Fraudulent Mac Retailers

[Haddock]

Guys - great work, this is true synergy.

I'm from Holland, one of the MacWhiz victims as well... I was wondering - in Holland it is possible to block someones bank account legally through an attorney. Is this also possible in Canada? I mean..this is the place where our money is! Maybe this has to be our priority. I'm also trying to establish this to a lawyer over here, but that will take a lot of time/money because it concerns another (non-european) country.

Well, just a thought.

Let's keep up the good work!

I'm in for a 1.079 US$ The bastard!

 

[cbz38a]

I started asking questions about this MACWHIZ on this forum a month ago. I am glad I did. I would also suggest caution with using ESCROW services on any future purchases. I was almost taken in a scam involving an ESCROW service that also required a wire transfer in order to do business. Did I mention they were located overseas? Everything sounded legit, but the wire transfer angle and there location bothered me. The seller and the escrow service were actually either working together or the same person. Spend the extra few bucks and buy from a well known source, you will be glad you did.

 

[scotty321]

A friendly Mac user posted on MacSlash.com, saying that he lives in Barnaby, Canada, and would be willing to help out if he can. Perhaps he can deal with local police authorities on the people's behalf who were scammed? Here's his posting:
<http://macslash.org/comments.pl?sid=4068&op=&threshold=-1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=60777#60789>

 

[G4Store]

Re: G4Store.com

Originally posted by furryyuri
Has anyone noticed their website looks just like http://www.g4store.com??

I sent them an email asking about shipping Monday the 24th which they answered late at night. I also called and left a message with other questions plus sent 2 other emails with my phone number, but got no response. Then I emailed Wednesday to complain about the lack of response. I'd also like to know if anyone's bought from them, they have the best price on what I want. I only found them because of their google ad. I think it's weird they mention a retail store and have a picture but no name or address.

After what I've just read, I guess I'll avoid them...

At The G4 Store, we have been approached by the media about this subject, and have been alarmed at what we've been reading about in message boards and forums.

In fact, we have just posted a news alert on our website at:

http://www.g4store.com/news/alert/

Needless to say, this Vancouver website is in NO way affiliated with The G4 Store or any of its partners, subsidiaries, etc. If a few of our great customers had not spoken up about the similarities, or started asking these questions, it could have easily slipped in under the radar.

We have also posted a quick checklist that can help when purchasing computers or software online. It's always important to deal with a reputable company... one that actually answers the telephone during normal business hours.

Please contact us if you have any additional information about these individuals, as we are exploring all of our legal options at this point. And thank you, Mac Rumors readers, for bringing this to our attention.

Sincerely,
Scott Carr
Founder, The G4 Store
http://www.g4store.com

The G4 Store, a subsidiary of SaveWealth Internet and Media

 

[jxyama]

wow. no wonder the macwhizshop looks well done... it just ripped off a well established store design!

ok, this guy needs to be busted. he is pathetic. i hope things progress along for a good conclusion in the near future...

 

[lildancer]

macwhizshop

Wow!!!!

This gave me chills! This guy is amazing to think he can rip off other people's identity and complete web site, and not get caught! That means his web host company is also involved in the scam.

When I was shopping formy G4, the G4 Store never came up in the search, otherwise I would have caught this last month when I ordered my! I'm so glad that those he's ripping off like Scott Rose and the G4 Store are taking notice and taking steps to join us in our fight.

I have sent 6 emails in the past two weeks to Derald regarding the staus of my order or refund and have never heard a thing.

 

[cbz38a]

The best thing all of the victims can do is to get together ASAP and also file with their local Police. You can then send copies of the Police report to the person who is taking the lead in fighting this guy and bringing him and his website down. Believe me, it works. Me and several others victims did this and successfully tracked and caught another thief in Pismo Beach California a few years ago. We were lucky and got our money back after awhile. Good luck!! If sharing my experience can help you, let me know.

 

[garydj]

MacWhiz

I tried to order a 20" display from MacWhiz. They responded to my email and claimed to have 7 in stock. Then the fun started. I received an email that my credit card had been declined, and it would be best if I sent a money order or bank transfer to complete the deal. I knew that was not possible and checked with the credit card company to see if they had ever tried to charge my card. They had not.

Needless to say, I did not send them any money. I think it is a scam.

Avoid MacWhiz!

 

[_tripper22]

new and improved macwhiz shop

It appears Mr. Dutchak has changed his site format for some inexplicable reason, so that it no longer is an exact replica of g4store.com. who's going to sponsor some prizes for the first person to find which site Dutchak has copied this time?

 

[baw]

Click this, http://www.macwhizshop.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi

You get the old (COPIED) site.

 

[neilah]

State of Washinton, no sales tax license

Hi, everyone. I hate when fellow Apple customers get scammed, so let me add some elbow grease to this saga.

Mac Whiz's FAQ page states:

Q: Do you charge tax?

A: No sales tax unless you order is shipped to an address in Washington State.

Not terribly surprising, but according to the searches I have just performed at the State of Washington's Department of Revenue's Public Records Database (http://prd.dor.wa.gov/), there is no "MacWhiz" or "Mac Whiz" entity licensed by the State of Washington to collect sales tax.

And as we'd suspect, there is no business owner named "Derald Dutchak" who appears in the same database. The last name 'Dutchak' alone also received no matches.

The only hits I got were for the first name 'Derald', and they are:

DERALD S MARTIN CO
TACOMA

DERALD OLDENBURG CONSTRUCTION
OLYMPIA

DERALDS REPAIR
BATTLEGROUND

 

[Rower_CPU]

Re: new and improved macwhiz shop

Originally posted by _tripper22
It appears Mr. Dutchak has changed his site format for some inexplicable reason, so that it no longer is an exact replica of g4store.com. who's going to sponsor some prizes for the first person to find which site Dutchak has copied this time?

They're still using elements of the G4Store's design. For instance, on the front page:

• "Supersized" PowerBook graphic and text
• Airport Extreme image and text

They even use Apple's layout for the individual product pages...so lame...

 

[superkatalog]

i think it is just incredible that the guy continues his 'business'... with a 'new' designed site... after all... with the stolen pictures and so on. in the new design he has removed the 'store' picture too...

 

[neilah]

The warehouse in Blaine, WA

MAC Whiz corporate offices are located in Vancouver, BC, which includes a 2,500 sq. ft. Retail Store. MAC Whiz also operates a Warehouse distribution Center in Blaine, WA from which all orders are shipped.

Okay.

Blaine, WA. City of Blaine website.

From the City of Blaine website: "Blaine [is] located on I-5, 108 miles north of Seattle and 35 miles south of Vancouver, B.C."

Located right on the border, Blaine is here: http://www.aspenleaf.com/eClassroom/images/blaine_wa_map.gif

According to this site: http://blainewa.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm, Blaine has a population of 3770 people.

Some important numbers:

Blaine City Hall
344 H. St.
(360) 332-8311

Blaine Police
344 H. St.
(360) 332-6769

The folks at city hall were very helpful -- what you'd expect from a small town. The woman who handles business licensing said that it's quite common for Canadians to run businesses across the border in their city. She said they have some warehouses in town, but didn't remember any particular business license application that sounded similar to what we're talking about.

She said she didn't know of a warehouse that might be shipping Apple computer product across the world, but also said that not all business licenses are so specific or so detailed in their intended uses.

She kindly wished us luck.

 

[neilah]

FedEx hours?

From their shipping page:

All items are shipped via FedEx Ground.

and...

We ship Monday through Friday from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM PST. Our last pickup time is 5:30 PM PST.


All items are shipped from our warehouse in Blaine, Washington USA.

Blaine, WA's only zip codes are 98230 and 98231, according to the USPS.

FedEx says that the latest time of day that FedEx can perform a scheduled pickup in these zip codes is 3:00p.

After that, the only other way to ship your package is to drive to Bellingham, WA (about 21.5 miles, 26 minute drive) to drop off your package at a FedEx Service Center no later than 5:00p.

 

[Counterfit]

Man, I checked here when there were about 30 posts or so in this thread. I was wondering why it was still on the front page so much. Now that I found out, go get the ****er!

 

[lildancer]

macwhizshop

Hey, has anyone tried connecting to MacSlash today?

I just tried a while ago and it took forever to connect, then I got a connection failure notice? Seems sort of strange....

 

[macwhiz]

Please don't confuse "MAC Whiz" with "MacWhiz"

Please don't confuse "MAC Whiz," the recently-opened online store discussed in this thread, with "MacWhiz Technologies," my consulting business.

I'm not associated with Dutchak's operation in any way. He chose a name that's very similar to my company's name. I've owned macwhiz.com for over five years. Unfortunately, it seems like it's rather difficult to prosecute a domain-name trademark infringement, especially when the infringer is in a different country.

I've received several e-mails from confused "MAC Whiz" customers wondering what's happening with their order. Based on the nature of the messages I've received, I don't think I would trust "MAC Whiz" to fulfill my computer-shopping needs.

Rob Levandowski
owner, MacWhiz Technologies
East Granby, CT, USA

 

[Thargok]

Anybody up for organizing a DoS attack on macwhizshop.com?

Can somebody say Apple Copyright Infringement?

http://www.apple.com/legal/default.html

I am contacting Apple with this information now, and Jobs has liked the best lawyers since that Windows 1.0 crap from back in the day.

 

[Thargok]

I have contacted Apple on the issue...

<< Over the past few months the url http://www.Macwhizshop.com has been scamming people out of their money, and illegally using copyright material. After finding out that their copyright infringement of http://www.G4store.com was discovered, they have changed their website. In an attempt to bring the thief to justice, I was browsing 'his new' website and discovered that he is illegally using images and a layout similar to that of the Apple Store.

I have brought this to your attention, not only because of the copyright issues; but because this criminal is attacking your consumers. Hopefully together we can bring this petty thief to justice.

-A*********s

Further info on this issue can be found at,

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41856&perpage=25&pagenumber=1 >>

Then...

<<Thank you for contacting Apple's Copyright Dept. We will investigate and take appropriate action. For further information, please review Apple's Legal Information & Notices/Claims of Copyright Infringement at:
http://www.apple.com/legal/claimsofcopyright.html

Please note that Apple will be shut down for the holidays from Dec. 24th - Jan. 2, 2004.>>

 

[ovrdrvn]

Public Posting

All of the information: Apple attorneys, G4, Scott, ISPs etc. has been already shared with all those it needs to be. I've suggested this a few times, but if anyone has any other relevant and/or new information please don't post it publicly. PM myself, a moderator etc. I have a lot of information...far more than has been exposed here. If you can verify who you are with me, I'll share what I can.

 

[macwhiz]

Quick, but not swift.

Mr. Dutchak is quick, but not terribly swift.

In the brief hours since my previous posting, he has already visited my website and sent me what appears to be a prefab DMCA notice. In other words, he has accused me of violating his copyright on "Mac Whiz."

Considering the comments made by others on this forum regarding Dutchak's website, I find the claim quite ironic.

It is patently false, and a total misapplication of the DMCA.

Perhaps he should consult a lawyer about the meaning of "copyright."

In the meantime, I'm certainly not about to alter one thing on my website.

 

[Counterfit]

I think you would be interested in this link A humorous distraction regarding a situation (or several) similar to yours. Enjoy!

 

[lildancer]

macwhizshop

I finally got a reply from Derald today after I expressed, again, my frustration regarding no communication, no computer and no refund.

His response:
Donna,

Refund is on it's way.

Thanks for your patience.


Derald


I'll believe it when I see it. He clearly has no computers to ship. I contacted BofA this morning, and yes, OVRDRVN, I am sure that we are probably duplicating what has already been done.

We are all fighting this guy together and there is more than one way to skin a cat!

 

[scotty321]

Re: Quick, but not swift.

Originally posted by macwhiz In the brief hours since my previous posting, he has already visited my website and sent me what appears to be a prefab DMCA notice. In other words, he has accused me of violating his copyright on "Mac Whiz."

Derald doesn't have one legal foot to stand on. He likes to send out empty threats. Plus, Derald Dutchak is probably not his real name anyways. The best thing that could happen would be for him to (laughably) try to pursue any legal action against anybody -- that would be one way of finding his true identity. I, for one, won't rest until he is behind bars.