Scam Recovery

[gmiller1018]

I am not sure who to contact but I got scammed by a company in the UK and am looking for a government agency to contact to see
if I can get help recovering my money, or at least stopping someone else from loosing their money. I tried to purchase some unlocked
GSM Motorola Milestone Droid phones for use in the US from:

Company Details - ZENTEC SOLUTIONS LTD
Registered No.04539049
Address: VISCOM HOUSE, SOUTH SHORE ROAD, GATESHEAD QUAYS, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, TYNE & WEAR, NE8 3AE
Tel: +447024056552

I sent them money through Western Union for two phones (520 USD) and then after quote shipping them they said the phones
had been sized by customs and I needed to pay 300.00 USD to get them out of customs. When I demanded proof of the US
customs seizure and charges I was told that without payment I could not get copies of the paperwork.

In the US I could contact the Better Business Bureau (reporting consumer fraud and such) but I am not sure if there are any options
for me in the UK as a non citizen . I know a number of you are there so I was hoping you might point me in the right direction. I
figure my money is gone but I would be remiss if I did not try to recover some of it. Since I am many miles away I can't just drive
over and crack some heads to get my cash I will need to resort to other tactics.

Sorry to use this forum but I figured it was worth a shot.... (I am in the 2nd half of the 4000 pandora line so I have time to kill)

 

[Orion4874]

If the phones were seized by U.S. customs and you live in the U.S. you should be able to inquire about it yourself. Did they supply any kind of order number or shipping info, as you'll probably need to supply that? But all of this is neither here nor there since it is almost definately a scam. Sorry, but it looks like you just found out the hard way that whenever someone only accepts money transfers as payment it is ALWAYS a scam. Short of mailing them cash it's the easiest way to take someones's money and run.

Try this: https://help.cbp.gov/

 

[gmiller1018]

If the phones were seized by U.S. customs and you live in the U.S. you should be able to inquire about it yourself. Did they supply any kind of order number or shipping info, as you'll probably need to supply that? But all of this is neither here nor there since it is almost definately a scam. Sorry, but it looks like you just found out the hard way that whenever someone only accepts money transfers as payment it is ALWAYS a scam. Short of mailing them cash it's the easiest way to take someones's money and run.

Try this: https://help.cbp.gov/

No I could not get any order information so I could not contact the US customs and find the shipment. You are right of course but if I just let it ride I am doing a disservice to myself and others. Thanks for the information.

 

[Orion4874]

Did you try contacting customs? I wonder if just your name and address would be enough? I mean thay should be able to tell you if they seized a package with your personal info on it. Just guessing on this though.

 

[gmiller1018]

Did you try contacting customs? I wonder if just your name and address would be enough? I mean thay should be able to tell you if they seized a package with your personal info on it. Just guessing on this though.

I am pretty sure nothing was ever shipped so the ploy on the customs funds was a ruse so I think checking with US customs is pointless but I guess
I could do it. I am trying to find a way to target the company to stop them from doing business through regular channels. I could target the email
server and stuff all of their inboxes with protest emails, or just post their email addresses on all of the spam sites. I could contact their ISP and notify
them of suspected activities but they might be as crooked as the company I am targeting. Since my goal is to either recover my money (very unlikely),
get the product I ordered (also very unlikely), or stop them from doing business (just would make me feel better). So I need to contact some agency
in the UK that deals with these types of companies to put them out of business.

I guess I could also hijack their domain name but that would not be considered legal but it is a thought.

 

[craigix]

Interesting, that's not far from our office. I can go past and see if the address is real if you like.

 

[quote]

DEPLOYING SPECIAL AGENT CRAIG

 

[elwing]

Sorry, but it looks like you just found out the hard way that whenever someone only accepts money transfers as payment it is ALWAYS a scam.

hum... pandora reoprder anyone? :lol:

 

[gmiller1018]

Interesting, that's not far from our office. I can go past and see if the address is real if you like.

That would be cool ...

 

[tsh]

I'd start here:
http://www.northumbria.police.uk/your_neighbourhood/gateshead/

I believe that local police are the correct people to initiate an investigation.

 

[Javacat]

The people that you're probably after will be Trading Standards or the UK ECC. The ECC's website is probably going to be your best bet for getting in touch with anyone - http://www.ukecc.net/, although you could dig around trading standards website - http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/. Even if they aren't the right people, they should be able to give you some advise or point you in the right direction.

I was bored, so did a lil bit of digging for you ( ) and came up with the following:
I did a quick search around and found that there is a company called Zantec Solutions Ltd at the same address as Zentec, so I'm assuming they're the same company. The phone number for Zentec comes out as 0191 4776200.
Searching for that number comes up with a relatively new company called GetTheMenu, who also have the same registered address as Zantec. Looking into GetTheMenu, I found a picture of the guys who run that company in a small article about them @ http://www.3biz.co.uk/emails/3biz/weekly/020/index.html.
I did look up Zantec at companies house as well and it appears as though they are still trading.


Dunno what that all means
It does appear as though the address is legitimate though :huh:


FakeEdit: Or the local police, as tsh mentions ^^

 

[gmiller1018]

I'd start here:
http://www.northumbria.police.uk/your_neighbourhood/gateshead/

I believe that local police are the correct people to initiate an investigation.

Thanks I reported the incident ... it will be interesting if I get a reply ... but thanks none the less ...

 

[gmiller1018]

The people that you're probably after will be Trading Standards or the UK ECC. The ECC's website is probably going to be your best bet for getting in touch with anyone - http://www.ukecc.net/, although you could dig around trading standards website - http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/. Even if they aren't the right people, they should be able to give you some advise or point you in the right direction.

I was bored, so did a lil bit of digging for you ( ) and came up with the following:
I did a quick search around and found that there is a company called Zantec Solutions Ltd at the same address as Zentec, so I'm assuming they're the same company. The phone number for Zentec comes out as 0191 4776200.
Searching for that number comes up with a relatively new company called GetTheMenu, who also have the same registered address as Zantec. Looking into GetTheMenu, I found a picture of the guys who run that company in a small article about them @ http://www.3biz.co.uk/emails/3biz/weekly/020/index.html.
I did look up Zantec at companies house as well and it appears as though they are still trading.


Dunno what that all means
It does appear as though the address is legitimate though :huh:


FakeEdit: Or the local police, as tsh mentions ^^

Thanks ... I will pursue this as well ...

 

[gmiller1018]

The people that you're probably after will be Trading Standards or the UK ECC. The ECC's website is probably going to be your best bet for getting in touch with anyone - http://www.ukecc.net/, although you could dig around trading standards website - http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/. Even if they aren't the right people, they should be able to give you some advise or point you in the right direction.

I was bored, so did a lil bit of digging for you ( ) and came up with the following:
I did a quick search around and found that there is a company called Zantec Solutions Ltd at the same address as Zentec, so I'm assuming they're the same company. The phone number for Zentec comes out as 0191 4776200.
Searching for that number comes up with a relatively new company called GetTheMenu, who also have the same registered address as Zantec. Looking into GetTheMenu, I found a picture of the guys who run that company in a small article about them @ http://www.3biz.co.uk/emails/3biz/weekly/020/index.html.
I did look up Zantec at companies house as well and it appears as though they are still trading.


Dunno what that all means
It does appear as though the address is legitimate though :huh:


FakeEdit: Or the local police, as tsh mentions ^^

After looking into this it might be some people masquerading as this company .. hmmm ...

 

[craigix]

Phone and ask them. The photos in that article are taken where they say their address is.

 

[PJDiddy]

Address looks real (before Craig ventures out), looks like the M is missing from VISCOM HOUSE but I guess this is the place, different named company though (could be more inside I guess).

 

[Patrick R Ludvigsen]

My guess is that the house may just be a mule that is in contact with the real scammers. Or it might be entirely uninvolved. Sorry, but I don't think you can get the money for your phones back :\

Yeah, googling it, I'm 100% certain that they're not the real scammers, and that the real ones are some guys in Nigeria.

 

[Polossatik]

A seller asking to send money with western Union to buy something is one huge big red SCAM ALERT, it's to late for you now (I do hope you get something back - doubt it however).
But really, how many beers did you had when you placed that order?

 

[valhalla]

Sorry, but it looks like you just found out the hard way that whenever someone only accepts money transfers as payment it is ALWAYS a scam.

hum... pandora reoprder anyone? :lol:

That was a bank transfer, not a money transfer

 

[gmiller1018]

Well the local police got back to me and passed this information:

"The best way for you to report this is to go to www.actionfraud.org.uk and follow the link to "follow report fraud section".
Their phone number is also on the website should you wish to speak to them direct,however as this may take you some time
(and expense) the online reporting facility would probably be your preference."

The saga continues ...