Inbox Scammers Exposed: My Recent Internet Fraud Experience

(This is a first person, true account of a recent internet scam. All details included are factual. Though their business name was used nefariously by scammers, Dick's Sporting Goods was NOT involved in this incident.)

Not a day goes by that I don't find some kind of scam in my email inbox. Fortunately, the spam filter does a decent job of screening many of them. And the most common of the others I've managed to avoid by close examination.

An e-mail solicitation leads to a questionable website with great deals. Both domain names are owned by Chinese companies. Yep, it's a scam!Photo byDeanLand

But this weekend, I got fooled. And the experience led me on a search to find, expose and report the scammers, and to share the story to help others avoid a similar experience.

What got my attention was a well-time clearance sale on walking and running shoes from Dick's Sporting Goods. The offer: Clearance-sale-priced Brooks shoes offered at 70% off.

Or, at least I THOUGHT it was Dick's Sporting Goods until I spotted the tell-tale signs of a scam. But by then, I was well down the path and decided to play it through to near the end. Following are a list of the signs that I should have spotted along the way:

Sender's e-mail address. Instead of examining the actual address, I looked only at the business name. The subject line pulled me in: Quarterly Clearance Sale -- Up to 70% Off Athletic Shoes.

Trade Dress Details. Once I opened the e-mail, there was a reasonable facsimile of the familiar logo. The website looked familiar, and the deals looked great. At this point, I should have gone directly to the Dick's website rather than committing the next error.

Both the website address and the not-quite-right trade dress were warning signs that this wasn't a legit offer.Photo byDeanLand

Click Link For More Deals. Instead, I took the bait and clicked the link. And it took me to a website that looked like Dick's. I noticed the address wasn't the usual Dick's.com. But it did have the name of the retailer and the shoe manufacturer in it, so it looked like it might have been a seasonal, on-line only, co-promotion between the two.

Tracker Reminder. After poking around awhile, I put two pairs of shoes in a shopping cart. But I left the site without purchasing. Lo and behold, I got an e-mail shortly afterwards encouraging me to complete my purchase. That in itself is NOT unusual. But, again, I didn't check the sender address fully and just assumed it was legit. And I proceeded to the purchase process.

After I left items in a shopping cart, this e-mail follow-up came to my inbox, the result of tracking software.Photo byDeanLand

Credit Card Problems. Once I entered my personal information, it was time for my credit card. When I entered information from my CitiBank Visa, the transaction wouldn't go through. I got a message to try again. But I didn't get a fraud warning from CitiBank.

Purchase Verification. Instead of reentering the CitiBank Visa information, I tried my American Express Card. This time, I got a validation notice from AMEX asking me to verify that I wanted to proceed with the transaction. The name of the merchant wasn't Dick's but instead, Bennett Online Solutions. Now, all the warning bells were sounding.

So here's what I've learned since:

E-Mail Offer Faked. The first e-mail was definitely a fake. The original sending address was not affiliated with Dick's Sporting Goods. And the trade dress used was not the "official" version of Dick's identity elements.

The fake "Dick's" website domain is registered to a Chinese company.Photo byDeanLand

Website Owned by Chinese Company. The website domain used to spoof the Dick's site was brookssportinggoods.top. It looked like a co-promotion site commonly used in retailing. But, the site is registered to a Chinese company, Chengdu west dimension digital, located in Gan Su Sheng province of China. I found that information at the internet registry company, Whois.com. brookssportinggoods.top

E-Mail Domain Also Chinese. Similarly, when I checked out the actual sender address of the e-mail from "Dick's," it also was a Chinese firm. Whois.com listed this one as 22net, Inc.

The Colorado Secretary of State shows the credit card company is registered in Denver. Chunhua Weng is listed as their primary agent.Photo byDeanLand

Credit Card Processor in US. That credit card processing firm flagged ty AMEX, Bennett Online Solutions, shows us as based in Denver, CO, according to their address listed with AMEX. The Colorado Secretary of State lists Chunhua Weng as their primary agent, with a primary office located at 1516 California St, Denver. The company was registered as a limited liability company in 2023.

Card Companies Monitoring. Since I typed credit card information into an online form, I reported this all to CitiBank and AMEX, both of which are monitoring my accounts for bogus activity. I've also requested that both stop all charges on my account, change my card number and issue new cards. While that's creating some pain and extra work for me, that should help.

Please Report Fraud!

As I write this, the reporting process is underway. In addition to reporting to the credit card companies, reports have been filed with the Georgia Attorney General's Office and the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

Beyond state agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a primary repository for internet fraud complaints in the United States. According to the 2022 Internet Crime Report, IC3 received 800,944 complaints in 2022, with reported losses exceeding $10.3 billion.