Need help with a non-matrix scam

[paulgb]

I hope this is the right forum for this.

Today I found a message on a fourm that I run, advertising an auction-like site. The difference with the site is that there is a price to bid, starting around $5. I had doubts about the legitimacy of the site from the beginning, and I had a little discussion with the spammer, who claimed to have nothing to do with the site. I checked the whois for the domain, and found that the owner was Eric from CO. I noticed that on the winners page, the only winner was also named Eric from CO. I pointed this out to the spammer, who still maintained that they had nothing to do with the auction site, and within 2 minutes the information on the winners page was changed to Thomas from CO. Soon later, it changed again to Thomas from AZ.

What it comes down to is that I am sure now the site is not legitamate, and I am wondering what to do next. Is there someone to report these things to?

The site is: http://www.outbid4less.com/ (copy and paste to prevent referer information)

The discussion is at: http://ride.ath.cx/ipod/forum/viewtopic.php?t=124

The whois that I used is here: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jhtml;jsessionid=LR4Z3YXEYSJKSCWKEAQSFEQ?w hoistoken=0&imageKeyPage=/whois/entry.jhtml&_requestid=119441

[mercinary]

Don't get involved. That is my opinion. What you described is REALLY sketchy.

-Merc

[paulgb]

Oh, I wasn't planning on getting involved, I am sure that it is a scam (I can give more info if you want). But I am wondering if I should report it to anyone? Not only do I hate seeing people get scammed by these things, but for a more personal reason, this guy is scamming all around the internet.

[paulgb]

Here is what concerned me:

The site is essentially a lottery, disguised as an auction site. The spammer, who is actually the webmaster of the site (I assume he is the rest of the operation as well), admitted this.

Then I discovered that the only winner of this "lottery" was "Eric from CO". This matched up with whois records for the owner of the domain.

So the guy won his own lottery. He thought he was anonymous, but when I found the whois records and pointed this out to him the name was changed and he accused me of being drunk.

[mercinary]

I'm not sure who to report this to. I would suggest starting with the hosting company. See what they say...

-Merc

[paulgb]

I might try that.

I traced the domain back to the host easycgi (www.easycgi.com). Their TOC prohibits illegal content, but makes no specific mention of schemes. I think that outbid4less is set up in a way that it appears to be legal, so an ISP would probably not want to get rid of a paying customer if they think the behaviour is legal. Still, it wouldn't hurt me to try.

I thought that there might be some sort of website or organization that deals with sites like this. I already knew of matrixwatch so I figured that here would be a good start.

[mercinary]

There must be something we can do. You are right that unless there is some kind of proof, a hosting service may have nothing to go on.

-Merc

[mercinary]

The FTC does have some suggestions:

Courtesy: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm#help


Where to Turn for Help

If you have problems during a transaction, try to work them out directly with the seller, buyer or site operator. If that doesn't work, file a complaint with:

the attorney general's office in your state.
your county or state consumer protection agency. Check the blue pages of the phone book under county and state government.
the Better Business Bureau.
the FTC. File a complaint online at www.ftc.gov or call toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).


Maybe you could give the FTC a call and see what they suggest...

-Merc

[paulgb]

Thanks. I submitted a complaint with the FTC, although it seems that they are more concerned with people who have lost money, but hopefully they will take a look at it anyway.