www.transathlantics.com is a fraud

[peg]

I have been dealing with a guy in uk london and thank god i found your site before i made any deals with him or entered my info. He is selling a motorcycle for way under price ($5000.00)for a 2004 yamaha yzfr1. Trust me this is rediculous! Anyway i did some research in the US as i am in Canada and i found another ad in the same manner. So i emailed this as well and found the exact same story from both. I sent the email from the second guy to the first guy and he still had the balls to deny it! Too funny, anywho i am not going to be continuing contact with either! Here is the site name http://www.transathlantics.com if you can respond at all i would like to know what happened with these guys. Thanks

Ok, Step one... Look at the whois info

registrar: AAAQ.COM, INC.
whois: whois.aaaq.com
referrer: http://www.aaaq.com
Nameservers:
A.DNS.HOSTWAY.NET
B.DNS.HOSTWAY.NET
status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
expires: 15-nov-2005


Registrar Data:

Hostway Whois Server Version 1.0
Domain Name: transathlantics.com
Registrar: AAAQ.COM
Whois Server: whois.aaaq.com
Referral URL: http://www.aaaq.com
Name Server: a.dns.hostway.net
Name Server: b.dns.hostway.net
Status: ACTIVE
Updated Date 2004-11-15
Creation Date: 2004-11-12 <---------- Created just over 2 months ago
Expiration Date: 2005-11-12

Registrant:

WhoisProtector Inc. transathlantics.com@whoisprotector.com
1 N. State, Suite 1250

Chicago, IL 60602
US
312-994-7654 Fax:

Administrative Contact:
WhoisProtector Inc. transathlantics.com@whoisprotector.com
1 N. State, Suite 1250

Chicago, IL 60602
US
312-994-7654 Fax:

Technical Contact:

WhoisProtector Inc. techadmin@whoisprotector.com
1 N. State, Suite 1250

Chicago, IL 60602
US
312-994-7654 Fax:

Billing Contact:
WhoisProtector Inc. transathlantics.com@whoisprotector.com
1 N. State, Suite 1250

Chicago, IL 60602
US
312-994-7654 Fax:

Note the creation date... (Just over 2 months ago). Also the fact that they are using a service to Further HIDE their identity makes me really suspicious. They use the "Whoisprotector.com" service. This is intended to protect you from spam that harvest emails from whois databases. Granted on the surface this seems like a good idea, but most legit companies (not private websites) would generally want some contact info displayed (if not the email, at least a legit mailing address).

Anywho, that alone makes me NOT want to trust this site.

I also find it interesting that as I was browsing this site, I went to check the terms and found the following info:

The information on the Trans Athlantics website is provided for general information only. By using, accessing, browsing the <?php echo $dns_name1; ?> website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by these Conditions of Use.

What's interesting about this is the stuff HIGHLIGHTED in RED is that is PHP scripting. More notably, that code seems to indicate to me that the website can change it's overall name rather quickly by just chaning a variable. Why would a reputable site need this? (not that there AREN'T reasons for this, it still gives me concerns.).

Next.... I do a GOOGLE search for TRANSATHLANTICS ( http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tr ... gle+Search ) and the only hit I get is one for a "*spam*" http://www.transathlantics.com .

Now.. I am positive this site is a fraud... As I checked further I did a google search on the terms "operates this website from its head office in London, England. "
( http://www.google.com/search?q=%22opera ... &hl=en&lr= ) which came up with a SINGLE hit.. A site for http://www.globalshippingcenter.com/terms.php . The link was dead, however, google does a wonderful thing and Caches ( http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:yK ... /terms.php ) the page. So I looked at it. The images did not show but the info and layout were very similar. So I took the source of THAT page, changed the BASE HREF in the HTML to point from globalshippingcenter.com to transathlantics.com and viewed it and guess what I got. An EXACT match of the page. I have duplicated it here http://escrow-fraud.pgardner.net/global_athlantics.htm but incase that site goes down (as that is where it's loading images from), I have created an IMAGE of the duplicated site at http://escrow-fraud.pgardner.net/images ... antics.png
Either way you will notice the CACHED part of the Google info says http://www.globalshippingcenter.com/terms.php but the now mofifed BASE HREF shows EXACTLY the transathlantics.com site.

I will not waste any more time with this site... there is enough there for me to believe that it is indeed a

[skydotcom]

They almost got me, too, this time through an ad on craigslist.org. The ad was for an Apple G5 computer (LOTS of fraudulant eBay auctions for this item!) and the asking price was $1500-2000 below street value. The "seller," *Amy* ---in London--- wanted me to use PayPal. I suggested using escrow.com and "she" countered by suggesting transathlantic.com, even including a link for the "company" in an email. I went to look and... Well... For those who don't know better, it's a pretty authentic-looking site. I was almost convinced, but I decided to Google the company to get more info and THIS site pops up, listing transathlantic as a FRAUD!!! One word: THANKS!!!

[peg]

It makes me feel so much better to hear the stories of people who have been helped by our efforts rather than those that come with "I found out a bit too late... " stories.

I am truly glad we could help you out. If you find any other fraudulant sites or hear of any... Please come back and let us know.

Thanks Again,
Paul