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fake online and physical store?

Old 10-18-20, 01:30 AM
  #1  
eugenius
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fake online and physical store?

I recently found this site green1stbike.com on the internet. they have radon 10 for sale at half the price compared to the price in Europe. I chatted with them and they said that they only sell original bicycles and that they have good prices because they opened recently. What surprised me was the fact that it ships for free in Europe with DHL. This made me think it was a fake store. They also have an open physical store. Is there anyone in the area who visited this store, does it really exist at that address?417 Main Avenue
Clear Lake, IA, US

Mon - Fri, 10am - 9pm
Saturday, 11am - 9pm
Sunday, 11am - 5pm
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Old 10-18-20, 03:37 AM
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According to Google Maps, 417 Main Ave,, Clear Lake, IA is a Century 21 Real Estate office. The Google Street View of that address also shows a Real Estate office in that location. I looked at the website and that shop picture is the same one that I've seen on other fake online stores.
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Old 10-18-20, 04:36 AM
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Originally Posted by eugenius
I recently found this site green1stbike.com on the internet. they have radon 10 for sale at half the price compared to the price in Europe. I chatted with them and they said that they only sell original bicycles and that they have good prices because they opened recently. What surprised me was the fact that it ships for free in Europe with DHL. This made me think it was a fake store. They also have an open physical store. Is there anyone in the area who visited this store, does it really exist at that address?417 Main Avenue
Clear Lake, IA, US

Mon - Fri, 10am - 9pm
Saturday, 11am - 9pm
Sunday, 11am - 5pm
One sure way to find out is to send them 5 grand.

Seriously, if makes you wonder at ALL, run the other way. If it seems to be too good to be true; it is.
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Old 10-18-20, 05:00 AM
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Clear Lake is where the plane carrying Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens crashed.
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Old 10-18-20, 05:15 AM
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Originally Posted by cb400bill
Clear Lake is where the plane carrying Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens crashed.
Yup. Maybe they run the store too?
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Old 10-18-20, 09:57 AM
  #6  
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No. Just so much no.

I've been to clear lake multiple times and know of just 1 just, which isn't this one.
Obviously I am no expert on clear lake, but it isnt large.


- no phone number listed in the website..
- address shows as a realtor..
- too many brands to be real in a town that small- trek, pinarello, Norco, GT, Cannondale, Radon, giant, salsa, and more.
- company name is confusing.

The biggest red flag(though others have been huge)- they claim to sell REI COOP branded bikes. Thats simply not possible.

How did you chat with them? I cant find a phone number and their IG is generic so no actual info there.
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Old 10-18-20, 10:53 AM
  #7  
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
- too many brands to be real in a town that small- trek, pinarello, Norco, GT, Cannondale, Radon, giant, salsa, and more.
Heh - Trek, C'dale *and* Giant? It'd be unusual to see two heavy hitters in the same shop, but three? Might as well throw Specialized in the mix, too.
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Old 10-18-20, 11:16 AM
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Originally Posted by eugenius
I recently found this site green1stbike.com on the internet. they have radon 10 for sale at half the price compared to the price in Europe. I chatted with them and they said that they only sell original bicycles and that they have good prices because they opened recently. What surprised me was the fact that it ships for free in Europe with DHL. This made me think it was a fake store. They also have an open physical store. Is there anyone in the area who visited this store, does it really exist at that address?417 Main Avenue
Clear Lake, IA, US

Mon - Fri, 10am - 9pm
Saturday, 11am - 9pm
Sunday, 11am - 5pm
While a new business may offer a sale when opening, there's no way they'll offer half off. Manufacturers aren't going to sell bikes to them at a lower cost because they're a new vendor.
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Old 10-18-20, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by eugenius
... they opened recently.
According to whois.com, the website was "Registered On: 2020-09-28".
The rest of the registrant / owner information seems to be obscured.

Seems legit.....
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Old 10-18-20, 12:19 PM
  #10  
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"Mountain Bikes

All Popularr World Bikes Brands."

Sounds totally legit. Now we know why all other stores and sites are having a shortage of stock. Obviously, all of the manufacturers have conspired to make sure these guys have enough stock to sell at half price.

Anyone want to buy a bridge?
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Old 10-18-20, 03:20 PM
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It's sad that people fall for scams like this. It's even sadder that there's no easy way to report such a site. They appear to use Amazon pay to handle payments. I challenge you to find a way to notify Amazon that their user is trying to scam people. On the other hand, maybe that's just a scam to get people to enter their Amazon pay details. Either way, you'd think a company with Amazon's resources would want to know.
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Old 10-18-20, 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted by MattTheHat
Either way, you'd think a company with Amazon's resources would want to know.
You would think they would want to know, but amazon has a well established history of turning away and not seeing the nefarious actions of sellers.
copies of products would be front and center for the top problem that they essentially ignore.

I wouldn't think twice to hear they do nothing about these issues.
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Old 10-19-20, 03:24 AM
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Most successful scams involve an element of greed on the part of the person being scammed. If you're not immediately turned off by the offer of something brand new for half the price everyone else is selling it for; YOU are the target audience.
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Old 10-19-20, 03:51 AM
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From their refund policy: "If your return is accepted, we’ll send you instructions on how and where to send your package to our International Distribution Centre in China. "

Good luck with that return.

It then goes on to discuss that they don't accept returns for food, flowers, plants, personal care items or hazardous materials. Which is good as they don't seem to sell those items.

The photo of their "shop" appears to be a bike shop in metro Denver. https://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...ver-bike-shops

Last edited by KenCT; 10-19-20 at 04:01 AM.
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Old 10-19-20, 07:27 AM
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I find it curious that the poster that caused all of you to drive traffic to this nefarious site has but one post here..
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Old 10-19-20, 07:42 AM
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Originally Posted by eugenius
... they have radon 10 for sale at half the price compared to the price in Europe.
No one sells new bikes for half off. They would lose money doing so.

I don't even think Radon is a brand sold in the US.

Originally Posted by eugenius
I chatted with them and they said that they only sell original bicycles and that they have good prices because they opened recently.
What sort of sense does this make?

Last edited by njkayaker; 10-19-20 at 07:47 AM.
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Old 10-19-20, 07:46 AM
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Originally Posted by sarhog
I find it curious that the poster that caused all of you to drive traffic to this nefarious site has but one post here..
There's that too.

Hopefully, people querying the obvious scam site will find this thread.
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Old 10-19-20, 09:05 AM
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Come to think of it, I've seen a spike in pseudo-Amazon phishing attempts in my email recently.

Seems like Amazon is having a moment?
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Old 10-19-20, 10:53 AM
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It appears this is a Shopify store. They do have a report link, which I've used. I wonder if they will take any action. And for that matter I wonder if it's really a shopify store
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Old 10-19-20, 04:08 PM
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Originally Posted by MattTheHat
It appears this is a Shopify store. They do have a report link, which I've used. I wonder if they will take any action. And for that matter I wonder if it's really a shopify store
Just got a response from Shopify that my report has been escalated to their next security level. They’re going to contact me in 48-72 hours.

Seems a little slow for a security threat that has been escalated but whatever.
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Old 10-19-20, 05:57 PM
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Originally Posted by WhyFi
Heh - Trek, C'dale *and* Giant? It'd be unusual to see two heavy hitters in the same shop, but three? Might as well throw Specialized in the mix, too.
My local shop carries Cannondale and Giant. They also carry Specialized, and Surly, Cervelo...but no Trek.
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Old 10-19-20, 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by MattTheHat
Just got a response from Shopify that my report has been escalated to their next security level. They’re going to contact me in 48-72 hours.

Seems a little slow for a security threat that has been escalated but whatever.
That's just how long until they talk to you, not how long it takes for them to look into it.
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Old 10-19-20, 06:00 PM
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Originally Posted by phughes
My local shop carries Cannondale and Giant. They also carry Specialized, and Surly, Cervelo...but no Trek.
That's a lot. What's the shop?
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Old 10-19-20, 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by WhyFi
That's a lot. What's the shop?
ProBike + Run in the Pittsburgh area. Great shops. Four locations in the area.
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Old 10-19-20, 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted by phughes
That's just how long until they talk to you, not how long it takes for them to look into it.
They’ve already contacted me. After assuring me how much they care about fraud prevention they basically just say “you can dispute your card.”

I explained that I had not purchased anything but that I was reporting a scam site. It was a waste of time but I thought I’d give it a shot.
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