The advertisement in the local paper stated the following:
"Do you need a job? Do you want great pay with great hours? Then this might be the job for you. We are an Electronics wholesale company who is seeking eager eBay sales reps. You must be registered with eBay for a minimum of 2 years and have at least 100% positive feedback. Your feedback must also be 96-100% positive to qualify for this position. APPLY NOW!http://www.biwaywholesaledistribution.com NO INVESTMENT REQUIRED"
Heck, if it's no investment required, I have nothing to lose, or do I? Since I had been a successful e-bayer since 2003 with 100% rating I thought I'd give it a try. I went to the website and I filled out the online application.
Yesterday, I received a call from "John McCallister" (my new "Campaign Rep") and he told me that he had sent me a 14-page contract and we were going to arrange a time tonight for us to go through a short training so I can start making money with this company, being a so-called "drop-shipper." Even though I can't find anything about Biway Wholesale Distribution being a scam (there used to be a Biway in Canada and started business in 1966, but went of business in 2001) however, I did find these forums about people being scammed in the same exact way that "John McCallister" is attempting to scam me:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Feedback/Scam-Alert-Can/520193054&start=15
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/wholesale-distribution.aspx
The Palm Beach Post as well as the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union has been tricked into running this ad. They are also running ads all over the U.S. on the internet as well as in local newspapers under different names such as MW Distribution, Universal Wholesale, Can-Am Wholesale Distribution, J-Masters Wholesale, etc.
Basically, what they do is prey on unsuspecting successful ebayers who have an excellent rating (95%-100% feedback and 100% rating) in the ebay community because "Biway" knows that buyers trust eBayers with good ratings. The Biway Campaign Director, "John McCallister", says that they are a wholesale distribution company and since they don't sell retail products or deal with the public, they have the eBay sellers sell their wholesale electronic, overstock inventory for retail prices or at a reduced cost.
For instance, I would have received a document with pictures and specifications/descriptions of their alleged electronic inventory to sell on eBay for a profit. I would sell their electronic items on eBay for an amount (for example, $1,800 for a videocamera) and then when I receive the amount in my Paypal account, I keep my profit (for example, $600) and forward the "price" of the item (for example, $1,200) to them via Western Union/Money-Gram (red flag!). Then, Biway is supposed to ship the items to the buyers. What actually happens is that "Biway Wholesale Distribution" never sends the item(s) to the buyer (even though "Biway" sends fake Fed-Ex slips as "proof" that they sent the item to the buyer to lull you into believing they shipped the items to the buyers).
Then, since I would have been scammed, I would have to be responsible for reimbursing the buyer (who now is complaining that they never received the item) for the full $1,800 and "John McCallister" with "BiWay Wholesale Distribution" (or the other aforementioned wholesale distribution companies) is laughing all the way home from the Western Union store. Biway uses Western Union because virtually there's no accountability. Western Union even warns people to never send money to people you don't know through their service.
http://www.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&pagename=fraudIndex&pid=fraud0709
All a person has to do is show their I.D. to pick up the money transfer which is why they probably hire a flunkee (so they go undetected) to pick up the money and get a percentage of the stolen $.
What alerted my internal red flag was that, in the contract, "Biway" wanted all funds sent to them via Western Union. Also, when I talked to him on the phone, he said the company's a solid reputation of 50 years, however, in the contract it says that it's been around 17 years. Furthermore, the website was just created a month ago! I searched for "wholesale distribution scam" and a ton of websites popped up that parallelled the exact method that "John McCallister" was using to milk me out of money.
Also, "John McCAllister" told me on the phone that they had been in business for 50 years, but there isn't any record of them being around longer than last month. They are so slick that they registered with http://www.411.ca/directory/Ontario/London/Electronics.html to make it look like they are legitimate. Also, their address is allegedly 635 Wilton Grove Road, London, Ontario, Canada, N6N 1N7 and that's an office building with multiple tenants, none of whom are Biway Wholesale Distribution or anything similar. Also, since Biway supposedly has a warehouse full of overstock eletronic items, how could a warehouse fit in an office building with multiple tenants? Their # is 1 (888) 701-6290 extension 590 and "John McCallister" is a slick talker and he sounds completely legitimate, intelligent, friendly, etc. but he's part of an elaborate internet scheme that preys upon people looking for a job. His email address is jmccallister.bwd@gmail.com
I am in shock that one person actually sold $9,000 worth of Biway Wholesale Product on Ebay and, of course, Biway never dropshipped the products to the buyers. Then, the buyer(s) complained to eBay that they never received their items and, as a result, eBay told the person that they are accountable to reimburse the buyers for all the money that their buyers sent to them even though it wasn't that person's fault.
I am very blessed and lucky that I didn't fall prey to this scam. I could have easily been deceived out of thousands of dollars and I am highly skeptical of business opportunities to begin with! How many are going to be scammed out of thousands of dollars in the months or years to come?
This is highly lucrative for the intelligent, tech-savvy thieves because, if you think about it, if they get just $5,000 per person and they have at least 1,000 people per month fooled, that's $50,000 per month! They invest some of that money back into running ads in local papers to give it the appearance of having creedence and legitimacy, and that's how they are swimming in a pool of ill-begotten money!
Unfortunately, it's difficult for law enforcement to crack down on these people because they change their company name, website address, email address, contact names, and phone numbers. Maybe one day, MSNBC can track these people down and we can watch them on television being hauled off to prison!
Please, if you see this ad in your local newspaper, don't hesitate to contact the newspaper or website running these ads! Go to this website for information on what to do if you are a victim or know of a scam: http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php
"Do you need a job? Do you want great pay with great hours? Then this might be the job for you. We are an Electronics wholesale company who is seeking eager eBay sales reps. You must be registered with eBay for a minimum of 2 years and have at least 100% positive feedback. Your feedback must also be 96-100% positive to qualify for this position. APPLY NOW!http://www.biwaywholesaledistribution.com NO INVESTMENT REQUIRED"
Heck, if it's no investment required, I have nothing to lose, or do I? Since I had been a successful e-bayer since 2003 with 100% rating I thought I'd give it a try. I went to the website and I filled out the online application.
Yesterday, I received a call from "John McCallister" (my new "Campaign Rep") and he told me that he had sent me a 14-page contract and we were going to arrange a time tonight for us to go through a short training so I can start making money with this company, being a so-called "drop-shipper." Even though I can't find anything about Biway Wholesale Distribution being a scam (there used to be a Biway in Canada and started business in 1966, but went of business in 2001) however, I did find these forums about people being scammed in the same exact way that "John McCallister" is attempting to scam me:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Feedback/Scam-Alert-Can/520193054&start=15
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/wholesale-distribution.aspx
The Palm Beach Post as well as the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union has been tricked into running this ad. They are also running ads all over the U.S. on the internet as well as in local newspapers under different names such as MW Distribution, Universal Wholesale, Can-Am Wholesale Distribution, J-Masters Wholesale, etc.
Basically, what they do is prey on unsuspecting successful ebayers who have an excellent rating (95%-100% feedback and 100% rating) in the ebay community because "Biway" knows that buyers trust eBayers with good ratings. The Biway Campaign Director, "John McCallister", says that they are a wholesale distribution company and since they don't sell retail products or deal with the public, they have the eBay sellers sell their wholesale electronic, overstock inventory for retail prices or at a reduced cost.
For instance, I would have received a document with pictures and specifications/descriptions of their alleged electronic inventory to sell on eBay for a profit. I would sell their electronic items on eBay for an amount (for example, $1,800 for a videocamera) and then when I receive the amount in my Paypal account, I keep my profit (for example, $600) and forward the "price" of the item (for example, $1,200) to them via Western Union/Money-Gram (red flag!). Then, Biway is supposed to ship the items to the buyers. What actually happens is that "Biway Wholesale Distribution" never sends the item(s) to the buyer (even though "Biway" sends fake Fed-Ex slips as "proof" that they sent the item to the buyer to lull you into believing they shipped the items to the buyers).
Then, since I would have been scammed, I would have to be responsible for reimbursing the buyer (who now is complaining that they never received the item) for the full $1,800 and "John McCallister" with "BiWay Wholesale Distribution" (or the other aforementioned wholesale distribution companies) is laughing all the way home from the Western Union store. Biway uses Western Union because virtually there's no accountability. Western Union even warns people to never send money to people you don't know through their service.
http://www.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&pagename=fraudIndex&pid=fraud0709
All a person has to do is show their I.D. to pick up the money transfer which is why they probably hire a flunkee (so they go undetected) to pick up the money and get a percentage of the stolen $.
What alerted my internal red flag was that, in the contract, "Biway" wanted all funds sent to them via Western Union. Also, when I talked to him on the phone, he said the company's a solid reputation of 50 years, however, in the contract it says that it's been around 17 years. Furthermore, the website was just created a month ago! I searched for "wholesale distribution scam" and a ton of websites popped up that parallelled the exact method that "John McCallister" was using to milk me out of money.
Also, "John McCAllister" told me on the phone that they had been in business for 50 years, but there isn't any record of them being around longer than last month. They are so slick that they registered with http://www.411.ca/directory/Ontario/London/Electronics.html to make it look like they are legitimate. Also, their address is allegedly 635 Wilton Grove Road, London, Ontario, Canada, N6N 1N7 and that's an office building with multiple tenants, none of whom are Biway Wholesale Distribution or anything similar. Also, since Biway supposedly has a warehouse full of overstock eletronic items, how could a warehouse fit in an office building with multiple tenants? Their # is 1 (888) 701-6290 extension 590 and "John McCallister" is a slick talker and he sounds completely legitimate, intelligent, friendly, etc. but he's part of an elaborate internet scheme that preys upon people looking for a job. His email address is jmccallister.bwd@gmail.com
I am in shock that one person actually sold $9,000 worth of Biway Wholesale Product on Ebay and, of course, Biway never dropshipped the products to the buyers. Then, the buyer(s) complained to eBay that they never received their items and, as a result, eBay told the person that they are accountable to reimburse the buyers for all the money that their buyers sent to them even though it wasn't that person's fault.
I am very blessed and lucky that I didn't fall prey to this scam. I could have easily been deceived out of thousands of dollars and I am highly skeptical of business opportunities to begin with! How many are going to be scammed out of thousands of dollars in the months or years to come?
This is highly lucrative for the intelligent, tech-savvy thieves because, if you think about it, if they get just $5,000 per person and they have at least 1,000 people per month fooled, that's $50,000 per month! They invest some of that money back into running ads in local papers to give it the appearance of having creedence and legitimacy, and that's how they are swimming in a pool of ill-begotten money!
Unfortunately, it's difficult for law enforcement to crack down on these people because they change their company name, website address, email address, contact names, and phone numbers. Maybe one day, MSNBC can track these people down and we can watch them on television being hauled off to prison!
Please, if you see this ad in your local newspaper, don't hesitate to contact the newspaper or website running these ads! Go to this website for information on what to do if you are a victim or know of a scam: http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php
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