it gets better... 254 is the area code for Waco/Killeen/Temple, TX and 763 is not even a registered or valid exchange in that area code. 762 belongs to "Metrocall" in Temple and 764 belongs to "Alenco Communications" in Alexander, TX. 736 belongs to Dobson Cellular Systems (aka Cellular One). NM is 505 area code and even western TX (El Paso, for example) is 915. This guy is a fraud from beginning to end. There is no Derek S Riewe listed on whitepages.com and a reverse address search turns up no known number for the address in question. There IS, however, an M R Riewe listed at that address on anywho.com with a number of 505-831-5693. Too bad we don't have any forum members in Albuquerque. The street appears to be pretty easy to find in the city as a whole... It seems as though you'd take I-40 to Coors Rd, head north on Coors, then west (left) on Ouray Rd NW and then north (right) on Llano Encantado. Anyway, that's all I've been able to dig up as of yet. I'll dig some more and see if I can come up with anything else.

As a side note, here's my take on the situation. The domain name was purchased fraudulently by a third party using Mr Riewe's credit card. The billing address had to be entered correctly for the card to process, but a fake phone number was used so that nobody could contact mr riewe about the domain name that he owns (unbeknownst to him). Notice that the registrar is in another country entirely, most likely where credit card security isn't as strict. Seems the most interesting course of action would be to contact Mr Riewe himself, ask him about the akron-bike.com domain name that he owns. He'd most likely be quite surprised at this purchase, issue a chargeback and the domain name would die. In theory things COULD progress from there to find out the IP of the person who purchased said domain name, but most likely won't due to the resources involved in doing so over such a small amount. Not something your normal credit card company will even make an issue of.

another edit: akron-bike.com resolves to 198.65.131.205, which is in turn owned by verio.net. I wonder if mr riewe has been conveniently paying for a shared hosting plan through verio or a reseller of verio's service? Perhaps someone can/should email abuse@verio.net and pass a bit of this along to them? If in fact it's a reseller of verio, verio will know which reseller is leasing that IP and could possibly pass it along to them. As far as the toll-free number? It appears to have been bought from a communications company called 'focal". calling 800-337-4194 and putting in their 866 number comes up with an unrecognized carrier for that number but gives a code of FGC01 and a trouble reporting number of 888-362-2522, which is the number one would use to report problems with the number in question. Calling that 888 number connects you with focal communications (http://www.focal.com). Interesting stuff.

Also very telling-

Go to their website again...

1. The storefront has pillars in front, the inside view with the counter and windows-looking outside... oops, no pillars...

2. Look at the counter pic... concrete floor.... pic with shot of the bikes upclose... wooden floor.

I know you all are trying to find this guy in the states, but isn't it obvious that he is not a local cowboy. Reading his stuff reminds me of the emails I get from the South African princes who want me to hold on to their money for them.

Other clues:
He lists a currency exchange link on every page.
Instead of color, he uses "colour"
He lists prices as US$1200, instead of just $1200.

It would make me sad if anyone was actually dumb enough to send this guy money.

Oh those crafty nigerians..

That Nigerian deal is bogus? I just sent them two million bucks. Darn!!

Even more more telling telling :) : take a look at the source code for their site... it looks like that bikes is the latest scam, the code shows that they used this site for selling Electronics under the name "Future Electronics"... This is too funny..:)

wow... looks like we have a regular bunch of detectives in here.. Not only that, the person is a terrible scammer. I feel sorry for anyone who falls for it.

I'm normally a lurker but I thought that this thread was too funny to not join into...

Check out this site:
http://www.coardeles.com/

Do you think he is running the same scam with another website or maybe this website is legit?

Maybe there is some scammers forum (www.scamforums.net ???) where you can download the basic web template?

Amazing!

I thought I was good - you guys are amazing! Go to the 'About Us' page on both websites! The customer comments are IDENTICAL! Same names, same words - they just change the name to Akron Bike or the electronics! Brilliant scammers!

As far as I can tell, eBay has them shut down. At least, they keep telling me that.

Yeah, same telltale language skills. Here's a letter from a purported US customer. Maybe semi-literate websites attract semi-literate customers?


Thanks you very much for the fast respond. I'm looking forward to purchase more product soon from HELITIS . I'll be sure to give a word of mouth to my friends. Thanks again
Kalvin, United States

On ebay, now called "laidbacknluvinit"

When I last reported Akron Bike to eBay, their security department sent me an email that said they restored the account to the original owner. This might be them. Buying and selling weird clothing. Not bikes, not electronics.

The same customer responses are on both sites, with the same poor English skills. It makes you wonder how safe anything is online. But, hopefully, if someone spots a fraud, they'll report it and get the word out.

Thank you to everyone who investigated this scam. I must admit, and of course confess, that my interest was peeked by the offerings and the prices, but in the end I concluded with the ole saying, "if sounds too good to be true, then it probably is."

Thanks for confirming my huntch.

You guys deserve big props for spending your time investigating and posting to expose these guys.

Good going.

Here's the latest, and hopefully last email from eBay on this! Thanks to everyone who took my initial suspicions and ran with it. Some of your results are amazing. Would never want to upset any of you! Not sure if it's related, but I just got email from eBay saying that someone was trying to compromise my password. I wonder if this person is trying to fight back!

Hello,

Thanks for writing to us. I appreciate the chance to help you with your
questions.

I wanted to let you know that the account you reported was compromised
and used to list unauthorized items.

We have since secured the account and contacted the true owner.
Additionally, the account has since been restored and control given back
to the true owner.

Please be aware that eBay urges caution when purchasing high-priced
items, especially if the price seems too good to be true.

We do not recommend the use of instant cash wire transfer services such
as Western Union and MoneyGram, and we ask that users decline sending
payment in cases where these are the only methods of payment offered by
the seller. Generally, if payment is sent using an instant cash wire
transfer service and the item is not delivered as promised, no recourse
is available for recovering funds. In most cases, a verified escrow
service should be used when purchasing high dollar value items. More
information on the benefits and risks of individual payment methods can
be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/payment.html

We appreciate your email, and wish you the best in your eBay activity.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards,

Magnus
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...338442449&rd=1
He's back again with my dream bike.

He stole feedback score from caro426. 'Til today he was just a buyer.

User ID Effective Date End Date

akron-bike1251 Nov-19-04 Present

caro426 Dec-28-02 Nov-19-04

I'm so glad I found this. I almost have to admire him for still trying .... almost! Thanks guys!

From our emails:

Subj: Re: Question for item #6723969369 - NEW 2004 Specialized Epic Comp Disc Mount...
Date: 11/21/2004 6:50:39 PM Central Standard Time
From: serdealkon@yahoo.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)



That person tried to buy a bike from us with US$1. He bid on the auction and as we said, we sell the bikes
only at the buy it now price. SO he made us a lot of troubles. We had contacted ebay and everything was
solved.

So if you will arrange payment today, we will ship the bike tomorrow morning and we will give you the
tracking number of shipment.

Thank you


@aol.com wrote:

> OK, here's my question. What is your response to this?
>
> Hi Folks,
>
> I mentioned this in another thread, but they're back and I want to make sure
> no one falls for it. Akron-Bike, with some number afterwards, is selling a
> bunch of high-end bikes, but they're a scam. Check out their 'shop' at
> www.akron-bike.com. Pretty funny stuff. The address doesn't exist (called the hotel
> across the street) and the phone number isn't listed. I contacted eBay who shut
> them down twice now, but they keep changing the number after their name (from
> Akron-Bike1239 to Akron-Bike1245 to Akron-Bike1243) They keep stealing member's
> feedback, so they have impressive histories. Just none actually selling bikes.
>
>
> Buyer beware.
>
> Here's a current link. They tend to post for a few days, disappear and then
> return a few days later. I'll try to repost them as they come and go:
>
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...em=6935646738&
> rd=1
> Edit: this one has been pulled down, either by eBay
> or the scammers. I'll
> repost when a new one shows up. Hopefully, eBay will
> permanently pull them
> down.\\
> Here's a new one - with two bids. Hopefully, they'll
> do their homework too:
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...em=6935731870&
> rd=1
>
>
>
> Nope - here's one from the latest:
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...338805846&rd=1
>
>
> And, the latest:
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=7298&
> item=5338911702&rd=1 They are now Akron-Bike1246
>
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 11/21/2004 6:41:28 PM Central
> Standard Time,
> serdealkon@yahoo.com writes:
>
> > We have some technical problems with our phone line due to large usage. Please email us your questions and we will reply promptly
> >
> >
aol.com wrote:
> >
> > >Can you please call me real quickly to discuss something? Or is there a number I can call you at?
> > >
> > >In a message dated 11/21/2004 6:23:39 PM Central
> > >Standard Time,
> > >serdealkon@yahoo.com writes:
> > >
> > >>Hello
> > >>
> > >>You can send payment online using your credit card on www.westernunion.com . The maximum amount that you can send online is US$1000. You will send this amount now
> > >>and after delivery and the 3 days of inspection you will send the last US$200.
> > >>
> > >>Here are our agent details where you have to send payment:
> > >>
> > >>name: John Williams
> > >>
> > >>address: 2445 South El Camino Real, San
> Clemente,
> > >CA
> > >>92672
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>After you will arrange payment please email us the details as:
> > >>
> > >>- sender full name
> > >>
> > >>- sender full address
> > >>
> > >>- payment tracking number (Money Transfer Control Number - MTCN is a 10 digits code that you will receive after you will arrange payment)
> > >>
> > >>- total amount sent
> > >>
> > >>For avoiding international taxes we will ship the bike with the option AS A GIFT and in this way you
> will not pay any extra taxes. We would like to ask you not to say at Western Union that you send the money for a sale on ebay because maybe they will put us to pay extra taxes. Just tell them that you send
> payment to your bussiness partner or friend if they will ask you.
> > >>Thank you very much for your colaboration.
> > >>
> > >>Waiting your email
> > >>
> > >>
aol.com wrote:
> > >>
> > >>>I have the money, but is in the bank. Is there any chance of doing it first thing in the morning? ATM will only let me take a few hundred dollars out in one day. I can do debit card with you or, or
> > >next day a confirmed cashiers check tomorrow (or wire transfer) ... I just can't do it today do the bank being closed. I definately want this bike. Please reply.
> > >>>

> > >>>
> > >>>In a message dated 11/21/2004 5:58:13 PM
> Central
> > >>>Standard Time,
> > >>>serdealkon@yahoo.com writes:
> > >>>
> > >>>>Hello,
> > >>>>
> > >>>>You have to arrange payment of US$1200 today. You can arrange payment in cash transfer
> because if you will use the bank transfer option it will take more than 7 days the money to be confirmed in our account. This delay is because we have to sort payments in our bank account and after that
> the orders will be processed. Cash transfer will take maximum 2 hours the order to be processed. You can use Western Union service because it is a fast and easy service for cash transfer. We receive payment in few minutes this way. You will have to go with payment cash at a Western Union office and send it to our agent.

They're back. Secom-Cycle1221. On ebay, item number: 3942902537, plus a whole bunch more. The usual array of high-end bikes. And, our favorite website: www.secom-cycle.com

Gotta love them for trying...

That's funny, their email office@secom-cycle.com now links to mailto:sales.dept.1@juno.com

Amazing... and from the links it looks just like the San Diego Store... even down to both the concrete AND wood floors. Gosh if I didn't know better, I might think it was the same web site with just a few words changed... do ya think... :p

No way! You think? If this was my scam, I would change the picture in the Secom-Cycle to say 'Bike Shoppe'! That way we would know for sure that they were in England!

You gotta admire the guy's persistence.

Persistence be damned, I say! At least he could learn to con people in Eeeenglish - the e-mails remind me of old-school assembly manuals for taiwanese bikes. Got wind of Akron Bike about 2 weeks back on eBay - I have an old contact at Specialized who says they are not a client and now Specialized is looking into the Akronites to see if they're gray-marketing (not likely). Another friend (researcher at UCSD) has done a drive-by of the address and apparently it is a nice enough neighborhood but no bike shops anywhere. Finally I note with considerable satisfaction that the web site is no longer up.

Cheers,

btc