Green Dot review: Part of a scam 25

As of 2/23/2010 These posts are still out there on Craig's List trying to scam the unsuspecting folks looking for good deals. They are directing folks off of Craig's List to their latest scam Websites of the day which are 2 sites: one is Outlet Warehouse www.outletfurniture.us and the other is Furniture House www.mybudgetfurniturehouse.in . Both site have the exact same layout and content but with different company names and color styles.

They tell you the prices are low because the items are purchased from liquidators. And they even offer "white glove", which includes setting up the stuff in your home for a flat rate $100 and that includes shipping from anywhere in the US. Well, a playset, like the one I was going to buy, takes at least a few days to put together--our first, clue.

I met a gal on a post who sent me a screenshot of the Website that had scammed her and the screenshot she sent was identical to the ones mentioned above the same content, layout and but different color styles, too.

The big clue was that upon getting to the purchasing part of the process, the site instructed me I needed to purchase a MoneyPak (MoneyPak) for $1220.00 to pay for the online items. If an online company is legit, they will have no issues taking credit cards. They claim to be having credit card issues with a high amount of fraud which will be fixed on a specified date, so MoneyPak is what they are taking on the interim to their credit card issue is solved.

There was even a rep who I emailed back and forth with. When I became suspicious I emailed, "I am kind of feeling suspicious since your payment methods are highly unconventional for an online business. MoneyPak's website has a fraud warning that talks about transactions like this. If I pay with a MoneyPak and you accept the money, how I am guaranteed that I will receive the items I purchased?"

And he actually emailed me back with the following response, "We have been warned about situations like this. I can't say I never heard about scams involving moneypak but the situation is not similar. We use moneypak as an alternative for the moment. Larry P.S. : I won't be available on email till tommorow . Thanks"

I can't believe they are even communicating with their potential "scam-ees". Buyer Beware! The Internet can be a secure way to do business. But if someone asks for an unconventional payment involving you to have to go out to get cash and buy a Money Pak and then use it on the Internet, don't fall for it!

I totally agreed with CeeGee that I've been scamed by MyBudgetFurnitureHouse.in. I recently ordered one of item online from this Website for lower price but I haven't got a shipment from this guy Larry said that the shipment will be arrived in 10 days. Now more than 10 days I have not got them yet. I think I am screw...

has anyone heard of www.halfoffmart.com? i saw it on craigslist and it too asked for payment via green dot money pak. after reading these i am not going to purchase it but buyers beware of that too!

I think I was just scammed by halfoffmart.com. I've been waiting for a reply for a URL for delivery tracking and just noticed the website is gone now. I paid $500 with Greendot for a tool chest. Any suggestions on what to do now? Does Greendot guarantee anything?

I have just realized that I have been scammed by halfOFFmart.com. I purchased a generator for $475.00 and realize at this point it was a SCAM. Stay away from any sales that require GreenDot payments.

Anyone scammed by www.halfOFFmart.com file a complaint at https://complaint.ic3.gov

Do Not Trust MoneyPak in Regards to PayPal !

Purchased a $120.00 MoneyPak card from my local 7-Eleven and everything went fine – added the cash I gave to my PayPal account. A few hours later I decided to add $75.00 to my PayPal account using a MoneyPak and all I’ve gotten for hours has been “Due to technical difficulties we are unable to process your request. Please try again in an hour. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

You (MoneyPak) didn’t have technical difficulties TAKING MY CASH ! Now WHY would I have technical difficulties funding my PayPal account with your card I purchased with my cash?

I vote NO CONFIDENCE in MoneyPak !

The ONLY reason why I purchased the MoneyPak was that I HAD been confident that the (MY) INSTANT cash I gave to 7-Eleven for the MoneyPak would UNDOUBTEDLY be INSTANTLY available to me to fund my PayPal account when I got home. I have found that MoneyPak has FAILED me in this situation and I REFUSE to fund their unreliable service any more via my purchase power. GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW MoneyPak !

I think Moneypak is in on the scam. I was scammed by the online site, directed off Craigslist, it was liquidatorscenter.com but has since been taken down of course. Moneypak is making money, regardless, and considers these thieves an "approved partner"! of course they do. Moneypak's website has invalid security certificates. my initial communications with them, they were quite, even overly responsive, but that quickly deteriorated into mismatched names, misspelled words, disconnected phone numbers and now, no response at all. they are making money, from these criminals, and I think are likely criminals themselves. God knows what the money is being used to fund, I cringe to think I unwittingly contributed 450.00 to terrorists for all I know. Having difficulty getting any follow-up, have filed complaints with the BBB in NC and CA, Attorney Generals in NC and CA, and the FBI - but they seem to be getting away with it. Robbing Middle America, the population that can least afford to lose any more.

Though I agree that the ease and use of MoneyPak has opened doors for scammers everywhere, I have used MoneyPak and had no problems. I don't think MoneyPak is the issue. People are just upset they got scammed. That's not MoneyPak's fault if it clearly states in their policy to "treat your MoneyPak (and transactions) like cash". If you give your money to a stranger on the street who promises you something, then runs away, are you going to blame the store the transaction happened in front of for being the backdrop? That's ludicrous! Before you buy, perform your due diligence, and the outcome will be better. I agree that scammers are definitely preying on middle America but MoneyPak has helped me, a middle American, many of times to still have some type of financial freedom to purchase online like everyone else. I'm sure you are the same people blaming Obama for the past 8 years of hell, too. People get it together! Point the finger where it needs. Since you can't find or point at the thieves, you feel you have to blame someone-so why not the innocent? We as Americans have so many internal issues because of the way we are allowed to act. Because we can't find the people to blame, we have to point fingers at the next person because of our negligence. Things happen, and sometimes we can't control who frauds us, but that is no reason to blame any one but ourselves. We should use it as a learning experience to be more careful and protected, and stop the crying and whining. This world isn't perfect, and America is probably one of the most imperfect places on the planet. MoneyPak's not your problem. Think about it.

Heresa$buyaclue, since they haven't facilitated someone taking money from you, while making a little money for themselves, you don't really have the same perspective as others may have. I think you work for them most likely. In any case, no one from Green Dot Corporation is interested in returning my calls at this point, so they are up to no good no matter how you look at it. If it is true that they have built their corporation and pay their CEO's salary by protecting criminals, then who is negligent? Your post is totally fishy. What do you care?

And are you saying, Green Dot Corporation, is innocent while they line their pockets at the expense of folks who have worked hard for their money, only to have it tricked out of their pockets by theives? that is ludricrous? Do you understand the meaning of the words you are using, or are you promoting your political agenda in spite of the facts? This board is for people to share information so that they can learn and protect themselves better in the future, are you interested in that? Why are you here?

I'm glad I found this out before sending "The Clearence Store" $350 via MoneyPak for a brand new, in the box Sole Elliptical machine that sells at Dick's Sporting Goods for $1300. The were going to cover the shipping and even put the thing together if I was one of the first 5 to rush in my order, they only had 10 units -LOL! These people even put thier address in Kansas in the invoice so I went to a map site & found it was "Penny's Construction" and they have no phone number either. They were supposedly an Ebay store but Ebay had no store by the id number they gave and they said they were not selling this item on Ebay because they were expanding into the "Craig's List" market. The more I looked, the fishier it smelled. What a worthless waste of interent space by these idiots.
zcat

I was just ripped off! Got a call from [protected] w/ a promotion they were havin on 3 (any) cell phones for 490.00 no bills for a whole yr. web-talk-text. and never got phones! kept calling them asking for a tracking number and for one reason or another they were never able to give it to me. Looked up the number online and sure enough other fraud complaints.

Thanks for your posts. A new store for them is homefitnessmart.com. I too found them on Craigslist and was going to order a Sole e95 elliptical for $650, but I got suspicous when it asked for a GreenDot payment. Also, it said it would convert the GreenDot payment to a Google account for processing, but that didn't sound right. Thanks for saving me $650.

VARunner, these are indeed the same people - same payment info page, different location, same number. I continue to feel like such a fool for being taken, and I still feel Green Dot Money Pak is complicit in allowing these scammers to continue. I'm very glad you didn't take the bait. I wish I had not been so naive.

Another site to be aware of: www.central-depot.com. Was looking at an 88 key Yamaha digital piano that retails for $2600 and they claimed they were selling it for $1000 on Craigslist. I sent an email to get more info two weeks ago and just got the response today saying that the price of the item had actually been reduced and the sale would run from 4/10 - 4/15 (today is 4/15), and that I'd get free platinum delivery. They also only accepted payments from the Green Dot Money Pak and said that if you wanted to use Google checkout or a credit card it would take up to five business days to set that up. I smell SCAM all over this.

Another site to stay away from is www.today-liquidation.com. Same deal...found something on craigslist then directed to the site. Only accept Money-pak payment. Stay away!

I didn't purchase it, but i came across a craigslist ad for workout equipment; i was looking for a Concept2 rower, and they sell it for $700. If you email the post from Craig's, they'll reply with an email referring you to there website www.experthomegym.com; they offer the "white glove" service and only offer payment through green dot money pak for first time users, rather sketchy. Another piece that threw me off, i was searching there FAQs to see if they ship to Alaska and how much it would cost, and came across one piece of information that refered to items being shipped as "furniture, " rather then workout/exercise equipment, which to me would suggest they just duplicated one of the aformentioned furniture websites listed in earlier posts, and didn't bother to fix minor wording details like that. They also offer free shipping to Alaska, very unheard of for bulky items especially. I'm not sure this website is a scam, but from reading the above posts, it sounds exactly like it; all the products are offered at a discounted price, and the only payment method is green dot money pak. I honestly never even heard of green dot until i came across this site; i won't be sending them my money, i'd be wary to do it if i was anyone else as well.

I CAN T BELEIVE HOW I GOT SCAMMED THEY SUCK THESE PEOPLE
MY SISTER NEEDED MEDICATION SHE JUST HAD SUGURY AND THEY ASKED THE PLACE WHERE I PURCHASED THE CARD AND THEN THEY STOLE MY MONEY NOW THIS COMPANY CAN TRACK THIS MONEY SO WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT 2 DAYS FOR THE INVESTAGATON..I HAVE THERE PHONE NUMBERS EVEN THO THIS GUYS USE CELL PHONES AND THEY HAVE A TON OF THEM SHAME ON ME FOR BEING HONEST DONT EVER USE US MEDS ...ALL SCAMS

With this many scams and lack of MoneyPak serving their customers, the law will not allow this to continue. Eventually, a case action will be filed, and with so many having evidence of their purchases, MoneyPak and their accompliances will go down.

I almost fell for it, but it all felt like a scam and after digging deeper determined that it was a scam. I was shopping for an Elliptical trainer on craigs list. I came across CHEAP LIQUIDATION and they had some incredible deals - like the "too good to be true" type deals. I would probably not have dug as deep as I did into this scam as I did if they would have accepted my credit card, but only accepting payment from Green Dot MoneyPak which I never heard of before until now was a HUGE red flag for me. So you can officially add CHEAP LIQUIDATION to the list of Crags List scammers...

I have read the many comments and feel that it is my responsibility to espeak up. I believe that those persons who are blaming Moneypak for non-affiliated scammers stealing their money is misplaced anger and responsibility! I have used Moneypaks online and have yet to be scammed. The difference here, I believe, is that I did my due diligence! I researched the company that I was SENDING my Moneypak to (Americo 866*990*3321 Free Service which houses a listing of Companies who use Moneypak as well but who are legitimate and have been verified through their company) and then, and only then, did I pay for my products/services. Really, blaming Moneypak for someone else stealing your money is akin to holding your wallet out in the open in an unfamiliar neighborhood and then getting mad at the makers of the wallet because someone ran by and stole my wallet. Take responsibility people.

I just wanted to say, I use moneypak all the time, no issues, because I use my brain. I'm reading some of these posts like "do we really have Americans this naive?" yes apparently we do. And of course moneypak probably isn't doing all they could to fix the scams, you guys make it way too easy!

The scams will stop will people stop falling for them. Duh.

lol some greendot moneypak cards can be expired like 30 - 60 minutes delay. so.. stop complain, brainless people... -.-
stupid guys