Fridge deal leaves consumers out in the cold - warning about bogus shopping site 

Unfortunately the number of bogus online whitegoods websites reported to Consumer Protection continues to grow, with the overstockdeals.com.au site recently removed following an investigation by WA ScamNet.

WA ScamNet followed up on a complaint lodged by a WA consumer who attempted to purchase a Westinghouse fridge from the overstockdeals website earlier this year.  The consumer became suspicious when their calls to the company’s 0420 453 220 number were constantly diverted to an answering machine, plus they noted overstockdeals didn’t accept credit card payments, only bank transfers. 

Their suspicions were well founded, with our investigations highlighting a number of additional  issues that rang alarm bells.  Overstockdeals.com.au claimed to offer discounted fridges, freezers and spas and offered a further 10% off the first purchase, plus free shipping. 

Things they forgot to mention were:

• the site was only registered on 18 January 2016 and didn’t list an address or contact phone number;
• the company lacked an established reputation;
• the ABN they used belonged to an unconnected company in New South Wales, who didn’t operate through the overstockdeals website;
• overstockdeals website IP address was hosted by a USA based website linked to two previously identified fraudulent selling websites, onlinemarketdeals.com and directonlinedeals.com.au;
• these three fraudulent sites used the same payment system PrestaShop, a free ecommerce software website based in the USA; and
• the overstockdeals website was a bit of a mix and match, with the photo of  “Our team”  lifted from an American based company and  its “Deliveries and returns’ policy taken from an Australian whitegoods sale site.

If you or anyone you know has already purchased items from either overstockdeals.com.au, onlinemarketdeals.com or directonlinedeals.com.au please report it to WA ScamNet via email. 

You can also report any financial loss from this scam to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) so they can report the details of any accounts being used for money transfers to the relevant law enforcement agency.