On 13 July I received an unsolicited phone call from a Mohammed who said he was calling from VODAPHONE, selling mobile contracts. He mumbled and stuttered so badly, and with such an incomprehensible accent I had to keep asking him to repeat himself at least five times after every sentence.
Being interested in a contract, I suffered through this. Mohammed offered me a Blackberry Curve 9700 phone for 40 per month, over 24 months. He also offered a "free Samsung backup phone" which I accepted. Mohammed then passed me on to Fatima, who took my banking details. Towards the end she let slip that the Samsung phone was actually 15 per month, so I promptly cancelled that.
Within hours my account was debited with 40 by IBITSTORE. Next day I get an email from HALO Mobile, welcoming me to the contract and stating that my Blackberry 8400 was on its way. I immediately emailed them back and said it was a 9700. Mohammed
phoned me later, apologising for his 'error' and advising that the best he could do was a Blackberry 8900. This is classic "bait & switch" fraud, so I cancelled the whole thing. The next day an email from noreply@Vodaphone arrives, quoting an order number and reference number.
I never received anything from HALO mobile, IBITSTORE or anyone else. No phone, no refund, nothing. On calling Vodaphone, they told me they'd never heard of either company, even though I quoted their own (Vodafone) reference number! A manager from Vodaphone then said I was in all likelihood scammed and the email from Vodaphone is spoofed and fraudulent. The phone numbers for Ibitstore either don't exist (0870 0429569), or continually go into voicemail, as is the case with 0844 5675863. Surprise surprise, nobody EVER answers!
Same with their email. Mail to [email protected] elicits no response, and mail to [email protected] bounces back uneliverable, address doesn't exist.
The way these fraudsters get away with it is by claiming they're from a reputable company - in my case I was told they're from Vodafone - not a word was said about Halo Mobile or Ibitstore. Its only after they've stolen from your account that the truth emerges. Doing a google search showed I'm not the first victim.in fact, hundreds of links came up in relation to Ibitstore scam. One scam is to sell you a phone, take your money, then change the model arbitrarily and unilaterally (thus hoping you'll cancel) and then keep the money as a "processing fee". If you go ahead with the deal, then they'll simply fail to send the goods. Cases like this abound on internet consumer sites.
When I was phoned by these creeps, they clearly told me they were from VODAFONE, so I assumed I'm dealing with a reputable company. Other victims who have filed complaints were told they were dealing with ORANGE, or O2, but the moment the money leaves your account, it becomes clear its IBITSTORE. Subsequent emails arrive from Halo Mobile (who has no website or discernable address - if fact the sender address is from [email protected]) and in my case, fraudulent / spoofed emails from Vodafone.
Ibitstore maintains a low profile presence in London (in fact their post code and company name is listed as fraudulent with a number of large UK companies) but they run their call centre from Cairo in Egypt. Their London vipers den is shared with a number of other shady Nigerian scamsters, one of whom is Henry Amankwah of SMH Marketing.
So BEWARE! Don't be bitten by IBITSTORE! Please someone shut this crooked scum down once & for all!
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