HELP - DEBIT CARD FRAUD

[redmist]

Hi,
im not sure whether ive put this post in the right board - my apologies if i have.
http://www.pumpkinmobile.com . i came across this site whilst looking for cheap phones other than matrix sites. i looked up who it was registered to, and it would appear that it is registered to Darren Ithell who is the owner of themobilematrix.com - one of the (if not the) biggest matrix sites in the UK. i decided that it was probably reliable, as if he was going to scam, he wouldnt have his name and address so clearly availble.
I placed an order on the site, was informed that the item had been despatched and waited. I waited 5 days before attempting to contact the owner of the site. I made several attempts, but with no response. This started to make me curious. Last Friday, I received a letter through the post from www.gameplay.co.uk telling me that my transaction was unsuccessful as I had entered in my card number incorrectly. I have never been to this site before and was incredably puzzled. I phoned them up, and after a discussion it was decided that the account that had all my details would be deleted, and that I should cancel my card which I duly did.
I have not lost any money from this site, but I am aware that others may well have. I would be incredably grateful if you could help get this site down. I have been in contact with Darren Ithell, and he has assured me that it is not him, and that he is doing his best to get the site down.
Many thanks,
Tom
red__mist@hotmail.com

[avago181]

The site was operated by a certain STEPHEN BARNES, who is one of the biggest interNet scammers in the UK. He has run several matrix sites which have delivered nothing and he has been accused by many of his customers of taking money out of their paypal accounts. The last i heard the authorities in the UK were close to catching up with him. I have a list of the sites he is/was associated with somewhere, i will try and find it and post it here.

[ycchen]

Thanks redmist for bring our attention to this scam owner. and Welcome to matrixwatch, avago181!

Matrix is running wild in the U.K., we definitely need a class lawsuit to slow it down. In the meantime, please continue to post useful information on matrix forum, and hopefully, newbies will find our site first before they got scammed.

[Lodoss77]

I believe the above mentions Stephen Barnes also ran this site.
He steals credit card information, paypal account information and is a known matrix scammer. Beware!
He was able to get into my paypal account and wired himself over $2000. Paypal is the worst because they have not only your credit card information, they also have all you bank acount information. So be careful if you are paying someone using paypal. Never open a link from their own website. It might look exactly the same as the paypal site but they are actually stealing your info.

[mercinary]

Ahhh yes...the infamous paypal phisher sites. As Lodoss77 says, never follow a link out of email to any secure site. Open a new browser, and type in the address yourself!

Lots of people have lost money because they are redirected to a website that is NOT the real website, but a fake look a like, which only exists to steal login info.

-Merc

[MatrixWatch]

I've gone ahead and moved this thread over to the (general) "other internet scams" forum.

[redmist]

just an update to the situation - whoever it was that owned pumpkinmobiles.com stole £140 from me - they used my details a couple of days later and managed to get the payment through even though the card had been cancelled :( thanks to the effiency of my bank.

anyway, i have the mobile phone number of the owner as well as his address and might make a visit to enquire about the whereabouts of my money. i will also be passing his details on to paypal (lodoss - if you would like to give me the details of how he scammed you and we can take this to paypal to see what they do about it) and to the police.

[mercinary]

redmist,

You know me....I'm all in favor of the victims of scams fighting back and getting justice. I wish you luck in getting a refund.

What "irks" me is the fact that you run a matrix scam site....this all seems a little hypocritical. Do you think your customers might eventually take similar actions against you? (not suggesting you will close up show and run with the money)

Sorry to get off topic....

-Merc

[redmist]

hi merc,
i understand your views, and i hope you understand mine. i do not view matrix sites as a scam. i will not be running away with any money, and if any of my customers feel they have been wrongly treated i urge them to get in contact with me. with regards to the above mentioned scam, i purchased what i thought was a phone, it was not a matrix site, it was an online shop. not only did i not receive the phones that i ordered but i have nothing to show for it (i.e. ebook or signal booster).
if anyone else was a victim of pumpkin mobiles PLEASE contact me.
regards

[ycchen]

I cannot access pumpkinmobiles site, so I am not sure if it is a matrix or online store.

redmist, I know you will disagree with us, but the way you have been scammed is the almost identical as buying a spot in the matrix, because 98% of people will not get their "sponsored" gifts. If you are the bottom 98%, the feeling of being scammed is the same.

[matty_c608]

Well anyone wanna call him, ask him for anything?

http://www.paypalsucks.com/forums/showthread.php?fid=3&tid=5637

Search "Barnes", he's posted his house address and phone etc on there. And he's no longer a member there (banned probably), so he can't even remove them!

He's complaining about paypal on there. Probably because they froze his account for errr, SCAMMMING!

[jokach]

This "Barnes" guy is funny because he obviously scammed people continually according to all the reports, but cries foul when he thinks paypal has done him wrong. Guess these guys don't like be scammed or ripped off, eh?

Talk about a hipocrit ...... :shake:

jokach