Scammers
January 20, 2010
We all know about scammers and the way they work. The latest family of scammers have found a new way of hiding themseves without having to register an email address at e.g. yahoo or gmail.
What they do is, they use a company in Holland called PrivacyProtect.org to hide behind. They then have an email address they can use and can begin to find high-end products and write to the shop owners and attempt – usually with stolen credit cards to buy the products.
The emails always have the same format:
- the scammers save time by not actually mentioning the product, they simply write “I have plan to buy several things from your store”.
- They always ask “Do you accept major credit card as the payment ?” They never mention Paypal or a bank transfer
- They usually have an English-sounding name
- Checking the web address (not the email address) at any who-is website always brings up this PrivacyProtect.org as Domain Registrant.
PrivacyProtect.org do not give out any information no matter what reason you have and even if you use their “http://privacyprotect.org/#contact_domain_owner” link. They seem to be happy to earn their money hiding thieves and scammers.
Over the past month or so we have received three such emails. I can’t remember one of the names, but the other two are from
- gutenshop.com (calling himself Michael Otawa in Redondo Beach. CA) but the email name is Asian
- watonmuni.com (calling himself Dave Dann but again with an Asian email name)
Added later: More scammers using this trick:
All emails have almost identical content: asking about unnamed products, wanting to pay by credit card, etc.
I have forwarded all three to the Internet Fraud department of Interpol in Paris as well as the address of this Dutch place who is aware of the criminal behaviour of their clients but who seem to want to do nothing about it.
So: if you or a friend sell high-end products and receive such an email, AlWAYS check the address in the email address on a whois site. It may save you being scammed.
Update: I am also reporting the internet provider to the Dutchj Cybercrime department.
February 25, 2010 at 8:47 pm
I was unaware of your website and have shipped products to these individuals. Law enforcement nor my banking principals will not do anything to help me. My company has lost loads of money due to these individuals and there is nothing I can do about it. These people need to be beaten!
February 25, 2010 at 10:36 pm
I am so sorry to hear that these swine have cheated you. Do you happen to have their domains name so that they are recorded in this blog in case anyone in the world is hunting for information on them ? Have you contacted the FBI, instead of just the local police ? If the thieves had the same provider as the ones I mentioned, I would also inform Interpol. It is not just the thieves that should be stopped but the internet providers who shelter them and hide their identity.
May 5, 2010 at 11:24 pm
I’ve got an email from the same gutenshop.com domain, also asking for high quantity of expensive products.
And basically what suprised me is that someone who buys such a high quantyti of expensive products don’t even ask for wholesale prices and also only method of payment he is interested in is (your guess), correct – CC
Details:
illuminati@gutenshop.com
William Ng from Singapore
May 6, 2010 at 2:56 am
Glad to hear you didn’t get scammed. I still haven’t had a reply from the Dutch Internet Crime department about them. It looks like they aren’t interested because obviously the internet provider who is protecting these criminals are paying taxes and that is what the EU is all about – as long as the EU is getting money off people they can do no wrong. If this had been a provider in Switzerland, which is not under the yoke of slavery and dictatorship of the EU, the place would have been raided long ago. LONG LIVE FREE SWITZERLAND.
May 6, 2010 at 9:38 am
He actually tried to buy two times from me, first it’s just an email, but then after some time he just registered a new user and tried to checkout, but when he got to the last step there were only PayPal or wire transfer so his shopping came to an end.
Also I managed to get his IP, which I don’t think is legit, as they possibly using proxy servers, but it still might be useful, plus all the shipping info.
But I’d rather discuss this in person with someone interested in trying to track them as far as possible and then hang it over to authorities.
May 14, 2010 at 9:49 am
I was in the process of giving a Quote to jennifer.ellis@shambelkecap.com for some very expensive eqpt. when i thought it strange that when i asked them to transfer the money by bank transfer they did not reply,,, i then checked there email on google thats when i found your web site a big thankyou,,,,good luck in your fight against this crime the people in holland who know about these activities are just as guilty of this crime ”Good Luck”
May 24, 2010 at 6:26 pm
We receive a handful of these scam e-mails every so often. I did a quick search for the domain name and found your posting.
Thanks so much for taking the time to post this info! It saved me a lot of money and wasted e-mails.
May 24, 2010 at 9:28 pm
I am glad it is helping people. Every person I manage to help is – as a former Girl Guide (US=Girl Scout) – like fulfilling my promise all those years ago to do one Good Deed Every Day
May 25, 2010 at 12:01 pm
We are a small internet retailer who was almost “bit” by a similar scam awhile back.
Today we received the same type of email from
jennifer.ellis@shambelkecap.com
We are going to send back a response, agreeing to do business. But, our minimum order will be 18000 USM (US Marshmallows) and we will require prepayment with ReesesPeanutbuttercups!
May 25, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Now
that’s
an idea ! Do report back !
June 26, 2010 at 11:47 am
Today one of our shops recieved a email from a scammer using the same trick:
________________________________________________
Hello Sir,
My name : Efro Kawai
Address : Singapore
I have plan to buy several things from your store.
Can you Ship to my address?
Do you accept major credit card as the payment ?
I’m waiting for your confirmation as soon as possible.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Best Regards,
Efro Kawai
________________________________________________
Please be aware…
Friendly Regards
June 26, 2010 at 12:34 pm
With you being so relatively close to the hosts of these gangsters, can you not report it to the Police? Best wishes to Belgie / Belgique !
July 23, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Thanks for sharing this info…had received an order from a elstov@gutenshop.com with name of Byran Lee and shall not be doing business with them now..
We were hit with scams in the past and came up against nothing but problems with the banks/police..It seems like the only way we can protect each other is by, well, protecting each other and sharing the names and e-mail addresses of those attempting such nasty fraud…
July 24, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I just read a book about an FBI agent who more or less founded the FBI’s Art Theft department. He wrote that in the early days art theft was viewed as a mild offence until art with a value of over 2 Billion US$ was stolen from a US museum. If the people who have written in to this blog represent only 1 ten-thousandth of the people who have been scammed or been the subject to an attempted scam, and each lost or could have lost, say, $10,000 then we are already up to $100, 000,000 (that’s 100 million dollars worth of goods scammed).
If you have any friends of colleagues in the high-end business – tell them about these people. And with luck one day Interpol and/or the FBI WILL do something about this Dutch host.
July 28, 2010 at 4:36 am
I, too, have received an inquiry from elstov@gutenshop.com (Bryan Lee), followed the next day with an internet order from cangkem@watonmuni.com (Chang Kim), both wishing for items to be shipped to Singapore from the US. Chang Kim seems “desperate” for his order to be shipped. Thank you for the heads up, I will not be processing either order.
July 28, 2010 at 11:19 am
Thank goodness more and more people have the common sense to place caution before (what they think will be) profit by checking up. Good for you, Jeff !
Keep ‘em coming, people !!
July 29, 2010 at 4:59 am
I just received an E-mail from machinesman@gutenshop.com as under;
”
To whom it may concern,
My name`s Bryan Lee,I came from
Singapore.
I`m interested to make order / cooperation
with your company .
Is it possible to ship to Singapore with
UPS or DHL delivery Express ? And Do you accept
credit card to complete order payment ?Please specify the
credit card type .
Thanks, Your prompt reply will be greatly appreciated
and i’m looking forward to hear respon from you ASAP.
Best Regards
Bryan Lee
Singapore ”
I just check the domain name and found your site. I am well aware of those kind of inquiries who always want products in big quantities without even knowing what is your actuall product line is. And they want to pay by Credit Cards not by Bank Transfers. Any how, i hope my reply will helpo many other people to be saved from those Frauds.
July 29, 2010 at 11:12 am
Thankyou for sending this, Mian.
August 11, 2010 at 7:25 am
Here’s a new email address being used by someone using the name Cheng Lee, in Singapore – kethek@kethekndeso.com.
He did not use the same entry email, but placed the exact same order as cangkem@watonmuni.com.
August 16, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Thank you! We do a small amount of Internet sales and received an order from Cindy Swan with an e-mail address of info@kethekndeso.com and a shipping address of Singapore. Checked the credit card info with the bank and it was bogus even though the transaction was authorized.
August 18, 2010 at 7:28 am
Just received a similar email from,
My name : Efro Kawai
Address : Singapore
wanting to buy several items from my shop using credit card as payment, using the following email address jangkrik@gutenshop.com
Thanks for the info on this blog, saves me a lot of time checking out whether legit or not.
August 25, 2010 at 5:33 pm
We got this e-mail yesterday (August 24th):
Dear Sir,
I am Betto Liem come from Singapore, i’m interested to buy some of your products.
But before that, I’d like to know few things about your shipping policy and
payment terms.
Is it possible to ship them by DHL, UPS, or FedEx ? And the payment matter, Do
you accept credit cards for international payment?
Please guide me on this matter and I am looking forward to hear from you very soon.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Sincerely,
Betto Liem
It came from gunungkawi@gutenshop.com
THANK YOU so much for posting this on your website! Your post really helped us out!!!
August 27, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Hi Jenny, I am so happy that the blog saved you from being scammed. The more people who report this the more the law enforcement authorities may realize how widespread these scammers are. best wishes from Switzerland !
August 28, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Hey guys, i just received the same email from jenny.lee@shambelkecap dot com, it sounded suspicious and when i googled the domain name your website popped up, thanks for the info,
i live and operate in Lebanon, so law pursuit is futile from this end but if i can be useful in any international inquiry pls count me in.
Big up
Johnny
September 1, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Thanks for posting these comments. Ditto here, I found the communication I have been having since yesterday (August 30) with cangkem@watonmuni.com to be strange so I started looking to check them out and found this blog. I finally got the culprit to give me a shipping address they are using.
This is the e-mail I got a few minutes ago (Sept 1).
My company name is CangKem Store.
And this is my complete address for calculate shipping cost :
Address : Aldino 51 Ubi Avenue 1 #01-27 Paya Ubi Industrial Park
City : Singapore
State : SG
Zip Code : 408933
Country : Singapore
Waiting for your reply soon.
Thanks,
Chang Kim
September 1, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Well done for finding out an address. Hopefully it will also be picked up by google’s spider and more people can be warned against these thieving bastards.
September 8, 2010 at 12:22 am
My wife and I own an on-line store and was recently contacted by an individual identified as:
Name: Chang Kim
Address : Aldino 51 Ubi Avenue 1 #01-27 Paya Ubi Industrial Park
City : Singapore
State : SG
Zip Code : 408933
Country : Singapore
As with many other posters to this Blog, he attempted to purchase a large quantity of hi-value electronic products from our site. Chang Kim had provided me with two Visa credit card numbers, as the first one was denied. Strangely enough, the second card was authorized, but was eventually flagged by my merchant processor, so the sale was eventually declined.
Fast forward to 2-days later. After being advised that the second sale was declined, “Chang Kim” provided a third credit card, this time from his reported “wife”, identified as Cindy Johnson, who reportedly holds an American Express cc.
The entire transaction occurred over the course of several days throughout this past weekend – 09/03-07/2010.
Thanks to the internet, it is nearly impossible to bring these individuals to justice. 99.9 percent of these criminals are located overseas in countries that will not extradite to the U.S. unless there is a clear nexus to terrorism, child pornography, drugs, or murder. The funds derived from the products obtained by fraudulent means (stolen credit cards, etc.), could certainly justify a nexus in funding these crimes, but law enforcement, both in the U.S. and abroad, are operating with resources that cannot begin to compare with international internet-crime organizations like Chang Kim. As a result, investigating, pursuing, and bringing individuals like Chang Kim to justice is almost impossible.
The solution? This Blog is a good step in the right direction. We need to make other retailers and/or victims of ID theft and internet crime aware of current schemes being employed by these individuals. As an alternative, report any and all suspected internet transactions to the FBI via their internet-crime clearinghouse at the following website: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
This is not a guaranty for prosecution, but at least IP addresses, names, addresses, and MO’s are being reported (hopefully corroborated).
Good Luck All!
November 5, 2010 at 8:09 pm
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I cannot begin to thank you for having posted this information on the web. I have been contacted by Chang Kim, who used the email of cangkim@watonmuni.com and was wanting 10 Whelen Sirens and 10 Whelen Siren speakers and once I would give him the quote, he would give me the credit card information. I was VERY leary about this email because it was spoken TOOOO much like an American, NOT like come Chinese nut case. I am a small time business owner and it would KILL me if I had I purchased these items for Chang Kim, only to either be questioned by Law Enforcement or be scammed out of thousands of dollars for products he would have received and I would have been screwed. The only reason I think that I would not have been scammed or sctrewed is because I would have required the credit card number up front, before I would buy the items. I guess my own Law Enforcement experience and intuition made me check out the web address attached to his email. So..EVERYONE..DO NOT, DO
November 5, 2010 at 8:12 pm
(continued from above) NOT give any information, business information, credit card information or personal information to this ASSHOLE calling himself Chang Kim. It will leave you with heartache, broke wallet/pocket book and the want to chase Chang Kim down and beat his ass to a pulp! Heed warning people….CHECK PEOPLE OUT BEFORE YOU BUY, SELL OR TRADE ON THE INTERNET!
November 5, 2010 at 8:19 pm
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I cannot begin to thank you for having posted this information on the web. I have been contacted by Chang Kim, who used the email of cangkim@watonmuni.com and was wanting 10 Whelen Sirens and 10 Whelen Siren speakers and once I would give him the quote, he would give me the credit card information. I was VERY leary about this email because it was spoken TOOOO much like an American, NOT like come Chinese nut case. I am a small time business owner and it would KILL me if I had I purchased these items for Chang Kim, only to either be questioned by Law Enforcement or be scammed out of thousands of dollars for products he would have received and I would have been screwed. The only reason I think that I would not have been scammed or sctrewed is because I would have required the credit card number up front, before I would buy the items. I guess my own Law Enforcement experience and intuition made me check out the web address attached to his email. So..EVERYONE..DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, give any infor