Webwatch
May 30th, 2007, 04:03 PM
We have seen poor performance from online companies before with mydv & zudirect to name but two.
However instant-av.co.uk went one step further and fraudulently used customers card details and even rang customers to ask for a second card with the story of the first card being declined.
http://www.early-warning.org/viewnews.php4?id=242
UK shoppers lose thousands in latest online scam
Police are investigating what could turn out to be a massive scam, which has drained thousands of pounds from people's bank and credit card accounts.
Computeractive and fraud specialist Early Warning have discovered that some of the details from cards used to pay for goods such as iPods and Nintendo Wii consoles from www.instant-av.co.uk have been used fraudulently elsewhere.
Cheekily, even after their card was debited for goods they had ordered, most people have told us they were also telephoned by an 'employee' of instant-av with the excuse that the person's card could not be validated; the victim was then asked for the details of another card that instant-av could use for the order.
Our investigations revealed the site, which is does not use a security certificate to encrypt people's details, was only set up last month. The address on the site is that of an innocent shop fitter in North London who was shocked to find his details on this site when we called him.
After we placed a notice warning about the scam on a Yahoo message board, people all over the country began emailing us. Some had only just placed their orders and were worried about being taken for a ride; others told us thousands of pounds had been taken from their account.
No-one has received the goods they ordered.
"I have had over £5,000 taken from my account," one person in Cornwall told us. Others have spoken of losing anywhere between £1,500 and £2,500 on top of the initial payment for whatever they ordered.
We know the money had been used to buy goods and thousands of pounds at two restaurants alone. The fraudsters sent the debit or credit card details of seven different people to order £10,000 of food and alcohol from one restaurant in London. However it is likely that thousands of pounds have been creamed off in other ways.
"Don't be blinkered by cheap prices; always look for the padlock that shows the site is secure. The fraudsters are buying consumables to sell on and there will be other ways they are getting the money into their hands," said Andrew Goodwill of Early Warning, which initially tipped us off to the scam on 10 May.
Payments appearing on people's bank statements show the money had been taken by an outfit in the UK calling itself GRT Electronics or GRT electro using Google's online payment system.
Using the phone numbers given to victims by so-called employees of instant-av, we traced this company via another website, www.vertigovisual.co.uk to yet another web address, www.ddgrant.com. Both the last two companies are hosted on the same web server and the address given for them is a mailbox, at 222 Regent Street, London W1B 5TR.
Computeractive has tried to contact all three companies via email and phone several times since last Thursday but had no reply so far. We have handed the information we have on to the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Fraud Unit, a squad of specialist police officers and civilian staff set up in April 2002 to tackle the organised gangs responsible for much of the UK's card and cheque fraud. It is sponsored by UK payment organisation APACS, on behalf of the banking industry.
We have also informed Google which has suspended the payment facility on the ddgrant/GRT Electronics website and people have told us it has also begun refunding their money. Because payments can also be made via Worldpay we have informed this company but this facility is still available to the site.
The www.instant-av.co.uk site is now down but other scams can be reported to Early Warning.
Internet shopping can be great when it works and dealing with a trustworthy company but in the hands of the scammers its just another weapon of mass deception.
Although a padlock symbol or HTTPS page is a must when giving card details these procedures can be faked, so if in doubt try doing a Google search on the company web address it can take a few weeks for Google to pick up new sites, so if they don't show up be extra cautious. Always use a credit card if possible on high value items.
I'm sure everyone has their own technique's for deciding when to trust a website or not with varying degrees of reliabilty, but the scammers will always be one step ahead in finding new ways to defraud people.
Be carefull out there.
However instant-av.co.uk went one step further and fraudulently used customers card details and even rang customers to ask for a second card with the story of the first card being declined.
http://www.early-warning.org/viewnews.php4?id=242
UK shoppers lose thousands in latest online scam
Police are investigating what could turn out to be a massive scam, which has drained thousands of pounds from people's bank and credit card accounts.
Computeractive and fraud specialist Early Warning have discovered that some of the details from cards used to pay for goods such as iPods and Nintendo Wii consoles from www.instant-av.co.uk have been used fraudulently elsewhere.
Cheekily, even after their card was debited for goods they had ordered, most people have told us they were also telephoned by an 'employee' of instant-av with the excuse that the person's card could not be validated; the victim was then asked for the details of another card that instant-av could use for the order.
Our investigations revealed the site, which is does not use a security certificate to encrypt people's details, was only set up last month. The address on the site is that of an innocent shop fitter in North London who was shocked to find his details on this site when we called him.
After we placed a notice warning about the scam on a Yahoo message board, people all over the country began emailing us. Some had only just placed their orders and were worried about being taken for a ride; others told us thousands of pounds had been taken from their account.
No-one has received the goods they ordered.
"I have had over £5,000 taken from my account," one person in Cornwall told us. Others have spoken of losing anywhere between £1,500 and £2,500 on top of the initial payment for whatever they ordered.
We know the money had been used to buy goods and thousands of pounds at two restaurants alone. The fraudsters sent the debit or credit card details of seven different people to order £10,000 of food and alcohol from one restaurant in London. However it is likely that thousands of pounds have been creamed off in other ways.
"Don't be blinkered by cheap prices; always look for the padlock that shows the site is secure. The fraudsters are buying consumables to sell on and there will be other ways they are getting the money into their hands," said Andrew Goodwill of Early Warning, which initially tipped us off to the scam on 10 May.
Payments appearing on people's bank statements show the money had been taken by an outfit in the UK calling itself GRT Electronics or GRT electro using Google's online payment system.
Using the phone numbers given to victims by so-called employees of instant-av, we traced this company via another website, www.vertigovisual.co.uk to yet another web address, www.ddgrant.com. Both the last two companies are hosted on the same web server and the address given for them is a mailbox, at 222 Regent Street, London W1B 5TR.
Computeractive has tried to contact all three companies via email and phone several times since last Thursday but had no reply so far. We have handed the information we have on to the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Fraud Unit, a squad of specialist police officers and civilian staff set up in April 2002 to tackle the organised gangs responsible for much of the UK's card and cheque fraud. It is sponsored by UK payment organisation APACS, on behalf of the banking industry.
We have also informed Google which has suspended the payment facility on the ddgrant/GRT Electronics website and people have told us it has also begun refunding their money. Because payments can also be made via Worldpay we have informed this company but this facility is still available to the site.
The www.instant-av.co.uk site is now down but other scams can be reported to Early Warning.
Internet shopping can be great when it works and dealing with a trustworthy company but in the hands of the scammers its just another weapon of mass deception.
Although a padlock symbol or HTTPS page is a must when giving card details these procedures can be faked, so if in doubt try doing a Google search on the company web address it can take a few weeks for Google to pick up new sites, so if they don't show up be extra cautious. Always use a credit card if possible on high value items.
I'm sure everyone has their own technique's for deciding when to trust a website or not with varying degrees of reliabilty, but the scammers will always be one step ahead in finding new ways to defraud people.
Be carefull out there.