There are quite a few websites that can give you great support in setting up a scam!
Some might think of Amazon or eBay, but they are not that suitable when it comes to scamming. Amazon has rather very strict seller requirements and does all sort of integrity checking. eBay is more lose, but after a few buyers complains you are out fast too, however for eBay it can take weeks or month to take a fraudulent seller down.
There are much better options for scammers!
Shopify is one them. You can setup a store in Minutes. Fill it with some items, and collect money for items you plan to send out. Shopify hosts also many, many fully legit webstores, but anybody can sign up and start selling instantly – there is no integrity checking whatsoever.
Since many scammers are in China Shopify has a few crime support local network partners there. One example is Shoptago.com. They provide one-click-store-builder, CDN and other network support without asking nasty questions.
But the market is big and there are more one-click fraud support sites in China. One site is shoplazza.com, very similar site are for example xshoppy.shop and Funpinpin – they aim at fraudsters from China that want to explore the international markets but have language or technical problems setting up such frauds. There is no law against fraud in China as long as they keep their fraudulent activities outside of China. Chinese law enforcement will simply not accept any reports on criminal activities outside of China.
All those sites are in Chinese. English speaking fraudsters can make use of shopbase.com, they are based in Vietnam, conveniently also not outside of international law.
There are probably more. Most used platform used by fraudsters is still Shopify, number two would be shoplazza.com.
One that appears also often in the network stream ist cdn.wshopon.com, but I haven’t worked out yet who is behind it.
So after you have your fraud storefront setup you can go to Facebook, Instagram etc. and start creating ads, selling, collecting money – until somebody blocks your scam – and then you start again new with a new domain. So far there must have been 1000s of fraudulent ads running on Facebook.
If you want to stay safe while shopping online, stick to Amazon, or at least Aliexpress.
If you have been a victim, here is what you can do:
Scenario A: You paid by Paypal: Login to Paypal, click Activity, click the transaction in question, near the bottom click “Resolution Center”. Here you can start filing your claim. This can take a few days, or weeks. In most cases the seller will not reply and in most cases you get a refund. Your chances are very high – but only if you start the procedure!
Scenario B: You paid by credit card. Contact your bank and initiate a fraud claim. Some banks are more open than others, so be persistent.
It also help to keep as many transaction records as possible, screen shots are very helpful!
Some typical Facebook scam ads:
As example, the golf watch for $29.99 was copied from Garmin. Retail price is more like $499 – take note that you don’t get a copy. You get either nothing or a $1 item so the scammer has a tracking number. Can be anything. Sometimes it’s products for the garden, which are even in reality not that expensive, but since they are large shipping would be very expensive – for the real product.
Have you been a victim? Please leave a comment!
