Complaint Review: walterlumbers.com - Internet

I don't know how to get phishing websites listed, but I can help you recognize them. 

Someone I know was nearly scammed out of a lot of money. In my attempt to find out who the scammer was, I found a few things that should be shared.

Even on Christian Mingle, scam artists can be found, and they have Bibles, and know how to prey (<-intentional) like you wouldn't believe. 

If they live out of state, and have a family member who lives in the Bahamas, they're probably fake. If they go on a "final" business trip before retiring to move to your home state, they're fake.

If they ask you to not tell your friends of the relationship, they are isolating you so your friends cannot act to protect you. 

Jewelry and flowers are cheap ways of gaining trust. Sure it comes from redenvelope.com, and costs over a hundred dollars, but compared to clearing out all your accounts (my friend nearly sent $7K USD as her first payment).

Websites can be faked. So, you go to the website, and it looks legit. Great, now Google it. If it's legit, then there should be tons of links to it. If it's alone, then it's probably a scam.

Copy a chunk of text, such as "supplies both exposed and concealed steel plate hardware. The concealed hardware" or "good news: crafting a porch with timbers increases longevity of the structure and so with other structures". This should be long enough to be unique, but I found the scam website, a second scam website, and the original source (legit). Try to contact the legit business to advise them of the theft of their copyright material.

The street address on the scam website is very likely legit (one was "located" at "Lord & Taylor" on 5th Ave NY), and there may really be a person of that name who lives there. The business itself is fake. The real residents are victims of Identity Theft. Try to contact their local authorities to advise them of the scam, you may be saving someone from having to deal with the consequences of ID theft. I was able to contact the real person, and they had no clue that their identity had been stolen.

If "Mr. Wonderful" refuses to use his webcam, he's a fake. "Oops, I dropped my webcam" is a BS excuse for not using Skype. If you suspect fraud, insist that he buys a new webcam, insist you want to see them talking (with their smooth Italian voice). If they don't, ask yourself this... "If this guy has that much money, the nice car, the pool, the house, the home movie system, and the desire to buy me these gifts, why can't he take his computer in to be fixed?"

If he provides a link to his offshore bank account, it's fake (but convincing). DO NOT follow the link without law enforcement standing over your shoulder. 

Wire Transfers are instant, and do not require a 5 day wait period. Just call your bank and ask. Money orders can be faked too.

Do not wire any money to them, even if they sent you a money order or you "transfered" money from their bank to yours. Money orders take days to show up as fake.

If he's too good to be true, HE IS. After being exposed, he will continue to call you, he will claim you are the scammer, he will try to convince you that your friends and loved ones are jealous and his love is true. DO NOT believe him, you've known him only over the phone and the web for a month? Your friends for years, maybe even decades. Who do you REALLY believe?


If you are the victim of a scam, please come forward. You may save others the grief of becoming the next victim. Do not throw away (delete) any correspondence, this can only hurt the investigation.

Check out these fraudulent websites and see if you see what I saw...

http://orktimbers.com

http://archelatimbers.com (like it's really located at 424 5th Avenue New York, NY 40001, United States AKA "Lord & Taylor")

http://bmbwoods.com

http://walterlumbers.com


I even found the real ones that were pirated

http://timber-frame-design.com/author/megan/page/3/ (images/text was stolen from here)

http://galyontimber.com/ (text was stolen from here)


If you know who I helped, DO NOT use their name. If you don't, don't ask I won't tell you.