Yes, I was nearly scammed by a look-alike site. Scammers are getting better and better (or I am getting worse and worse!) What an odd logo for an RV parts company - more like a motorsports logo.
I recently wrote about a scam site that offered RV parts for alarmingly low prices. I should have known better. I never hit "buy" but I did enter my credit card number before I had second thoughts! The best scams rely on the greed of the Mark (victim) who is lead to believe that they are the ones pulling the fast one, not the scammer! I thought I was getting a $400 microwave for $80, when it was I who was getting scammed. When every item for sale on a site is exactly 30% of retail price, one should be a little skeptical.
Unlike a lot of scam sites in the past, this one was well done, no doubt scraped from someone else's site. No poorly worded British English full of typos - that's all in the past, now. Who knows? Before long they will even include AI bots to help you answer questions, just like on Amazon!
But I should have known! No phone number, no mailing address, and in the "about us" section this generic fluff text that could be applied to any other scam sales site (and I am sure it is!):
Our journey began with a simple idea: make quality products accessible to everyone, no matter where they are. What started as a small passion project has grown into a trusted online destination for thousands of customers across the U.S. and beyond.We’re not just another eCommerce site. We carefully curate our collections with your lifestyle in mind — blending thoughtful design, dependable craftsmanship, and fair prices. From our customer support team to our fulfillment partners, every step of your experience is built around care and integrity.
For once, Google AI comes in handy, noting the following sites have similar, if not identical, text:
The provided text is a generic "about us" mission statement that describes a philosophy rather than a specific company. Many eCommerce businesses share these values, and the statement is not unique enough to identify a single brand.
However, several real and fictional companies in the search results use similar branding language:
- Home Fresh: A fictional Indian company whose mission, according to an ad transcript, began with the simple idea of "bring fresh flowers faster".
- Bajaj Capital: This financial company's journey also started with a "simple idea" of helping customers invest, and their brand is also built on trust.
- Curated Collections: An online shop that explicitly uses the words "Curated Collections" to describe its meticulously chosen goods, with a focus on quality and style.
- THE CURATED: Another site that sells "luxe staples at honest prices" and offers "curated" collections.
- Craft and Lore: This business describes its "Curated Goods" collection as "quality items that we use and recommend".
Who the hell "curates" RV parts?
Anyway, a few days later, I get a notice from BoA that an unauthorized charge of $42.00 was made at a Sonic drive-in across the country (gift card?). To their credit, BoA (or its bots) detected something fishy and denied the charge and cancelled my card and mailed me a new one. No big deal, but it is the first of the month and all sorts of automatic payments are due - the water bill, for example - and I had to scramble to move these "autopays" to my Capital One credit card.
Then, Capital One sends both of us e-mails telling us to "confirm our mailing address" as it has been a while since we last did so. In the e-mail was a link labeled "click here to update your address!" Way to go, Capital One! Real smart security putting an in-email link after warning us time and time again not to click on such links!
Stupidly, I click on the link.
Fortunately, it was a "legitimate" link to the Capital One site. But later, I realized the risk I was taking, so I changed my password just to be sure (after logging into the site, not from the link!). Today, I try to log in and there is a "system error." I mean, what could go wrong with sending an e-mail to millions of cardholders asking them to confirm their address? I suspect that is what happened with this "address confirmation" e-mail and as a result, it crashed the site.
I tried calling their 1-800 number but it said it could not retrieve my information and it transferred me to an operator, noting that wait time would "exceed ten minutes." This is not the first time I have seen this scenario play out. Someone in the IT department decides to blast e-mail the entire customer base and the wonders why the servers all crash at once. You know, sometimes it is best if IT geeks spend all day playing video games online and shirking their real work. Sometimes things are best left alone.
It was a learning experience for me, though. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Stop looking for screaming deals and search instead for fair bargains. Be skeptical - even of sites that "look" legit. I suspect templates or AI - or both - are being used to generate tons of scam online sales sites. Scrape some images, add some AI text, and, well, they've got a pretty convincing e-commerce site without all that pesky inventory, shipping, and customer service. If nothing else, they've captured a few credit card numbers. Sounds like easy money!
In the old days - like ten years ago - you could go on a Mom-and-Pop website and buy things. I've ordered online from "Northern Michigan RV" and gotten hard-to-find parts at good prices. Today, well, it is riskier not to use a major online retailer. Say, major online retailers probably like that! Insert your own crazy conspiracy theory here.
The Internet was such a great concept, until humanity screwed it all up. Maybe AI-bots will fix all that. But I doubt it!
