This hub was created to try and help you avoid Internet fraud and scams. From scams on buying Imported Goods, spotting fake escrow sites, to just about any type of Internet scam that you can get caught up in. I know how horrible this is, because I have been there and I just wanted to try and help prevent others from falling prey to the same fate that happened to me. As the old adage goes, if I can just help one person...

INTERNATIONAL WHOLESALE
PURCHASE SCAMS

By far, one of the most common scams that are used on companies, or individuals looking to purchase bulk items at wholesale prices, is International Wholesale scams. One of the most prominent countries utilizing this scam is China. Other countries include Nigeria, India, and the U.K., but most of the complaints I hear are from transactions made with Chinese companies. What these scammers do is give you prices that are just too good to let get away. In fact, they are such good prices you want to believe them with all your heart as you dream how you are going to sell those items, once you receive them, and make tons of money. But like most things that are too good to be true, they are.

The majority of these scamming companies will, the majority of the time, ask for two payment methods, Western Union, or MoneyGram. They almost always will request these two. One of the newest payment methods that they are saying they use is Paypal. They really emphasize this. They will say something in their messages to you like, "Yes, we accept Paypal so do not worry!" But you should worry if you use this method as Paypal does not protect you on International purchases. And it is really easy to open a Paypal account for sellers that they can close once they receive a sufficient amount of funds from unsuspecting buyers.

Do not EVER send money through Western Union, or MoneyGram. No matter what they tell you. They will tell you things like you can use another name to send the funds through Western Union, or MoneyGram. This way they won't know what name the funds are under and therefore cannot collect the money until you receive the item they've sent. They'll tell you once you receive the item you can then give them the name you sent the funds under; thus now that you have the item, they will collect the funds. Kind of like escrow. But the sad thing is a lot of clerks at the Western Union collection places in these countries will get a cut of the funds that you sent from these scammers. They would just need the country you sent it from, maybe the zip code, and the amount. That's it. The devious seller just goes into the Western Union that you sent it to, give the clerk a cut, and be gone.

Another way they scam the weary buyer is exactly like the escrow scam. They will make a legitimate looking website, lure you there to see that it is legitimate, and then take your funds. There are some really good website developers in other countries that make websites exactly like legitimate companies that use a type of escrow service. But there may be discrepancies in the web address that you have to look for. For example if the name of the legitimate company's site is dts.com, the scammers may have something like "idts.com", or "edts.com", or something with an extra letter, or another extension like "dts.org", or "dts.me". Plus you can always use the previous tip that I explained earlier, where you can copy and paste the web address into a domain selling website like GoDaddy.com and check when the domain name was purchased and by who.

Always, always, always suggest using a legitimate escrow company when dealing with these International sellers. Almost always will the companies tell you no. This is just a way of these scammers. Some may even say that they will accept C.O.D., but this is not such a good idea because you have to pay before the Post Office will give you the item. Once payment is received, there is not too much you can do after that. Think about it, how does the Post Office know that is not the item you paid for?

If they can talk you into using their escrow company, what you can do is write down, or copy and paste, their suggested escrow website address and go to a place that sells domain names, such as GoDaddy.com. When you get to that website, type the website address, or paste it, into the box they have on their home page that lets you search for a domain name to see if it is purchasable, or already bought. Of course the one you type, or paste into that box will be already taken. But this is what you want. When the site tells you that this name is already taken, simply click the link that tells you who's name it is under and when it was purchased. This is usually known as the WhoIs information of a domain name. Sometimes you will have to click another link on the bottom of that displayed information page to get to the date it was purchased, but most of the time it will be the first page displayed.

Now, the information that you will want most is the date the domain name was purchased. If it was purchased a couple of months ago, or less, then you definitely must not use that website, or escrow service. More than likely that domain was just purchased just for the purpose of using it to build that fake escrow website, because you need a domain name to upload a website to. And even if it is a legitimate company just starting out, it is way too new to know if it is a worthy company to use. So do not, repeat DO NOT use this escrow company. It is better to walk away from this deal with your money intact, than walk away completely empty handed and humiliated.

So always suggest using a legitimate escrow company. If they will not use escrow, no matter what, then it is better not to deal with that company. A good way to check their legitimacy is by suggesting up front that you will pay escrow fees so they won't have anything to worry about. Nine times out of ten, they will refuse. They will then vehemently try to push the Western Union, MoneyGram payment method on you and if that fails then they will most likely bring up Paypal. None of which are good methods for the buyer, when dealing Internationally. So use caution and maybe even suggest after a few transactions, like about five, using escrow, that you can use one of their payment methods. By then you will know if this is a legitimate company, or not. But a word of caution, if they say yes to that, when it comes time for you to use Western Union, or another of their payment methods only after five escrow transactions, make it a smaller than usual order, just in case.

For you companies who buy large quantities, make sure the International company you are dealing with will accept straight Fly and Buy for at least the first couple of transactions. This way you can inspect the items at their warehouse to check that the items are genuine and the company is legitimate and then you can wire the funds. If not possible, then make sure they can use escrow. If they refuse, suggest that they can then use a Helmsman qualified warehouse that will receive your items, check that they are genuine, and then the funds can be sent. But the ideal is Fly and Buy, then the best second option is a combination of both Helmsman warehouse and escrow. Believe me, if these are legitimate companies with the genuine product in their warehouse they will bend over backwards to make a long lasting relationship with a big company. If they refuse any of these payment methods, by all means walk away from this deal. Especially if the merchandise is name brand electronics.

In conclusion, I hope that this site has helped anyone considering making an online purchase. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask by leaving your comments!

j8xb65tvyu