Amazon.com Scams

Beware of an international internet fraud scheme using Amazon merchants and too-good-to-be-true prices on "Like New" Canon Lens, such as the 70-200L 2.8 USM for about $700.

Someone is hijacking the accounts of real sellers and listing these Lens. Beware when the seller is an Amazon Merchant that normally doesn't sell Photo equipment. It happened to ABC Wholesale a few days ago, and I think that is what is going on with the Photo equipment listed by Blacksheepdeals now. They are unaware that these items are listed until people call them trying to complete the purchases. The purchases won't go through, but then the fraudulent seller, claiming to be a merchant in Italy, responds via email to any inquiries that have been made and encourages you to complete the sale by sending him a money order directly. He even sends you a very official-looking Amazon email endorsing this practice as the way that Amazon handles international purchases.

Amazon customer service informed me that they never endorse sending payment directly to a seller, but they really didn't seem to take my report of this fraud effort seriously. They didn't even ask for me to send them copies of the fake Amazon webpage that he sent. ABC Wholesales figured out what was going on within 24 hours and removed the items, and I contacted this Blacksheepdeals directly via email to let them know, so I'll bet you'll see all of the TVs and cameras disappear from their listings suddenly, but Amazon didn't seem like they were even going to make an effort to contact this seller and find out if the listings were for real. I guess its cheaper for them just to write off the small proportion of fraud that involves them, than it is to seriously pursue it.

If you want that anything listed by Blacksheepdeals now for less than $700, go for it. But I'll bet you'll find the sale won't go through, and if you send an email to the seller a guy from Italy (supposedly) will write back in broken English and ask you to send money to an address in Italy via Moneygram.

Quote from someone who almost fell for the scam


I actually fell into this the other day. In fact, I can do one better for everyone. This is the information I was told to put on the money gram.

First name : Marius-Adrian
Last name : Baltag
Address : Via Gobetti 38
City/State : Milano
Postal Code : 40029
Country : Italy

I've been looking for a TV for so long I actually blinded myself to the fact that this was obviously fraud, and unfortunately I convinced myself that because I received an e-mail from the address auto-confirm@amazon.com (the fradulent seller has actually run a bypass through amazon's server!) it must be legitimate. He asks that the money gram reference number be faxed to this number, 1-928-223-8891, which I traced back to Flagstaff/Phoenix Arizona. Italy my ***...
Don't let the confirmation e-mail fool you! It is absolutely not impossible to hack the amazon e-mail framework. The best clue you have is that there is NO confirmation number, and if he does send you one amazon will not be able to verfiy it.
I'm just lucky my gut finally got the better of me right after sending the money gram. I immediately called money gram and had the entire thing refunded back to me. They were really great about it and even refunded the money gram fee, so in the end all I lost was time. As you said though, amazon has had little to no interest in this. In fact when I saw the Blacksheepdeals postings today and contacted amazon, I was respectfully told "our policies clearly state all purchases be made through the shopping cart, this protects customers from fradulent purchases". Unbelievable...
Anyway... be careful out there everyone.

-Mark Ramsey

Some advice..


Mark, you need to send this information in detail to the proper channel. Go to this link to submit your information on this fraud. Amazon designed this are to report fraud and violations. Anyone else that has seen this should also report this and any new ones that pop up.

http://www.amazon.com/​gp/help/reports/contac​t-us

Thank you for posting this information. Continue posting here if you see a new fraud pop up and give the name of the seller. Report the bad seller immediately by using the link above. Never, ever purchase online with anything other than a credit card. If you wire money, or send a moneygram, your money is lost forever. These scammers do not have any merchandise. They hijack accounts by sending out phishing emails to the Amazon 3rd party sellers. Once they take over a merchant account, they can post whatever products they want. They seem to target HDTVs, SLRs, Cameras, Camcorders and Lenses. If you see a price that is too good to be true. It is a scam. Plain and simple. Run, don't walk.

Purchase only from Amazon or its main line 3rd party sellers. Only purchase through Amazon, you are protected fully by Amazon's A to Z Guarantee.

One more point. The reason this is happening is that Amazon has recently started showing the USED and REFURBISHED prices right under the new price on the product detail pages. The scammers saw this and knew that they could get people to bite by showing the USED price at 1/2 the price of new. If Amazon reverses the showing of these prices, the scammers will go away. They won't be able to attract people in volume to look at the USED items. That is one solution to this problem. Amazon should watch the high priced items and have an alert go off if something is posted at 40% less than new in price.

-Film Reviewer[/QUOTE]

The email address the scammer uses is as follows

marketplace.electronic​s@gmail.com

The confirmation email he sends is as follows

""The seller requests to be paid via MoneyGram® Money Transfer.
To submit the payment with Money Gram Money Transfer you have the following option:
Pay for the transfer with cash at a local Money Gram agent.
Click here to locate the agents in your area.

To confirm your payment to Amazon send a fax with your customer receipt from Money Gram to this fax number: 1-928-268-7022 . Use this secure way to confirm your payment only if you feel unsafe to release the payment details directly to your seller. If you need further assistance contact Amazon Customer Service by clicking here

Once the payment was sent, provide the following information:
1) Reference Number (Money Gram Reference Number):
2) Sender name :
3) Sender address :
4) City where you sent the money from:
5) Amount sent:
Then wait for the confirmation that the payment was received. After that you will receive the tracking number for your product.

Seller E-mail Address: marketplace.electronic​s@gmail.com

Ship from Address:
First name : Marius-Adrian
Last name : Baltag
Address : Via Festa del Perdono 18
City/State : Milano
Postal Code : 20122
Country : Italy
Payment Address:
First name : Marius-Adrian
Last name : Baltag
Address : Via Festa del Perdono 18
City/State : Milano
Postal Code : 20122
Country : Italy"""
Beware

A blog on Amazon scams http://www.moskalyuk.c​om …azon-marketplace-scam/786

another one http://ocaoimh.ie …mazon-used-products-scam/

Ok.

I think we get the picture now.

Thanks for the information.

hmm, this is really interesting. thanks for the heads up

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Yeah. Just saw a toy company at Amazon selling 50d's for about $700. Thanks for this information. Certainly clarifies things.

Amazon should take this a bit more seriously, I think. Maybe give a notice at their website. An email would also suffice.

This is interesting. I guess consumers just need to be more aware and responsible before placing items into their carts and going straight to check-out when placing an order on Amazon.

I always do price checks, comparisons, and read all the descriptions available for products sold by third-party sellers on Amazon before adding them into my cart.

Ironically, I "bought" a 5D kit through a third party merchant on Amazon a couple weeks ago. Paid for expedited shipping. Few days later, I emailed and asked for tracking info. Next day I got an email asking who I was and that she didn't have that item for sale. I did pay through Amazon so I was covered. Her feedback even had a couple cameras that she had previously sold listed, so I felt comfortable with this person.

Any experiences with ClickGo&Buy marketplace seller

Good info.

This is good to know. I am comfortable with Amazon but you still need to be aware. Thanks.

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I am comfortable with Amazon but I only purchase goods from US and Canada.

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