Fraud: Save money on Apple products - Bitcoins

tony1987

Hi all,

I recently had a very bad experience with a purchase I did on a website called icoinela.com.

Long story short, I was looking to buy an iPhone 7 plus on Gumtree, where I was contacted by a seller who informed me about a website with good discounts on Apple products, and he seemed kind enough at the time to provide me with a 40% discount code that was expiring a few days after. After some research I did online about icoinela, I found several articles saying that people have used it and that it is legitimate. One of them was BBC (well, not the official site, but a spoof site that was looking exactly as the official BBC website). In fact, all of them were spoof sites.

The only payment method they were accepting was Bitcoins. And according to them, this was main reason why the products were cheaper. I placed the order, I transferred the Bitcoins to the wallet address they provided, in turn they confirmed the payment via email and after that they disappeared. I tried to contact them and they never got back to me.

Yes, I feel totally stupid that I fell for it and I learned my lesson the hard way. The reason I'm writing this post is because I want to prevent this from happening to other people.

After some research I did, I found out that many people have been victims of a similar fraud. In all those cases, similar websites were created such as icoinilla.com, icoineta.com, icoinesta.com and in my case icoinela.com. Of course, none of them exists right now, but this will continue happening I wanted to raise awareness to everyone, and I hope this post pops up to their search engine results.

I have reported this to Action Fraud and I have claimed my money from the company that the website was referencing.

I'm now in the process of contacting other victims of this fraud, gather them and then open a legal case via a solicitor.

In case this has happened to you please contact me here and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks and Merry Xmas everyone!

Tony

Gambler101

Youve learnt a lesson that although has cost you a few hundred, could save you a few thousand if you remember. If its too good to be true, its a scam!

ballyblack

Yes, I feel totally stupid that I fell for it and I learned my lesson the hard way. The reason I'm writing this post is because I want to prevent this from happening to other people.

Well thank you for the courage to write about it, some people would keep quiet.

Buying a iphone with bitcoins would deter most people

glentoran99

ballyblack wrote: »

Well thank you for the courage to write about it, some people would keep quiet.

Buying a iphone with bitcoins would deter most people

Dunno about that, their are legitimate companies that accept bitcoin

chanz4

glentoran99 wrote: »

Dunno about that, their are legitimate companies that accept bitcoin

don't amazon

ballyblack

Buying iPhone with 40% discount from an unknown company with bitcoins instead of a credit card. All the scam clues are there!!

ryan121

This website no longer exists it seems and it doesn't appear in search results. I imagine the hosts have banned their accounts after reports of fraud.

A 40% discount on a new iphone would ring alarm bells with me. How would the business selling the phone at that price make any money out of that sale?

tony1987

The update is that ICM Limited, the company the website icoinela.com mentioned, has replied back denying any relation with the website.

I'm now trying to find who the owner behind the website is and then take legal action. I've contacted the hosting provider namecheap.com and I'm also talking to ethical hackers to see if there's any legal way to find the identity of the owner.

Nicaveronicas

Hi Tony,

thank you so much for putting this out there!

I ALMOST BOUGHT ONE from their new website icoinesto.com!

Same happened to me, someone on Gumtree was "kind enough" to give me the voucher code etc... I always trust people too much! :mad:

PLESE DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM iCoines or icoines.com or any other website related to them! This is a SCAM!

I would love to help you sue them, Tony, but I don't think it is possible...their "company" is in Panama..and god knows where. No address, no nothing.

Stay safe, people!

Goldcrypto

Shame you did not just keep the bitcoin as £300 of bitcoin would just be worth over £2200 now. Or if you held until Jan 2018, just over £5,500. Using crypto covers their tracts somewhat (privacy coins Z-Cash or Monero do the job completely). I'd never use crypto to purchase a high vaue product, unless with an established company like if Amazon took (which in theory they do as can cash out in Amazon vouchers on Coinbase crypto).

Brit8520

Were you able to get your money back? Same thing happened to me, it!!!8217;s all in the process now.