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Niber

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#298646 4-Jul-2022 08:10
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Hi, I was looking to buy some high-end speakers. Found that the ones I wanted were on sale on one of the NZ home theater companies that google showed me.

 

However the website said free delivery, but the checkout tried to add 50$ delivery. So I contacted the shop by email to ask about that, and he said that was a mistake, and wrote me an invoice for the speakers without the delivery cost.

 

So I was about to pay the invoice this morning, everything looked correct:
*Their website looks real
*They have a PriceSpy profile (though with no reviews)
*They have 4 5-star reviews on Google
*They have a Facebook page with 1 positive review, with pictures of a branded home theater booth.
*It's a NZ bank account, with NZ home address in Auckland.

 

However before I paid,
*I searched the company on the company register and it says the company was dissolved in 2020

 

*There's no address for this store that he keeps referring to (for example he tried to sell me on a store-demo receiver)
*The website has too many holes, such as the "about us" page not working.

 

So I guess this may have been a real company a few years back, but now that their domain was made available it was bought by some scammers. I see the domain name is registered in Singapore.

 

I've heard about these scams, but this seems much more advanced then the ones I've heard about. The ones I heard about consisted of buying random domains, rather than domain names of actual previous stores then imitating those stores closely.
Also it was quite sophisticated how he's been trying to sell me an open-box receiver that was used in-store for 2 months, I thought scams were more obvious trying to sell you too-good-to-be-true deals, rather than a 3 year old poorly-reviewed receiver that's open-box.

 

Are there any good methods to report this scam? I have no hope on the police (someone stole something from my lawn and despite my security camera capturing his face, and despite me finding the guy on Facebook, the NZ police did nothing) but maybe there's a way to see what bank the account belongs to and contact that bank to flag the account or something.

 

PS. I didn't send any money, but I spent the whole weekend on this ordeal so my time was scammed nonetheless.


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freitasm
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  #2938033 4-Jul-2022 08:25
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Niber:

 

PS. I didn't send any money, but I spent the whole weekend on this ordeal so my time was scammed nonetheless.

 

 

I was going to say "If you didn't pay there was no scam" but you are right about your time going through the process.

 

It does sound like a scam. If the company is removed from the registry then certainly something is not right.





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Niber

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  #2938072 4-Jul-2022 11:24
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Update: They say that it was recently re-registered, that the registration should be final tomorrow. So I guess I'll wait and see. I do suspect it might not be a scam, as it's just too elaborate.


trig42
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  #2938074 4-Jul-2022 11:28
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Not sure it's a scam, but also not sure I'd be handing any money over to them.

 

Looks like the old owner of the company was Auckland based - can they offer you a pickup? Are you in Auckland or do you know anyone in Auckland that could pickup?




alexx
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  #2938084 4-Jul-2022 11:46
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The current phone number on the site is linked to another business with a director with the same name and address. Perhaps he doesn't trade with that older company name any more, but keeps the site updated (check archive.org) and takes orders which are delivered via his other business.

 

Might be something a bit dodgy going on, but might not be a site sold to scammers.





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1101
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  #2938142 4-Jul-2022 12:27
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Id guess its an AV installer running the company from his garage

They obviously dont have a real shop, so why risk buying "high-end speakers" from him.

Their website is also a bit broken
About us : 404 "Oops! That page can’t be found."


Bung
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  #2938157 4-Jul-2022 12:42
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Unless you live in the backblocks if you're spending real money I'd try and find a shop that can demo these speakers for you.

The real scam with audio is the number of reviews that just recycle either the manufacturer's press release or another review. You should satisfy yourself that the high end speakers make a difference that's worth it to you against a cheaper set.

 
 
 
 

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Dunnersfella
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  #2938162 4-Jul-2022 13:06
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Niber - I've sent you a message re: company


Niber

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  #2938174 4-Jul-2022 13:44
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Update: It literally got registered today a few hours after I wrote the thread. So now it's all good.

 

Could any mod please remove the link I posted in the original post? Doesn't seem to be an edit button.


Niber

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  #2938175 4-Jul-2022 13:46
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Dunnersfella:

 

Niber - I've sent you a message re

 

 

Ok thanks for the info. Could you please edit out the name of the company from your post? since the company turned out to be registered today.


Niber

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#2938176 4-Jul-2022 13:49
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Bung: Unless you live in the backblocks if you're spending real money I'd try and find a shop that can demo these speakers for you.

 

Haha yeah I live in Dunedin so that should answer your question ;) Nah I'm fully sure about the product, I just panicked about the company being deregistered, but turned out to be all G


Dunnersfella
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  #2938259 4-Jul-2022 15:28
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Niber:

 

Dunnersfella:

 

Niber - I've sent you a message re

 

 

Ok thanks for the info. Could you please edit out the name of the company from your post? since the company turned out to be registered today.

 

 

 

 

Sorry... I would if I could, but there's no edit button.

 

Mods - feel free to remove the company name from my post :-)


 
 
 
 

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SATTV
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  #2938300 4-Jul-2022 16:30
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Interesting,

 

The 2017 company is over the road from me, 

 

The directors name is different to the 2022 company, however he did submit documents to the New Zealand Companies office.

 

I think this was a sideline business for him, maybe now full time.

 

John

 

 

 

 





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