B2CTRADE ebaykicks.com and MANY MORE Online Scam Ring Based in Beijing, China (Phishing, etc.), Internet

..when considering ANY online purchase...always look around the website for "contact us" or contact info.. and click the link.

If it does not provide an address and phone number for contacting which can be verified...then run..do not walk..RUN away from that site.

Of course this info does not help you now..but at least this report can help others from having a similar fate in the future.

Even if a site is legit, I still will not deal with a company whose link to contact info is an email only. Just my rule of thumb. If a company is not willing to disclose an address and phone number on their website, there must be a reason.

A Beijing, China based phishing group has been found under a new alias.

The Story:

My wife called me the other night and said "honey, what would you like for your birthday." I responded "They re-released a pair of Nike Air Jordan sneakers that I had when I was younger." She searched the local mall (Trumbull, CT) and had no luck. Soon after this was realized, she called and said "where can I buy these?" I told her to look on Google.Com and search eBay.

When she visited Google.Com, a few keywords were added (because she was bargain hunting). Her keyword was "ebay air jordan cheap." On the first page (of Google's results) she found www.ebaykicks.com She entered her credit card information, and
never received the item.

We celebrated my birthday yesterday, and she told me that she was not able to get my item on time. Immediately, I asked if she found the item without any hassle. She showed me her personal email inbox, and I noticed that there was no mention of ebay (the real ebay inc.)

What I did find, was my debit card provider's customer service number and website. We saw the transaction as "pending" and the merchant was listed as "B2CTRADE."
I Googled this strange name, and found it listed as a scam website. On my debit card provider's side, they told me our purchase was recorded as "Counseling Services in Beijing, China."

We are the victims of fraud, and are fighting to stop the charge. In addition, we canceled our debit card and are awaiting a new one in the mail.

Conclusion:

It is well known that this group has been operating since 2008 or 2009 (at the very least.) Although they are "somewhat listed" it scares me that my bank was not initially aware of this merchant being dangerous... and I am OVERWHELMED to know that there has not been an investigation into this ring. They own many MANY sites, and are stealing from tens of thousands of Americans. (This website alone has over 75,000+ views.)