Is a seized electronics auction site a scam?

December 1, 2005 11:17 AM

Is a 'seized electronics' auction site for real or is it a scam?

I found a link to this seized electronics auctions website on Craigslist. From what I can tell, you pay a fee, and you get access to these auctions and supposedly find great deals, etc. on equipment.

Being a little broke this Christmas season, it seems like a good place to maybe find some decently-priced gifts. But is this really legit? Is there any way for me to tell this is really a good tool, or is this a scam, or am I merely paying a "convenience" fee for information I could find on my own with a little Google-Fu?

posted by TeamBilly to Shopping (10 answers total)

Are you concerned about paying your fee and seeing nothing, or paying your fee to find out that you're trafficing in stolen goods? I would think, just glancing at the page, that either one is pretty likely. But, just for fun, we can look at specific things:

Their Whois record lists an address in Stockholm, Sweden, as the main contact:

whois -h whois.crsnic.net seizedelectronics.com ...

...

Air On, Inc.
Ste # 3989
111 74
Stockholm, NA 111 74
SE

Registrar: 000DOM
Domain Name: SEIZEDELECTRONICS.COM
Created on: 30-MAR-04
Expires on: 08-JUL-08
Last Updated on: 04-NOV-05

Administrative, Technical Contact:
On, Air [e-mail]
Air On, Inc.
Ste # 3989
111 74
Stockholm, NA 111 74
SE
18665324766


Domain servers in listed order:
COBRA.SIMPLECOM.NET
NS2.SIMPLECOM.NET
NS1.SIMPLECOM.NET

---

That would send up another red flag for me, but I'm the suspicious type.

The only definitively positive thing about them is that they have Google Ads running on Google Groups. If that's the case, the team at Google has vetted them enough to convince themselves that SiezedElectronics.com is a legit site. I've actually had a site declined by Google Ads, so I know their process is pretty stringent.
posted by thanotopsis at 11:30 AM on December 1, 2005

There are ways around the Google ads vetting process. You could, for instance, have a legitimate page accepted and then just copy the code, as Google encourages you to do:

The code on the Ad layout code and Search code pages is valid for any page in any site on which you want to display Google ads. Simply add the code to your page source, and we'll automatically detect the new site and display relevant ads.

Please note that there is no need to open additional accounts or to notify us when you have placed the ad code or search code on a new site.

So even that's not suggestive of legitimacy.
posted by BackwardsCity at 11:44 AM on December 1, 2005

Best answer: Huh, see, if I was auctioning seized electronic equipment, I'd want as many people to know about it so I could get as high as price as possible, you know? I wouldn't make it a secret -- i'd advertise the shit out of that.

So, i'd lean in the "scam" direction -- pretty common one too, i see these all the time. Rule of thumb: too good to be true? Ayup. Otherwise, everyone would know about it, man -- there aren't many deal secrets anymore.

Anyhow, check this link out

That said, if you're looking for legit good deals on stuff, I'd try the forums at bargain sites like fatwallet.com (just the forums though, the rest ain't so great) or Ben's Bargains.
posted by fishfucker at 12:09 PM on December 1, 2005

The electronics were seized by the police, right? Couldn't you call up your local 5-O and ask if this is a legitimate outfit that brokers their seized assets for them?
posted by PurplePorpoise at 12:13 PM on December 1, 2005

Oh, and careful searching for clarification on whether it's a scam or not -- seems like the scammers have set up pages saying "Oh, no, that OTHER stuff is a scam, but THESE are totally legit". Pretty incredible, actually, that it's so much of a scam that there's zero contrary info on government auctions.

Anyways, here's some advice cut/pasted from a old USENET posting :

"you do of course understand that this information is usually regularly
advertised, and the hard-to-find auctions are no more than two phone
calls away for most people with the initiative to actually pick up the
phone...

people, please do not be fooled by these scams!

yes, if you are lucky, you can really find some worthwhile things at
worthwhile prices, but you don't have to pay anyone to tell you all sorts
of crap, as well as give out a bunch of [usually] old phone numbers and
contacts.

starting points: call law enforcement in your area, call military bases
in your area, and call the general services administration in your area,
also state, county, and city offices. better yet, read the paper.

with the information you can get from these common sources, you can do
everything this scam artists book says.

Just remember, if you profit from this advice, i'll only charge you a beer.

Jim "
posted by fishfucker at 12:16 PM on December 1, 2005

Yeah I would ask the Police. In the Uk the Police have their own auction website, and also auction siezed items and lost property through their local auction room (which is free to view and participate in.)
posted by fire&wings at 12:17 PM on December 1, 2005

Response by poster: The link FF posted was dead-on, I think. Glad I asked the question.
posted by TeamBilly at 12:43 PM on December 1, 2005

Another factor is that liquidated electronics are often sold in lots, not individually. So you have to buy 10 or 20 cameras at a time to even be involved in the auction. So only resellers can play the game.
posted by smackfu at 12:49 PM on December 1, 2005

That address in Stockholm is pretty weird, as well. We don't use letters before our zip codes, for starters. And I have absolutely no idea what "Ste # 3989" means. But maybe that's a registry thing.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 6:24 PM on December 1, 2005

I'd start singing the scam song immediately. "As seen on TV", "5-star service" and "Gold site award", all without clickthrus leave me with little doubt.
posted by quiet at 2:57 AM on December 2, 2005