Despite yesterday’s announcement by the State of New York, several bait and switch websites continue to operate. The two most egregious ones are JerseyShoreDigital and Need4digital. If you’ve attempted to purchase from either of these companies, please email me any contact information that you received from them in either email confirmations or on the invoice that you received with your purchase. Forward them to dave.michael@rocketmail.com.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Still Scamming: Jersey Shore Digital and Need4Digital
Cuomo Cracks Down on Online Scammers
Press Release from the New York State AG:
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced settlement agreements with seven online electronics stores located in New York for engaging in a variety of illegal and fraudulent business practices that scammed consumers nationwide out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Under the terms of today’s settlements, the seven companies will pay a total of $665,000 in restitution and civil penalties, and over $100,000 to cover the costs of the Attorney General’s investigation. Two of the companies will close completely. The remaining five companies have agreed to substantially change their business practices and will be subject to ongoing monitoring by the Attorney General’s Office. “These companies engaged in the worst kinds of consumer fraud, from classic bait-and-switch schemes to blatant lies and bullying sales tactics,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “Today’s agreements will protect consumers nationwide from these types of predatory online merchants, as well as deliver much-needed restitution to hundreds of individuals who fell victim to these illegal practices. Let this be a message to online merchants everywhere: such abuse of consumers and violation of the law will not be tolerated.”
Attorney General Cuomo’s investigation revealed that these seven companies would advertise consumer electronics, such as cameras, camcorders, projectors, and related accessories online at prices significantly lower than their competitors to induce consumers to place orders via the internet. Once an order was placed, the companies would call consumers and try to sell them additional or “upgraded” merchandise at inflated prices. If the consumer refused to purchase the additional merchandise, the companies would cancel the sale or claim the item was backordered for months. If the consumer did agree to purchase the additional merchandise, the companies would send them lower quality merchandise than what was promised, or merchandise that the consumer never ordered in the first place. When customers tried to return the items, they would either be denied or be slammed with undisclosed fees. All of the companies further limited customers’ ability to return merchandise by requiring them to speak to a live customer representative during limited business hours, and then refusing to answer those telephone calls. Under the agreements secured today by Cuomo, two of the companies, CAMERA WIZ and SONIC PHOTO, will dissolve completely. The following five companies will completely revamp their business practices and be subject to ongoing monitoring: BEST PRICE CAMERA, FOTO CONNECTION, 1 WAY PHOTO, 86TH STREET PHOTO and BROADWAY PHOTO, LLC. All of the companies will pay substantial monies to provide restitution for consumers who were subjected to the companies’ illegal business practices.
In addition to their bait-and-switch and illegal sales practices, all of these companies obtained fake “consumer testimonials” through websites that claim to be impartial consumer-based “rating” websites, but are in fact pay-per-click-based websites filled with content provided by the websites’ proprietors. Most of the companies changed names and websites so often that consumers looking for truthful reviews or testimonials for the companies would be unable to find them. After receiving hundreds of complaints against each of the companies, the Attorney General’s Office and the New York Better Business Bureau (“NY BBB”) worked cooperatively to investigate and establish all of the names under which the companies ever did business. Under today’s agreements, two companies-Camera Wiz and Sonic Photo-will go out of business completely. To continue doing business, the other five companies will substantially change their business practices to comply with New York law and be subject to ongoing monitoring by the Attorney General’s Office and will be required to post a total of $160,000 in performance bonds for the ongoing protection of consumers. Although two of the companies-Best Price Camera and 1 Way Photo-are relocating to outside New York State, they have agreed in the settlements to be bound by New York Law and to be subject to on-going monitoring by the Attorney General’s Office.
The settlement funds will provide restitution to consumers who were the victims of the companies’ illegal business practices. Consumers who believe they qualify to receive restitution should submit claims to the NY BBB, which will then evaluate and issue the appropriate restitution from July 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. All funds, if any, remaining in any of the restitution funds after December 31, 2009 will be forfeited to the State of New York as a penalty.
Attorney General Cuomo also announced that his office has created an innovative arrangement with the NY BBB and ResellerRatings.com to quickly and effectively detect, investigate, and prosecute instances of illegal business practices by Internet-based companies. In particular, the NY BBB and ResellerRatings.com will report companies to the Attorney General’s Office once there is evidence that suggests a company is engaging in fraud, based on either the volume of complaints received or the tenor of consumer reviews posted online. The Attorney General’s office will share in return the results of its investigations and, in the case of ResellerRatings.com, will alert the website whenever the office is able to determine that fake “consumer testimonials” have been posted. The settlements announced today were handled by Assistant Attorney General Karen Geduldig of the Internet Bureau and Assistant Attorney General Darcy M. Goddard, under the supervision of Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Michael Berlin.
Buffalo News: Online companies settle claims
By Tom Buckham
In January, Christopher J. Hough went shopping online for a pocket-size digital camera he could use on his job overseeing the Buffalo Public Schools reconstruction project. He quickly got caught up in a scam that was came to light Thursday in a settlement agreement requiring seven New York City-based online electronics companies to pay $665,000 to cheated consumers, plus $100,000 to cover the cost of a state attorney general’s investigation. Two of the companies also agreed to go out of business. Scrolling down a list of electronics sites, Hough came across Prestige Camera, which offered the model he was seeking— a Nikon S-60— for about $50 less than the retail price. Seconds after filling out an online order and paying with a credit card, he received an e-mail asking him to call Prestige the next day.
Whoever answered told him he had ordered a version of the S-60 made for the Japanese market, with an owner’s manual printed in that language and a battery that would last just 15 minutes. He was told he could upgrade to an S-60 with instructions in English, with an extra battery, for $100 more. When he asked to cancel the deal, Hough said, the person on the other end replied, “You can’t. Your order has been processed.” “Then he got belligerent,” Hough said. “He was yelling, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing.’ ” After phoning to block the credit card transaction, Hough thought, “That was a bait-andswitch tactic.” After filing a complaint on Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s Web site, Hough heard nothing further. Then Cuomo’s office called last week to tell him about the settlement, which resolved “hundreds” of consumer complaints. “These companies engaged in the worst kinds of consumer fraud, from classic bait-andswitch schemes to blatant lies and bullying sales tactics,” Cuomo said in announcing the agreement with Best Price Camera, Foto Connection, 1 Way Photo, 86th Street Foto, Broadway Photo LLC, Camera Wiz and Sonic Photo.
The last two agreed to cease operations. Best Price Camera and 1 Way Photo are relocating outside the state, but agreed that they will remain bound by New York Law and subject to ongoing monitoring by Cuomo’s office. Cuomo said his staff and the New York Better Business Bureau worked together on the investigation. Prestige Camera, which was not named in the settlement, apparently was among about 40 Web sites operated by the companies who were, Hough said. A West Side resident who as construction manager of the schools project often snaps pictures to record progress at various sites, Hough will not be compensated because he was never billed for the on-line purchase. He end up buying an S-60 from a regular camera store for about $350. It was worth the extra money, he said.
New York Times: Online Electronics Stores Caught in Consumer Fraud
By A. G. Sulzberger
The prices were not to be believed. Researching online for a new high-end camera, Joseph Evans discovered a company selling the model he was seeking for about half the normal cost. He bought the camera after reading positive customer reviews about the company, Sonic Photo, on a consumer rating Web site. Soon, Sonic Photo employees called him, pressuring him to buy a more expensive model. Mr. Evans discovered that the rating site he had visited was fake and the company was actually known for cheating its customers. When he tried to cancel his order the company said it would charge him a fee of more than $100. “It was pretty obvious, once they had the hook in my mouth that I was being reeled in by some nasty people,” Mr. Evans said on Thursday. These were the illegal tactics used by seven online electronic stores — including Sonic Photo — as they swindled customers seeking cameras, camcorders, projectors and other items out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, said on Thursday in a news release.
The companies, all of which are based in Brooklyn, have agreed to pay a $765,000 settlement after a lengthy investigation by the attorney general’s office. “These companies engaged in the worst kinds of consumer fraud, from classic bait-and-switch schemes to blatant lies and bullying sales tactics,” Mr. Cuomo said in the release. As part of the deal, five of the companies — Best Price Camera, Foto Connection, 1 Way Photo, 86th Street Photo and Broadway Photo — have agreed to change their business practices and accept continual monitoring. Two other companies, Camera Wiz and Sonic Photo, will close. Customers seeking restitution will be able to submit claims to the New York Better Business Bureau from July through December.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Beware of Delta Camera aka Deltacamera.com
A new website appearing this week is Deltacamera.com. No contact information, other than 877-283-7747, and the “About Us” page isn’t even done:
Company Name
Company Slogan
History of company, mission statement, etc
By cutting and pasting some of their code into Google, I can confirm that these are the same criminals that operate bigcameradeals.com. Read the reviews here, and avoid these guys at all cost.
Bait and Switch: EliteCamcorders aka Elite Camcorders
The newest bait and switch website is elitecamcorders.com. They are operated by the infamous Swed family, who operate All Star Camera. Here’s some detailed information. They also operated ontimedigital and a number of other bait and switch websites. These guys are the WORST of the WORST. You will never be able to purchase an item for the advertised price unless you buy overpriced accessories. Here’s a photo of their store front. Read the reviews on resellerratings here as well as here…the worst reviews possible, detailing the fraud.
If you’ve been duped, contact the State of New York’s attorney general immediately.
Fake Positive Review for Bingo Cameras
“R Matayev” just attempted to post the following positive review on my Bingo Cameras thread:
honestly you guys are a little harsh i personally made a order from them and they are very helpful. they explained what every lense does what every camera does and are an overall great site. i recieved my D90 nikon camera and am very happy with it. came in 5 days ago and i cant put it down. will deff do business with them again and i reccomend you guys to give them a try i am an overall happy customer of Bingo cameras.
- R Matayev
By looking at my website statistics, I can confirm that this guy is in Brooklyn (note the “out click”):
| Domain Name | | xchangetele.com ? (Commercial) | |||||||||||||||
| IP Address | | 66.128.5.# (Technet International) | |||||||||||||||
| ISP | | Technet International | |||||||||||||||
| Location | |
| |||||||||||||||
| Language | | English (U.S.) | |||||||||||||||
| Operating System | | Microsoft WinXP | |||||||||||||||
| Browser | | Internet Explorer 6.0 | |||||||||||||||
| Javascript | | version 1.3 | |||||||||||||||
| Monitor | |
| |||||||||||||||
| Time of Visit | | Jun 24 2009 7:54:35 am | |||||||||||||||
| Last Page View | | Jun 24 2009 7:55:56 am | |||||||||||||||
| Visit Length | | 1 minute 21 seconds | |||||||||||||||
| Page Views | | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Referring URL | |||||||||||||||||
| Search Engine | google.com | ||||||||||||||||
| Search Words | bingo camera | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Entry Page | | ||||||||||||||||
| Visit Exit Page | | ||||||||||||||||
| Out Click | | Post a Comment | |||||||||||||||
| Time Zone | | UTC-8:00 | |||||||||||||||
| Visitor's Time | | Jun 24 2009 7:54:35 am | |||||||||||||||
| Visit Number | | 219,664 |
Nice try. Enjoy your D90, douchebag.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Jim Cramer calls "official" bottom to Housing Market
Mark your calendars. According to Jim Cramer, June 16th 2009 was the official bottom of the housing market. Read the Mad Money recap here. He based this on Commerce Department data indicating an increase in housing starts. He encouraged his viewers to buy JP Morgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America stock.
As you will recall, one week before Bear Stearns collapse, he responded to an email on his show website as follows:
“Dear Jim: Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there? --Peter
Cramer says: “No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble. If anything, they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear.” Check out the video on youtube here.
Contrary to Jim Cramer’s opinion, the facts indicate that the housing market will continue its steady decline. Forbes Magazine had an interesting interview with Andrew Beal, founder of Beal Bank who was smart enough to avoid the financial implosion. Read the article here.
According to Beal "Half the country's banks--4,000 in all--would be bust, he says, if they marked their loans to what the loans would fetch in an auction. He says banks are fooling themselves by refusing to mark busted assets down. "Banks are on a prayer mission that somehow prices will come back and they won't have to face reality," Beal says. And that reality, according to Beal, is going to get a lot worse.
“Unemployment is going over 10%, commercial real estate hasn't even begun collapsing and corporate credit defaults are just getting started," he says. His prediction: depression, without bread lines this time, thanks to the government safety net, but with equal cost to society."
The banks lobbied Congress and had the "Mark to Market" rules eliminated in March. If they hadn't been changed, then the banks would have had to write down the value of their loans to the actual value of the property. Now that they don't have to, they are in no hurry to sell the foreclosure, since this would result in booked losses for the banks. The foreclosure are coming, however, and they will drag the housing market with them. If you bought a house based on Jim Cramer’s advice, perhaps you can use Bear Stearns shares as wall paper.
86PhotoVideo: Bait Switch Fraud
Simply read the reviews here. If you attempt to buy anything from them, you will be ripped off. I guarantee it.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Obama's Failed Housing Recovery Plan
The blog “Dr. Housing Bubble” has a really interesting article on the failure of loan modifications to stem the slide of foreclosures and real estate values. You can read it here. I especially like the statistic that 4% of subprime loans defaulted before making ONE SINGLE PAYMENT.
Jersey Shore Digital Update
The operators of Camera Giants posted the following on their website: “We regret to announce that CameraGiantsInc.com has closed all its operations.” Per their old website, they operated out of Brooklyn. As discussed below, Camera Giants is operated by the same guys that run 86th Street Photo, Wise Tronics, and 1WayPhoto, as well as Jersey Shore Digital. All prior information indicated they were located in Brooklyn. Now magically Camera Giants is gone and Jersey Shore is purportedly located in New Jersey. I’m wondering if the Syrians that run these sites got wind of pending legal action against them. They can run, but they can’t hide…
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Today's Top Bait and Switch Sites
Judging by the Google searches that led people to my blog, the top bait and switch websites today were:
Bingo Cameras (by a two to one margin)
Jersey Shore Digital
Rogers Camera
And a distant third…Stop and Shop Digital
Thanks to tips sent to me at dave.michael@rocketmail.com, I’ve established that Jersey Shore Digital is using a mailing address in New Jersey. It appears to be operated by the same scumbags who were previously sued by the State of New Jersey. I am going to notify the State’s AG’s Office, and I encourage you to do the same if you’ve been ripped off by Jersey Shore Digital. While the State of New York’s AG apparently condones and encourages these bait and switch websites, New Jersey actually sues them.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Camera Giants: Out of Business? Not Quite.
Ripped off by Camera Giants, which is now out of business according to its website? No worries. The same guys operate a number of other sites.
Jersey Shore Digital, 1WayPhoto, 86th Street Video & Photo, WiseTronics and Camera Giants are all run by the same person.
Per my prior post about JerseyShoreDigital.com, whoever created the Jersey Shore Digital website was sloppy, and forgot to remove a reference to 1WayPhoto.com.
86th Street Photo and Video currently has the following fake testimonial from “Antonio H.”:
“86th Street Video & Photo is a great and honest camera shop. They sent me everything that they said they would. I would definitly shop here again.
Antonio H.”
And so did Jersey Shore Digital, before they removed it:
JerseyShoreDigital.Com is a great and honest camera shop. They sent me everything that they said they would. I would definitly shop here again.
- Antonio H,
Even the typo is the same. Camera Giants had the exact same website as 86th Street Photo and Video, per proof here.
Here are the reviews of 86th Street Photo and Video, which also goes by the name 86th Street Video and Photo, apparently in an effort to elude Google searches.
You can find contact information for the guy that run this various websites on the New York Better Business Bureau’s site (LINK HERE). His name is Shlomi Albaydadi. His address is 2845 86th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11223. According to the BBB, he operates the following:
WiseTronics.com (Horrible resellerratingsreport can be viewed here.)
86th Street Photo & Video
Camera Giants Inc.
My Wireless Deal
Wise Tronics
Y.E.S. International
Here’s what will happen when you attempt to buy an item from any of the sites listed in this post:
According to complaints filed with the BBB, WiseTronics employs bait and switch sales tactics in order to sell more merchandise. After placing an order on-line, consumers receive an e-mail instructing them to call the company to "confirm" their order. Once on the phone, sales representatives try to sell consumers extra batteries, accessories, and warranties, some of which are included with the camera. When consumers decline, their order is cancelled or they are told that their item is not in stock.
Here’s an article on Ripoffreport.com. Read a customer complaint here and another warning here. Here’s a picture of Shlomi’s storefront WHERE YOU CAN SERVE THEM WITH A LAWSUIT.
If you have been ripped off by any of these sites, here’s your chance to go after Shlomi. Contact the State of New York’s attorney general’s office, as well as your State’s AG. Contact the Department of Justice. Contact Google. Don’t just complain on this blog, do something. Eventually Shlomi will be stopped.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Top Credit Agency Predicts 36% Decline in California Housing Prices
Fitch Ratings (A competitor of Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s) just released an analysis of subrime loans. Buried in the press release is this nugget:
“The projected losses also reflect an assumption that from the first quarter of 2009, home prices will fall an additional 12.5% nationally and 36% in California, with home prices not exhibiting stability until the second half of 2010.”
Ouch. We are nowhere near the bottom.
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