On 6/27 I ordered a Panasonic TV from bytems.com for a total purchase price of $1,050.00. The online merchant directed me to buy Amazon gift cards for the total amount and then send them the link to access the printable gift cards. The merchant indicated that sales tax would not apply to gift card purchases ….. Obviously lowering the price of the merchandise. The process went fairly smooth and I promptly received acknowledgment from bytems.com that they had received the gift card link as payment. Further e-mails from the company indicated that the order was preparing to ship, and then finally shipped. Free delivery would be in 7 business days. The customer service department maintained e-mail communication during this time but I became suspicious when they were not able to provide a tracking number. When my package did not arrive on the expected date I tried to contact bytems.com but their website was gone and they seem to have disappeared. Subsequent Google searches reveal that many people have now been caught in this fraud. I have filed a complaint with the FBI (http://www.ic3. Gov/default. Aspx).
Everyone who has been scammed by this company should file too, as the more complaints the FBI receives, the more likely they will pursue the fraudulent scam.
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