crossfitperpetua.net scam

andywond

Hi, has anyone dealt with Crossfit Perpetua, supposedly based in London? I’m interested in the Scott Addict 15 Di2 they have advertised for silly money. A few things on the website raise warning flags for me and no one every answers the phone (although it’s the same number of a Gym under the same name).

The adage, “If it’s too good to be true it probably is” comes to mind!

chadders81

Cycle Division have the same bike for £2,099. The fact that's a well regarded seller would give me a bit more peace of mind. But if you buy with a major credit card, you'll have protection anyway.

Beatmaker

Not with a 10ft barge pole. That site is a poor copy of the real CrossFit Perpetua website, which is .com and makes no mention of bikes. The additional discount on that Scott puts it well below trade, and a 2017 model is in stock in all sizes at such a great price... Every single bike on their is significantly discounted, i’m surprised you even considered it to be legit.

jtsc222

I had a problem with crossfitperpetua.net too. The site looks put together OK and the feedback seemed OK but it may well be a scam. The reviews I saw were on a paid-for site. They said my credit card bounced but my bank had no record of them attempting it. Then they tried to pressure me to pay by bank transfer by phone messages and emails. You have no protection if you pay by bank transfer - your money will be gone without the refund that you can request with a credit card (but not a debit card). My bank said they have no track record for this business but that the pattern looks like a scam. When I challenged an indian guy who answered the phone, he cancelled my order and hung up. Looks very suspicious and I'm not sure its connected in any way to the gym of the same name.

Burghley

Hi

Glad I came across this thread, as I have been looking to get a Trek Domane Disc for a couple of weeks.

Despite an extensive search I can find none left in the UK until the 2019 model is launched.

I made two enquiries to CrossFit via their online chat about slightly different bikes, and they told me both times they had the bike in stock!

Given the heavily discounted price on offer I have decided that it is indeed, "too good to be true" and will wait until my LBS can source one for me. It will cost me more, but at least I will see the bike before handing over a lot of money.

Pete

dimmockg

I called them the other day based on their prices. The phone was answered (Not announced as a shop at all). Had stock of everything i enquired about. Asked if I could pop in and have a look to be advised 'we only sell on line'

Didn't seem right to me, checked on line and came across this thread, certainly to good to be true I reckon

vinnymarsden

I used to investigate online fraud in a former role....the yardstick, and my mantra/advice..
IF IT LOOKS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE,ITS BECAUSE THATS 99.9% BECAUSE IT IS EXACTLY THAT.
People, and I include myself in this, always search for bargains, there’s a massive difference between a decent bargain and a full on fraud.
One saves you a few quid, the other costs you money that quite simply you WONT get back.
My 1st conversation with every victim started with “ Don’t expect anything back as a result of this investigation “ harsh but unfortunately very true.
To the OP... leave well alone, if you can’t stretch to the real thing, look 2nd hand, don’t go down the online route with a supplier you have already 90% convinced yourself is fake!
Isn’t the phrase “ Caveat Emptor”
Let the buyer beware......

cooldad

It's 100% scam. I emailed the real Crossfit Perpetua to let them know - they already did but are struggling to get anything done about it.

yiannism

Just have in mind that also on FB is going a huge scam, like you get FS carbon bike for 150 euros.

Biking man

Yes it is too good to be true. The website crossfitperpetua.net is a scam. It does not deliver any bike bought. Instead when you attempt to pay for your bike and your enter your card details you receive an email stating your card was declined but no reason given. You are asked to pay by bank transfer. You are told your payment is protected by Trusted Shops UK but the the website shop is not a member of Trusted Shops.
If you do enter your card details on their checkout your card will be late used for a large value unauthorised transaction.
Despite the crossfitperpetua.net website stating and dis[laying their physical shop but if you call the business the shady guy on the phone can't tell you where their physical shop is and if you ask too many questions he will terminate your call and block your IP from their website.
The website is advertised on several bike shopping search platforms so it is a sophisticated effort to lure unsuspecting bike shoppers.

jonnycage

Hi,

Just wondering if there is anyone here that got scammed with this like I did? What are you guys doing to try to get the money back?

I have reported to my bank and to Action Fraud but I am not very hopeful I will get any money back.
I can see the website is still up.
Any other experiences?

keef66

Best you can do is write it off as a valuable life lesson. Only you will know how expensive it was. Unless you paid by credit card there's no danger of you getting any money back; they are almost certainly operating from a country where they are unlikely to get caught / shut down.

Biking man

If you have paid by bank transfer it is more difficult to get your money back but it should not be impossible. No legitimate bank will open an account for any person or business without going through Know Your Customer protocol - KYC - this requires you to present proof of identification and residential address, and if it's a business account evidence of the business being registered with companies house, its directors and proof of their identity and residential address, along with details of business activities. Any honest citizen who has opened a bank account goes through this hassle and it's all for good reason. I believe the crossfitperpetua.net scam website uses UK bank accounts.

One major flaw in paying anyone by bank transfer is the fact that the recipient only needs to provide the payer with the IBAN for the account. The account name he may provide could be anything and when the payer enters those IBAN details there is no way of being able to check if the account name provided actually relates to that IBAN. This leaves the gate wide open for scammers.
If you have been scammed through your credit or debit card your bank will immediately refund your loss even if the bank cannot get back the money itself.
If you pay by bank transfer, the same should apply as you can only work with the information you are given but your bank and/or the recipient account bank should be able to validate the account name to the IBAN before doing the transfer. I believe the banks have responsibility in such cases so I would kick up a stink with both your own bank and the recipient bank.

crossfitperpetua.net appears to be a sophisticated scam and is mentioned on scamwarners.com website. If you have been scammed by this website, it is important to report it to Action Fraud and provide details if the bank account used in the fraud. No harm to report to your local police too.

Biking man

Is it possible to change the name of this forum topic to crossfitperpetua.net Scam so that it may be more visible in Google?
With it current name, the forum may not be read by potential victims of the scam.

slowbike

Biking man wrote:

Is it possible to change the name of this forum topic to crossfitperpetua.net Scam so that it may be more visible in Google?
With it current name, the forum may not be read by potential victims of the scam.

report the original post with the request - meanwhile - I can reply with a modified subject matter which shows up on the lastest posts ...
or used to ... they must've changed the code!

BikeRadarAdmin

Topic title changed.

daniel_b

Wow, never heard of this scam, but that website looks dodgy af - I mean seriously:

jonnycage

Thanks for your advice.
Yes, the account I transferred the money is an UK HSBC account but the money is no longer there, so they say they cannot do anything.
Also reported it to Action Fraud but I read online they don't do anything.
So now I have just wrote a complaint letter to HSBC and to my bank to see if I can get any answer.

Biking man wrote:

If you have paid by bank transfer it is more difficult to get your money back but it should not be impossible. No legitimate bank will open an account for any person or business without going through Know Your Customer protocol - KYC - this requires you to present proof of identification and residential address, and if it's a business account evidence of the business being registered with companies house, its directors and proof of their identity and residential address, along with details of business activities. Any honest citizen who has opened a bank account goes through this hassle and it's all for good reason. I believe the crossfitperpetua.net scam website uses UK bank accounts.

One major flaw in paying anyone by bank transfer is the fact that the recipient only needs to provide the payer with the IBAN for the account. The account name he may provide could be anything and when the payer enters those IBAN details there is no way of being able to check if the account name provided actually relates to that IBAN. This leaves the gate wide open for scammers.
If you have been scammed through your credit or debit card your bank will immediately refund your loss even if the bank cannot get back the money itself.
If you pay by bank transfer, the same should apply as you can only work with the information you are given but your bank and/or the recipient account bank should be able to validate the account name to the IBAN before doing the transfer. I believe the banks have responsibility in such cases so I would kick up a stink with both your own bank and the recipient bank.

crossfitperpetua.net appears to be a sophisticated scam and is mentioned on scamwarners.com website. If you have been scammed by this website, it is important to report it to Action Fraud and provide details if the bank account used in the fraud. No harm to report to your local police too.

arlowood

jonnycage wrote:

Thanks for your advice.
Yes, the account I transferred the money is an UK HSBC account but the money is no longer there, so they say they cannot do anything.
Also reported it to Action Fraud but I read online they don't do anything.
So now I have just wrote a complaint letter to HSBC and to my bank to see if I can get any answer.

[/quote]

Yes I'm afraid in these situations the scammers just sit on that UK account and as soon as any money lands in it they immediately transfer it out to another (usually overseas) account.
However I would keep going at HSBC. I can't see that they don't have details of who set up that UK account - although in these days of identity theft it would be unlikely that the applicants left any real traces of who they were.

If they are saying the money is no longer there, they should have records to tell them where it was transferred to. They surely cannot hide behind client confidentiality legislation in a clear case of fraud.

mfin

It must be so easy to scam people, that site, reflecting a well run real company? Come on. Look at the embossed logo in the corner FFS, the generic lifted photo of a typical american sales rep in the chat ...you don't even have to dig, it's obvious it's not legit within half a heartbeat. There's not even any sub categories. Can you imagine ANY real business commissioning a site and being so stupid to not bother organising the products?

Always makes me smile that the Nigerian I want to transfer you money scam is written like it is. People think "how can people fall for it" but it's actually that obviously a scam completely on purpose, because they will get very few responses, but the ones that do respond will be gold dust stupid and are highly likely to be able to be ripped off. If the scam wasn't obvious, they wouldn't have enough time to keep engaging with all the people and a high percentage would get wise and suspicious, wasting their time when they've got a scam to run.

cougie

I sometimes reply to the scam mails if I'm bored. It's quite entertaining.

figbat

Well it seems that exactly the same people who were happy with their purchase experience at crossfitperpetua.com were also identically happy with their purchase experience at Kermack Electronics (link is not to the scammer’s site, as it appears to have been taken down).

shirley_basso

cougie wrote:

I sometimes reply to the scam mails if I'm bored. It's quite entertaining.

Check out 419Eater website and their forums, in particular the greatest 'baits'. It's amazing.

MBT are GO!

Crossfitperpertua.net is a scam

Just don't!

DaleGrove

SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! Do not go anywhere near it. You will will not see the bike you ordered or your money again. They have been reported to the Police but nothing seems to have been done about it.

hans21

Indeed clearly scam. Based on whois for that domain I've reported this to abuse@one.com but didn't get the desired response. They told me the business information is legit so they can 't block it. Instead someone would have to report it to local police office which then can request taking it offline.

https://dig.whois.com.au/whois/crossfitperpetua.net

navrig2

Looks to be gone now.