anniesarthousedesigns.com/store.php Phony internet sales site with name stolen from legit small business Unknown (likely international) Internet

All items offered for sale on this website are false.  So is the icon for sales protection through "GeoTrust" and a phony, imitated (and false) PayPal logo.  Just about any retail items you search for in shopping mode on Google may turn up here "in stock" -- and with a great picture taken from some other retailer's photo -- for about half-price.  I was searching for a discontinued model of wooden baseball bat.  Of course, the business name aroused my suspicion as an English-speaking American: anniesarthousedesigns didn't sound like a baseball bat store.  

The phony internet site offers an e-mail address which also is false.  There is (unfortunately for them) a real, legit company named AnniesArthouseDesigns in Pennsylvania with a limited facebook profile, and legit activity.  What I think happened was that a complex internet phishing program by one or more foreign hackers links names of a real businesses like Annie's (no doubt taken from their Facebook profile) to a phony list of real merchandise likewise assembled by phishing programs, and tries to trick internet shoppers into making a payment into an all-too-real but fraudulent account.  Once you make your "purchase", your money is gone.  I called the people at the real AnniesArthouseDesigns, who verified that their business name has been hijacked for this fraudulent site.  Nice folks.  I feel bad for them.

internet shoppers beware: Always verify seller phone numbers and physical and e-mail addresses before sending money to anyone.  These days, I actually contact a business new to me to verify their stock of merchandise through direct communication, before making a purchase.  Again, there is no real anniesarthousedesigns.com.  Who knows how many other phonied internet sits these hackers are putting out there right now, using pirated names from real businesses who don't own those websites...