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Fraudulent Mac Retailers

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Just an important safety note:

If you purchase with a credit card from a foreign company (and yes, our good friends up north are included in this statement) there is a very good chance that it will NOT BE COVERED by your credit card's dispute policy. (Found this out the hard way.)

Make sure your credit card has international purchase protection before making purchases!
 
macwhizshop.com woes

i recentl ordered an iBook from http://www.macwhizshop.com and thats where my nitemare began.

before placing the order they assured me that i'll get my order in 3-5 days, but once i sent the money by wire transfer, they said they have some supply problem and that its gonna take some 3 weeks or so..

now more frustrating thing is their communication channel. they dont answer phones and are not prompt replying to mails. in fact i guess there's only one guy - derald who does all this. there's no team in that "company" - only one guy doing all these.

i'm a student and this is the first time i'm buying a laptop and first time a mac, too.. i really cant afford to lose any money and this is big money for me as a student. i'm really worried now - am i cheated? i don't know what to do.. my money has already gone. can anyone help/suggest something? i'm in panic.

chirag
UMass Amherst
MA
 
Bad news! You might try filing with the IFCC (FBI internet fraud site). Maybe if enough of us file, they'll get interested. I filed several weeks ago and have an ID and password but no other action. Be sure and save everything - e-mails, notes....

Craig
 
cwall, I wondered how your story had ended up. You're one of the only posters that bought from them (sorry, that sucks.)

As for me, they have never replied to my "I'm very disappointed that you haven't called or replied to my emailed questions; I was very serious about buying a mac from you" email. I was this close to buying when I found this thread.

And I see from the post before cwall that money was wired: if they ask for wired money I think that's a sure sign of a scam artist. Too bad.

Good luck to all of you who have bought from them and got screwed.
 
Originally posted by winwintoo
If you're having problems with this outfit and want to alert the constabulary, contact the RCMP.

You can contact the RCMP through this web page.
Click to expand...

CWall! (and any other mac wiz victims) Please! Make sure that you report this to the mounties, too. I had a fraud case that crossed the border, and I got a LOT of help from them. As the crime took place in Canada, this is probably your best bet
 
Macwhizshop

Well, I too am having a very bad experience with this company, and I ordered a G4 desktop from them Nov. 19. Wish I had seen these before I sent my money.

Here's the deal. Ordered on Nov. 17 by Visa. No response. Late the 18th Derald Duckak emailed me that there was a problem with my credit card and suggested another form of payment, transferring funds directly to there account, which then he would ship when funds were received.

Sent funds immediately. I'm a graphic designer and my G3 finally died and I had to borrow money and needed a machine immediately. I sent my money, waited for my computer to be shipped overnight, days passed, no computer, no word. When I threated to cansel my order I finally got an email that it was on back order 3-4 weeks, and when I asked for a refund and told him that I was concerned I may been defrauded and have been advised to file a police report by my bank and get an attorney, he sent back a very nasty email and said it would take 4-6 weeks for a refund!

I have not yet received my computer, and am collecting necessary info on his business dealings before I go the the Feds too. I am also interesting in getting with others to possibly file a class action law suit and file fraud charges. His website is obviously very fraudulant, in everything it says.
Please email me if you have been a vistim too. Thanks!
 
mac whiz shop - HELP

i donno what to do now.. as such its been nine days only since i paid money by wire transfer and i can still hope to get my order delievered.. but from all these discussions, it seems this guy is really a fraud. i started suspecting as he turned away from his words as soon as i transfered the money. and now reading all these reviews on this site.. i'm really worried..

should i wait for some more days? can anyone help me in verifying this guy's identity and company? in case i need to take some legal action, what can i do? i'm an international student in my first year in USA and i don't have any idea about such things. this is my first order in this country and i'm being cheated.. it's such a horrible feeling.. being new to this country, being a student with very little money, and being cheated for more than 1000 dollars..

how can i get my money back? or is there still any possibility of getting my order? somebody plz. help..

in anticipation..
chirag
UMass Amherst
 
Re: mac whiz shop - HELP

Originally posted by chirag
i donno what to do now.. as such its been nine days only since i paid money by wire transfer and i can still hope to get my order delievered.. but from all these discussions, it seems this guy is really a fraud. i started suspecting as he turned away from his words as soon as i transfered the money. and now reading all these reviews on this site.. i'm really worried..

should i wait for some more days? can anyone help me in verifying this guy's identity and company? in case i need to take some legal action, what can i do? i'm an international student in my first year in USA and i don't have any idea about such things. this is my first order in this country and i'm being cheated.. it's such a horrible feeling.. being new to this country, being a student with very little money, and being cheated for more than 1000 dollars..

how can i get my money back? or is there still any possibility of getting my order? somebody plz. help..

in anticipation..
chirag
UMass Amherst
Click to expand...

i hate to say it, but you are probably out of luck. what you basically did via wire transfer is that you gave him cash. and it's entirely possible that he signed off on the transfer using a fake id...

i understand that you are new to this country, but it's a universal truth: if a deal looks too good, it probably is.

your only hope is to contact some authority in canada. wire transfer company may be able to help, but they don't "owe" you in the sense credit companies might. their service is to simply deliver cash.
 
just out of curiosity, can a mod do an ip search on the ONE guy who posted on this thread claiming to be a happy mac whiz customer? (jameskurtis or somthing)

it *may* help...
 
Re: Re: MacWhizShop

Originally posted by rfu
I live about an hour or so from the address listed on the site. I am going to check it out
Click to expand...


And...

Originally posted by jxyama
just out of curiosity, can a mod do an ip search on the ONE guy who posted on this thread claiming to be a happy mac whiz customer? (jameskurtis or somthing)

it *may* help...
Click to expand...

Those are the two best ideas I've seen on this thread.

Squire
 
All those who have had problems with MacWhiz should RUN not walk to the authorities. The more information they have about the operation the better your chances to recover your funds. Honestly, I doubt you will be able to get your money back because if you wired him money, it is cash in his hands. Since he is outside of the states, there is little legal recourse you have unless the Canadian Authorities can act fast. Any delay will enable him to wriggle out of this with your money. If he is legit, he would send you your money ASAP
 
Originally posted by Rower_CPU
The IP of that poster comes geograpically nowhere near the business address of macwhizshops.
Click to expand...

darn it. oh well, a good try. i *do* wonder what that guy was doing here... thanks for checking, rower.
 
Fraud

Well, their email has been bounced back for the last 24 hours...account full. No answer to the phone/fax number. My money was trasnferred. The Bank of America account I sent it to was in WA. Their phone number is 800-442-6680. They can only confirm if your trasnfer went into that account. If I don't hear something soon, I'll post the account numbers I was given. I had the NYC police here today to take all this down.
 
Just an update:

I had a couple of emails back and forth with macwhizshop and they were slow, but regular. I received these emails from macwhizshop until I posted in this forum. The user that posted that he had a positive transaction with macwhizshop must be a fraud.

Surely someone can localize that IP address to an ISP or something.
 
Moderator Please Help

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
The IP of that poster comes geograpically nowhere near the business address of macwhizshops.
Click to expand...

I had the police over yesterday to discuss this. I have filed a complaint. They need all the information they can get. If you don't feel comfortable posting the address publicly, please help those of us in need. I can verfiy who I am and will give you a phone number or whatever you wish..but since he hasn't closed the bank account yet..time is of the essence.
 
The Macrumors Crime Fighting Squad is at it again! :D

Good luck to all and I hope you catch him like you did with that ebay fraudster a while ago.
 
jamekurtis appears likely to be a part of it.

james kurtis aka julia winter:

http://groups.google.com/groups?sel...687@posting.google.com&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain
NTTP-Posting-Host: 65.247.155.207

http://www.nomug.org/news/0000D7EB-80000007/774C90A7-3B9ACA00-00AD9018

Thursday, December 4, 2003 6:05 PM -0600

From: fidoexprez@aol.com (julia winter)
Subject: mac whiz computers_
To: mac.wanted

All I can say is Wow! I thought it was too good to be true when I
stumbled onto mac whiz site and found the product I was looking for
$200 cheaper than anywhere else. I thought it might be refurbished,
and when I e-mailed customer support, not only did I find out it was
brand new, but I had that response within an hour.

After days of eagerly anticipating the arrival of my new computer, I
carefully opened the box. To my utter delight, It was so carefully
packaged that I knew no way could any harm come from poor handling.
Needless to say, I was impressed by mac whiz because I received
everything I asked for and more (few upgrades at no additional cost).

The computer was exactly as I ordered. I was amazed at it's
performance and how professional mac whiz documented it's performance
and stability. If you want a great mac at a great price, mac whiz will
give you exactly what you want. _I highly recommend buying from mac
whiz over most computer companies. If you want high value and great
price, buy from mac whiz!

Finally a company is getting it right. Enron could have used people
like you!

Julia Winter
New York
Click to expand...
 
let's fight

i urge all of you who have lost their money with this guy to get together and take some action. plz. mail me personally (and not on the this public forum) and we'll work out the plan.

i'm not any expert in such things. in fact i'm just a student and new to this country, but i don't want to give away my money - that i've earned with my sweat and collected to make a dream true - so easily to someone. i want to fight for it. i also want to see that no other person becomes victim of this guy. plz. help me do this.

hoping good co-operation from everyone (victims and non-victims),

chirag
UMass Amherst
 
MacWhizShop victim

Oh no!!! I ordered a 20 inch Apple display and transfered 999 US$ to Derald Dutchak's account end November. I am living in The Netherlands in Europe and since the prices for Apple products are much higher here, I ordered through MacWhizShop. For two days I'm trying to get in touch with Mr. Dutchak to ask for an update on my order. I did not hear anything, and when I called to the number listed on the site I also heard this tape with the message that nobody was able to help me personally due to busy times. So after searching for clues on the web, I found this thread and now I'm really worried. I sent a mail to Mr. Dutchak and he sent me this reply within 1 hour:

Hi Bastiaan,

Please let me the details of your transaction. How you paid
and the exact date and item you ordered. As soon as I receive
this information I will look into the status and get back to you
as soon as possible.

As for messages about our organization being a fraud please forward
any related information so I can look into this further.


Thank you.

Derald Dutchak
MAC Whiz
President/Owner
derald@macwhizshop.com

####

Since I already sent my ordernumber in the mail to Mr. Dutchak, he could have traced my order and it's status. This looks like a scam indeed. Bye, bye 999 US$!!!

If you are going to take action, please count me in.
 
Re: MacWhizShop victim

Haddock: This is much larger than you can imagine. I'm guessing you haven't gotten email from him in the last 3 days? Contact me via personal message or email for more information.


Originally posted by Haddock
Oh no!!! I ordered a 20 inch Apple display and transfered 999 US$ to Derald Dutchak's account end November. I am living in The Netherlands in Europe and since the prices for Apple products are much higher here, I ordered through MacWhizShop. For two days I'm trying to get in touch with Mr. Dutchak to ask for an update on my order. I did not hear anything, and when I called to the number listed on the site I also heard this tape with the message that nobody was able to help me personally due to busy times. So after searching for clues on the web, I found this thread and now I'm really worried. I sent a mail to Mr. Dutchak and he sent me this reply within 1 hour:

Hi Bastiaan,

Please let me the details of your transaction. How you paid
and the exact date and item you ordered. As soon as I receive
this information I will look into the status and get back to you
as soon as possible.

As for messages about our organization being a fraud please forward
any related information so I can look into this further.


Thank you.

Derald Dutchak
MAC Whiz
President/Owner
derald@macwhizshop.com

####

Since I already sent my ordernumber in the mail to Mr. Dutchak, he could have traced my order and it's status. This looks like a scam indeed. Bye, bye 999 US$!!!

If you are going to take action, please count me in.
Click to expand...
 
Aditional info

Hi,
I was just browsing this site (I like to read on apple news and stuff, but don't own a mac...yet), this post just made curious. After reading and checking the mac whiz site here's what I (think) found: I went to see the picture of Derald Dutchak, and I got the feeling I saw that picture before somewhere. Did a search on Google pictures, and a after a while I've found it! The EXACT SAME picture. It turns out to be Scott Rose, a professional speaker at macWorld Expo, apple stores, etc... link: http://www.scottworld.com/speaking/
Well, this IS a scam... and I hope this helps somehow...
Thanks,
Anibal
 
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