Is basketstire.top legit?

June 4, 2020 12:09 PM

Ads from basketstire.top for outrageously low-priced exercise equipment (weights) show up in my facebook feed. My hesitation in buying is that the pricing seems too good to be true. Google doesn't turn up anything notable (e.g. first-hand accounts) about the reliability of this vendor. Bottom line: is this website legit? And if I use a credit card to buy something there and get scammed, is there any liability on me?
posted by u2604ab to Shopping (7 answers total)

I would guess not legit whatsoever. I looked at one of the 4-wheel drive vehicles that had a brand and model, priced as "originally $699, now $298", but that's a $3000 vehicle. They also list a jetski for $100-something. I would not give them my payment info.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:18 PM on June 4, 2020

Whois has a creation date of 2019-11-20, so about six months. New domain with concealed contact details, also not a good sign.
posted by zamboni at 12:25 PM on June 4, 2020

Also, their "about us" is stolen from this Amazon store but with random letters in the company name. Their "contact us" email domain is another jumble of random letters and Google says it's a phishing site and recommended I stay away.

So many red flags.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:28 PM on June 4, 2020 [3 favorites]

Searching for their About Us description reveals a horde of nearly identical randomly generated storefronts.

seems too good to be true

The usual saying applies.
posted by zamboni at 12:35 PM on June 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

In fact, it's even more blatant if you limit the search to site:.top.

Someone registered a squillion random domains of the form NounNoun.top*, threw up the same junky site on all of them, and is now touting them via FB ads.

* Real examples:
buttsantenna
drugsjudge
colonssisters
posted by zamboni at 1:09 PM on June 4, 2020 [8 favorites]

Ive seen alot of sketchy ads on FB that curiously stay on for weeks/months, when it obviously is a scam: Surface Pro for $100 free shipping etc. A recent one that pops up on my feed is for an electric scooter for $100 that goes for $1000+ retail Eydias Although tempting, like post above, if its too good to be true...
posted by edman at 1:42 PM on June 4, 2020

If you're lucky you'll probably get drop-shipped a piece of crap that vaguely resembles your intended purchase, but which is easily broken and smells of diesel. If you're nearer the end of their scam cycle your purchasing info will be used for fraud. There are even tutorials on Youtube explaining how to set up these sorts of "storefronts"; they resort to the fraud part when they stop making any money on the dropshipping.
posted by aramaic at 1:48 PM on June 4, 2020 [1 favorite]