Barry Cole aka Wolex Holdings calls marine dealers or electronics dealers wanting to order a Furuno 1832 36NM (whole Kit) Cost: $4495.00.
Mr. Cole calls on a TTY phone for the hearing impaired. Then sets up the rest of the transaction via e-mail at [email protected]. He states he is ordering the item for his supervisor, he doesn't know much about it. But he needs it done right away.
Mr. Cole emails payment arraignments noting to brake up the payments on to 2 master cards. He then instructs you to contact him and he will send a courier to pick up the item and have it shipped to Louisiana. (this is a state not known for yachting)
We felt this was a bit odd - We googled Wolex Holdings address: 552 NW Hilton Ave Lake City Fla, 32055 and found this address did not belong to "Wolex Holdings" It actually was the address for a legitimate business which was well aware and upset with the fact that Mr. Cole was using their business address. They had received calls from businesses that had actually fallen for his scam and lost a great sum of money.
We then googled his telephone numbers: 386-269-1727 phone: It rang and a non-descript / non-business answering machine picked up. And the fax number is a Florida area code and a NY telephone number. 866-734-5097 Why would a business have two different area codes for numbers in the same office?
We contacted our dealer for Furuno electronics and the rep.informed us they also had been dealing with a number of scams for the Furuno 1832 and one other high dollar system. They recommended not to make any sales of these items unless the client and his yacht were right in front of you at the marina or the telephone or internet client was willing to pay via bank check or wire transfer and delivery was made via the marina's choice and never send item out same day or over night!!!
Also - a little tip! This persons email typing skills were terrible - If we were dealing with a illegitimate business person they would not use lower case i for " i would like" They would type " I would like" and they phrased many of they're sentences backwards. "as i stated on the given card above. Kindly get back to me as soon as you complete the charges to confirm that you have place the order."
Which tells us they do not write in English often. If you are claiming to be Barry Cole -Inside Sales Supervisor / Ops Manager we would think your writing skills would be a bit stronger.
Ultimately, we did not sell the item to Mr. Cole. We contacted the local authorities for internet fraud. There hands were tied as Mr. Cole was most likely not based in Fla. But in Nigeria somewhere. They suggested to report to the FBI internet fraud dept. But they could not due much about it as the $ amount was to low. The trooper then suggested usacomplaints.com and stated it was a site they used and utilized often. At the very least we would put Mr. Cole / Wolex holdings out there for all to see.
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