrntucker]

Check their corporation filings with Sec. of State
http://corp.sec.state.ma.us

[LFP Distro Group]

The proper link to our company registration is below registered to 28 state streets, Boston MA

http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/cor...FEIN=000954761


Our Federal Tax ID# 77-0692119


Yes we rent an office and mailing service from HQ AKA The Regus Group along with 150 other companies. We also have a Canadian Company. Our phone number is forwarded to our company customer service department in Canada. We have a US company to serve US clients and a Canadian company to serve Canadian clients. We are also in the process of setting up a UK Corporation to better serve our clients from the United Kingdom. We have a merchant account with our bank but were warned that large transactions might cause possible fraud risk therefore we do not use this for large transactions anymore. We do however use PayPal for sample orders and we working on obtaining a high volume merchant account as soon as possible. In the meantime we accept checks, money orders, cashiers checks and direct deposit. We do not have any complaints from any of our clients so if any of our clients were to have any problems we would encourage them to contact us directly online at http://www.lfpdistrogroup.com.

Our Trade Key Profile with GOLD KEY membership and 3000 trustpoints can be viewed here.

http://www.tradekey.com/profile_cont...-group-inc.htm

We are the only North American company with 3000 trustpoints. We also have no complaints since July, 2007.

We Now accept American Express Credit Cards for our clients which is safe and secure for both the buyer and the seller. Email us if you are intrested.


Thank You,
LFP Distro Group Inc.
28 State Street
Suite 1100
Boston , MA 02109
USA
1-857-221-9128
http://www.lfpdistrogroup.com

[twistedbrntucker]

Originally Posted by LFP Distro Group

Our Trade Key Profile with GOLD KEY membership and 3000 trustpoints can be viewed here.

http://www.tradekey.com/profile_cont...-group-inc.htm

We are the only North American company with 3000 trustpoints. We also have no complaints since July, 2007.

Correct me if I am wrong, but those 3000 "Trust Points" are aquired once you pay for a Gold Membership, correct? Not obtained from feedback.
Per Tradekeys site

GoldKey membership gives 2000% more buyers for your products than a SilverKey membership

Although a SilverKey membership is great to start with online trading, GoldKey membership is for serious traders who are looking for maximum results from online trading.

A GoldKey membership includes all the benefits of a SilverKey membership. Additional benefits are:

20 times more buyers than a SilverKey membership
Dedicated Relationship Manager - committed to finding new buyers for your products & sending them marketing messages every hour
Top most priority over all other types of memberships on TradeKey.com
10 Products, 300 Sell Offers, 500 Buy Offers
3000 TrustPoints
Junk email filtering
Highest level of trust in the TradeKey.com community
Extensive Search Engine marketing
Advertisement on TradeKey.com homepage *

Select one of the two options below and upgrade to GoldKey membership now!

US$3000 per 6 months - Upgrade Now

US$5000 per year - Upgrade Now

How can I get 3000 Trustpoints?
There are two ways of earning 3000 TrustPoints:

1. Photocopies of your company registration certificates must be attested by your local Chamber of Commerce, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

These original copies should be postal-mailed to the TradeKey.com office. To obtain our mailing address, please write to

2. Make your membership upgrade payment by a Bank Wire Transfer through an account that is titled the same as your account in TradeKey.com. That is, Premium membership fees should be paid by Bank Wire Transfer and the ownership of the bank account used to process the payment should be by the same as the company name on TradeKey.com.

For more information on TrustPoints, click here.

[nomaxim]

More info at How does TrustPoints works?;

TrustPoints are rewarded based on a number of factors that determine how reliable a member may be. Greater the TrustPoints, greater the reliability. Of course, it is always recommended that you inquire thoroughly before making any dealings with buyers or sellers.

Premium Member
Factors TrustPoints

GoldKey Membership with Attested Certificates OR
GoldKey Membership with payment by TT * 3000

SilverKey Membership with Attested Certificates OR
SilverKey Membership with payment by TT * 200

Positive Feedback (same country) 5
Positive Feedback (foreign country) 10
Negative Feedback / Trade Dispute -10
Dispute Resolution 10
Fax Confirmation 10
Address Confirmation 10
Bank Wire Transfer with Bank Information 25
Company Registration Documents 10

-and-

Although TrustPoints are rewarded to a member based on the above-mentioned factors, conditions and/or status of a member may change over time without notice. TrustPoints do not provide a guarantee on a member's legitimacy, reliability or trust-worthiness.

Originally Posted by LFP Distro Group

We also have no complaints since July, 2007.

Per you present ratings you have only had 2 feedbacks since July. And according to the above rating system, it appears that those 2 feedbacks cancelled each other out. You score is still at 3000.

Total TrustPoints: 3000
Date Joined: Jul 2007
Last Login: 26 September, 2007
Total Feedbacks: 2

-and-

Disclaimer:
TrustProfile information is provided for reference only. TradeKey.com shall not be liable for any loss arising or resulting from reliance on this profile or arising or resulting from error or omission in preparing this profile.

Also some info on Tradekey from thewholesaleforums.co.uk

Originally Posted by gadgetalert101

This post is directed mostly to newbies. It has to do with all these trading platforms online like Alibaba, Tradekey, SellerKey, etc. I've just seen to many questions about these websites, so I decided to write a little about it. Everyone feel free to chip in.

First things first.
1. Be aware that almost EVERY single scammer advertises through these websites, and have hundreds of posts in them. Ask yourself...where else would they promote their scam website with their crappy websites? Where do most scammers do their business? Where do most people encounter scammers...and get then get scammed? Exactly.

2. One important factor to know is that most scammers in general and especially in these websites offer high-end branded stuff. So they usually have iPods, Video Games Consoles, Digital Cameras, and mobile phones. When you add up all their stock...it is usually within the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So you are telling me that some random Joe in China has ALL these super high end stuff by the dozens in their hands....FOR LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE... When I have to pre-order a PS3 in the USA because they are sold out at WAL-MART! Funny. And worst of all, they have a piece of garbage website and some of them don't even have a website.
Still hundreds of people handout thousands of dollars each day to these scammers. Proves to you that Common sense is NOT common.

3. I know. These websites can be great places to find UNBRANDED STUFF. You were dying to write that post already. The fact is that most newbies are not looking for unbranded stuff, they all want the PS3s, iPods, and mobile phones.
But yes, if you want to source unbranded stuff, there is a lot of potential in these sites. BUT be aware because there are scammers in every market.

4. Silver member, Gold Member, etc etc... For most part that means nothing. All it means is that these people payed a fee to get that title. So don't feel any safer dealing with any "supplier" just for that.

5. Remember. Common sense is not common.

Bold text added by me.
\


EDIT:

Originally Posted by LFP Distro Group

Our Federal Tax ID# 77-0692119

Per knightfdn.org

We couldn't locate an organization matching EIN: 770692119.

feinsearch.com. NOTE: You must register to use this one, Sorry.

Search Result:
No records found.

The above check was done by the numbers, a partial name search, term- 'LFP', gives these returns;

LFP INSURANCE AGENCY, INC. BEVERLY, MA.
LFP REALTY LLC LEE, MA.

NOTE:

Originally Posted by Feinsearch.com

Disclaimer:
FEINSearch.com takes pride in its 7.2 million records database, which is the largest in nation. We are updating and incorporating additional tax ids on a weekly basis. We do not claim to have all business TAX IDs in the USA. Please take note that smaller private companies are harder to retrieve than large corporations and non-profits. An EIN not appearing in our database does not mean it is invalid. There were/are over 30 million companies in the US that have operated over the past 25 years.

[Just_me2008]

The website is kindah new, but they say that before they opened this business that they use to be brokers. What I do not like is that they say that they accept sample orders with paypal but after that then you have to order large quantities and pay unsecure like with bank transfer and then the long delivery time. That is plenty of time for anything to happen. I would feel more confident if they would offer smaller quantities on regular basis and a steady secure payment portal like google. For such large minimum orders like 50 pieces, all they need is that one good sucker to send them thousands of dollars to vanish and just simply start up a new company. Anybody with 50 bucks can start up a corporation so that is not big deal

[LFP Distro Group]

How can you assume we are not a legit operation if nobody here has ever ordered form us?? I'm very confused. We are working hard to satisfy our customer’s needs. As for tradkey yes you have to pay for silver and gold memberships but you can see that there are many companies on tradkey that have GOLDKEY but only 30 points which means they were unable to verify there business or anything about them. As for the minimum order of 50pcs it’s based on our slight profit margins. If people want to order 10pcs we can do that but obviously we will charge allot more than we would for 50 all we can say is give us a try and you will not be disappointed.