Looks like I have been scammed help...

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Having looked online at what i can do i am pretty much stumped and came accross this website and was hoping someone could help me....
I purchased an item from a website... in all ways it seemed legit on first viewing.. very proffessional site, loads of products, links etc...
Ordered product (around 800 sterling)... bank transferred the money... no product, automated responses, and on closer inspection the site has business in question has no contact number, only sends automated responses and basically has my money... i think because the site deals in hydroponic equiptment they think they are above anyone pursueing being ripped off.. fortunately i am one of the few legit hydro growers, but just dont know where to go from here... having googled the site it seems they are ripping people off right now, they have been going for thre years, have videos on youtube and links to other legit sites.... i am a single mum with thre kids, saved for four months to purchase the items and am devastated i have been conned.. I am not sure if this is the right forum to post on, but any help or ideas woulld be very much appreciated xx thanks in advance

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:20 am

How did you pay the money - you mention bank transfer did you physically go to your bank and arrange a transfer to their account or was it done through the site?

Also, why not post the site's address so that it can be checked out to see if they are legit or not.

Also have you spoken to your bank to see if there is anything that they can do?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Thanks for your reply.... yes I physically did go to the bank, so I do know I have recourse there, I know there is a reg1 form or something like that so will be persuing that also...
The site is hg-hydroponics, there are other people posting on forums who are now having problems.. I have received suspect automated emails, then an email saying yes we are only a mail order firm, I have received emails saying 'processing'...
The thing is, i do have some recourse, but there are so many other peole out there who will not pursue it as hydroponics can be seen as illegitimate purchasing depending on what you are growing!!
regardless of that, I atleast want to find out is it legit.. Even if I do get recourse through the bank I am devastated and feel like such a mug y'know, and wouldnt want other people to be in the same position.. thanks again x

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:08 pm

Well the web site is registered to an individual and has valid contact details (not saying they are correct though).

Looking at the site a couple of things jump out -

1) They take payment by credit/debit card through Protx. I would therefore say that they are not scammers as they would have had to provide legitimate details to get set up for a payment account.
2) They charge VAT. Therefore they are either VAT registered or they are committing fraud. Did your invoice have a VAT number on it?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

No, the invoice only has the amount of vat (84.7 Cool

.. It also states this shipment is to be paid by bank transfer.. even tho the funds had already reached their bank.....
when i tried to pay using credit card thru their checkout system it wouldnt let me, then i received email saying hey you tried to order with us can we be of assistance, then i decided to do the transfer....
The emails i have been sent that are not automated responses were filled with spelling errors which got me concerned straight away, then i found a mail from the guy from the website to google checkout from last year saying where the f$ck is my money etc etc.... so worried at that too...
Were the contact details you found actual physical contact details ie:phone number address/name etc.. would very much appreciate it... i am working my way reading round this site.. you are all to be commended for what you do.. will take me a good while to process the information but it looks like a fun and rewarding pass time xxx

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:41 pm

The details that I found are the name and address that were used to register the site. I'm not going to post them here, in case they are an innocent person who's details are being used, but I will PM them to you.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Have also ju received a message from someone else who has been scammed by this website.. luckily they paid by credit card... today his links on the howard marks website have been removed and there is a warning that he is a scammer.. his website is still open for business and he also posts on a forum ekm or something, about website building... defo a scam and any way i can find out his details would be a great help to me.. and obviously am reading and reading about how to get this website killed........

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Thanks very much for that...what a scumbag eh... loads of people now posting on other forums about it...
bye bye 800quid eh... a well, all i can try to do is mess up this guy as much as possible x

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 7103 Location: Yes

Hi and welcome to Eater. If you wouldn't mind, please re-post your story on ScamWarners (our sister site) so others can be informed as well.

Thanks. Thumbs up

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Thanks and have done......
If anyone has any other suggestions about what else I can do online also I would appreciate it, I have alot of time on my hands and no money xxx

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

was hoping someone could help.. this site http://www.thegoldgenie.co.uk/
has a direct link to hg-hydroponics and hg-hydroponics has a direct link to that site.. how can i find out if these sites are registered to the same person.. many thanks... It is getting out there now that this is a total scam and more and more people are coming out to say they have been ripped off.... the actual scammer posted in a forum to state he had been out of the country and left other people in charge and they have messed up his 650000 turn over business.....
many thanks for any help, dharma

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:26 pm

Dharma - yes it is registered by the same person that I gave you details for earlier.

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:38 pm

The checkout seems to go to the genuine payment sites.

I can't say that it's definitively a scam, but I would be very wary of parting with money to a company that has no physical address, only a mobile phone number, and live chat doesn't work without apparently downloading software (which I wouldn't do from an untrusted site)

They also claim to have been in business for 5 years but the gold genie website was registered Nov 07 and the hydroponics site, 3 months ago.

I can't find a hydroponics company of that name registered at Companies House in the UK, though there is a Goldgenie and Goldgenie (UK) Ltd, but no guarantee that this is the same company as there are no address/registration details on the site. The one active company of the two registered, was registered Date of Incorporation: 18/09/2007, the other is a dormant company Date of Incorporation: 11/08/2005 and registered as non-trading. Neither of those are 5 years old.

The registrant's address is a semi-detached house in Lincoln.

My opinion - at best, it's an extremely poor way of doing business, at worst, it's a scam.

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