store without a history? www.hotcoolelectronics.com

[rbv4531]

This store, HotCoolElectronics.com - Low Prices for High Quality is showing very low prices. Wondering if they are a known / share address with a known scam site. On the other hand they might have real product, just "hot" (i.e. stolen) like their name says.

Example too-good-to-be-true:

Apple iPhone 3G 16GB - UNLOCKED!!!
CODE: 3giphone

Old price: $220.00
Discounted price: $114.40 Price: $0.00
You save: $105.60


Dell E248WFP Black 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor
CODE: RN071

Old price: $425.00
Discounted price: $221.00 Price: $0.00
You save: $204.00


How to reach us

Customer service: (213) 341-2297

Fax: (213) 341-2297

Address US (Main): 946 N MARIPOSA AVE, Los Angeles, CA, 90029

Address Italy: Via Enrico Accinni, 00195 Rome, Italy

[nomaxim]

From HotCoolElectronics.com - Low Prices for High Quality - FAQ.

For the moment we only accept Western Union Money Transfer Service® (Money in Minutes). We had fraud problems in credit cards processing and we have lost more than US $25,000.00 in shipping items ordered with stolen credit cards and after delivery we had to return the funds to their honest possessors. That's why we no longer accept credit cards for orders. The only solution for the moment is to receive the deposits through Western Union.

That is enough to stay away right there.

The WhoIs info shows a private registration service in the Netherlands and that they just went online 19SEP2008, website is also hosted in Malaysia.

Using WhitePages.com for the address shows,

La Mariposa Apartments
work
946 N Mariposa Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90029-3483
(323) 664-5238
Type: Land Line
Provider: Pacific Bell
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Job title: unavailable
Company: La Mariposa Apartments

And for the phone number shows,

(213) 341-2297 is Unpublished or Unavailable
Type: Land Line
Provider: Broadwing Communicatins. Llc
Location: Los Angeles, CA

The only thing the address and phone number have in common is that both are in LA.

The website also shows a 'Merchant Certified' icon that leads to netsecuretrust.org /merchantid6859715.htm and says,

COMPANY NAME: HotCoolElectronics, Inc

SERVICE EFFECTIVE DATE:
2007-08-23 SERVICE EXPIRATION DATE:
2010-08-23

DOMAIN NAME: HotCoolElectronics.com

The problem is that the WhoIs info for Netsecuretrust.org shows the same private registration service in the Netherlands, The same hosting service in Malaysia, and that that website went online 22SEP2008. In fact, both sites have almost the same IP; 119.110.98.146 and 119.110.98.149.

I have also seen the cert before and it belongs to another company out of New Zealand.

Scam website.

Profile lines up with a group that has been running scam sites for a couple of years. I refer to them as the Malaysians, no idea if that is where they are located though.

If you go to netsecuretrust.org you'll see a homepage for the 'European Internet Certification Agency'. That entity is all ready on the Online Scam Stores - A list and guide (Online Scam Stores - A list and guide) here at RR under that name plus the url's; eicafraud.org and eucertonline.org. Both of those url's are no longer active.

[frostbitetwice]

I just send these clowns an email, axing if I pay up front could I get free shipping...

[frostbitetwice]

I sent them an email and hear is their response..

[rsakuma]

under their shipping and handling they say they do not process sales under $500.

SCAM......they want people so send them $500+ money orders without verification or products.

[rbv4531]

For the moment we only accept Western Union Money Transfer Service

Didn't catch that, though it certainly would have put an immediate stop to my order once it became apparent on the checkout page.

Thanks for looking at it. Let me see if I can get google to block product listings from that domain.

[stevensrcc]

I RECENTLY BUY 6 IPHONE I SEND THEN THE MONEY TRHU WESTERN UNION THEY GET THE MONEY AND SEND ME AN EMAIL SAYING THAT THAT PRODUCT IS OUT OF STOCK THAT I SHOULD WAIT 30 DAYS FOR A RESTOCKING OR ASK FOR A REFUND. I ASKED FOR THE MONEY BUT THAT WAS THE LAST THING I HEARD FROM THEM ITS BEEN LIKE 15 DAYS AND NOT WORD STILL WELL I THINK I' VE LEARNED MY LESSON IM POSTING THIS BECAUSE I DONT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE SO SPREAD THE WORD IT IS NOT EASY I LOST 550 EUROS.

STEVENS CLETO

[Awu2008]

Damn, this is fake store, i ordered a monitor TV two weeks ago, sent the money $820 through Western Union Money Transfer , and fax the receipt to them, and nothing happened after that, i sent them email , no respond, i trying to call number: Customer service: (213) 341-2297 , and found out it's alway fax, i was tricked !

Learn a lesson from here, will be careful shopping online . By the way, anything I can do ? Any advice will be appreciated, thanks.

[rbv4531]

First piece of advice.... always use a credit card when shopping online.
Second piece of advice.... same as first, and make sure it's really a credit card, not a debit card (many banks claim their policies are the same but the law is definitely different).


How did you find the store? I've already contacted a friend who works for google to try to get hotcoolelectronics ads and product listings blocked there.

[anika234]

contact me plaese!! i sent them money as well and they are already blocked

report it with me in here!!
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Home

i sent them 850 via western union to Amanda Giligan in Rome Italy and nobody answers . latst on Oct 22 i received en email from representative who named himself Lindsay Norton.. Now i see it was probably a fake store.