$1,153 stolen during purchase transaction

skyblast

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
261
Location
Seattle
(Discalimer: I do not believe this was Kelly Co’s fault)

Yup, I got burned!! This morning I decided I was finally ready to purchase my Explorer SE from Kelly Co. Initially I called to make the transaction over the phone (1-800-327-9697) but was told the details of my transaction would not be available on their website due to it being an over the phone purchase. I then decided that doing it online would probably be better. So I hung up the phone and proceed to place my order on the KCO website.

This is the website I went to:
http://www.kellycodetectors.com/indexmain.php

Everything was going great, I had selected option package one, added the detector to the cart and chose the one day over night shipping fee. I then proceeded to check out. During check out I was given a few options to make payment...one of them being paypal. At that time I had around $700 in my paypal account and the remainder in my checking which was linked up to paypal.
Here is where I was duped. Somehow, someway during being sent to paypal directly from KCO the money got routed to one mustafa kartal???? Yes, I logged into paypal. Here are the details from my paypal receipt:

..and yes, I have tried contacting him...

Name: mustafa kartal (The recipient of this payment is Non-U.S. - Verified)
Email: 10urcimsit@gmailcom
________________________________________

Total Amount: -$1,153.90 USD
Fee amount: $0.00 USD
Net amount: -$1,153.90 USD

________________________________________

Item amount: $1,098.95 USD
Sales Tax: $0.00 USD
Shipping: $54.95 USD
Handling: $0.00 USD
Quantity: 1
________________________________________

Item Title: Kellyco Metal Detectors
Date: Jan 3, 2011
Time: 09:51:42 PST
Status: Completed

The detail I missed…. Non-U.S. verified and of course the name mustafa kartal. It said Kelly Co. so I assumed everything was fine? I then called KCO to make sure the online transaction went through ok and was told they didn’t know who the heck I was. No sign of a transaction on their end.

So then a I immediately filled dispute claim with paypal which supposedly put a stop on the payment. I also believe I was successful in stopping the $542 from being pulled from my bank by having a bank fraud specialist place a stop payment. I was told however the money would be pulled from my bank account from a paypal fraud specialist and only in the end after everything was investigated would I get a full refund. Wow!! What a freakin headache. I sold a ton of collectible toys and had to make 21 leather holsters by hand (a side job of mine) which I am still working on for a store outside of Chicago to get the money for this detector. I am a Seattle native.

I was told that maybe my computer was infected with some kind of virus and that someone may have been watching my key strokes? I did full scans on both of my computers and I did get one weird thing that was put into the virus vault on one of my computers?? I don't know? Maybe that was it?
Anyway, I am sooooo freakin frustrated right now. I am so glad to have you all to hear me out on this. Again, I am 99% sure that it was somehow my fault. I feel so bad right now like it was something I did? Maybe I should have been watching my computer virus program more closely? And yes, my virus progams on both of my compters were up to date when all of this took place.

Oh well, live and learn I guess. Now I have to wait 7-10 days for my dispute to get looked into. I am trying to stay positve. I really think paypal will come through for me.
 
Sorry to hear this........

....good luck, I think you'll be OK after they investigate. PP usually stands behind it's members as well as your banks also!
 
Actually, you probably went to

http://www.kellycodetectors.net/

Which, from what I saw is not their real site... I almost made the same mistake, luckily I figured it out when I realized that it looked differently....it may be their site for real, but I don;t think so...
 
I know for sure I went to the right site.... .net does look strange to me also.
 
What caught my eye was that I was buying my F2 for christmas and it had an accessory package, well while on .net I noticed they didn't advertise anything for the holidays and were selling the F2 without any option plans. Didn't add up to me, so I left and retried to find it...
 
I distinctly remember selecting options package one and proceeding to checkout.
 
I distinctly remember selecting options package one and proceeding to checkout.


Right on, sorry about everything, hopefully paypal will get on top of it and help you out. Man that's a huge blow to take, and I can understand your frustration. Hope everything works out for you bro.:grin:
 
Woah man, that really sucks. :( I'm pretty sure you'll get your money back though...PayPal will probably come through with a refund. :yes:
 
Maybe your HOSTS file as been hijacked, modified to redirect kellyco site to a phishing website.

The HOSTS file is in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc.

you can look into it by opening it with notepad.
 
Maybe your HOSTS file as been hijacked, modified to redirect kellyco site to a phishing website.

The HOSTS file is in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc.

you can look into it by opening it with notepad.

Can you please explain a bit more? I'm not sure what you mean by ..."Maybe your HOSTS"....

Thanks
 
Skyblast,

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

During this past week I too was scammed. A guy from Ghana got my credit card info and made about three thousand dollars worth of charges for computer equipment and ordered it to be sent to an African restaurant in Chicago. I was lucky enough to catch all of this before the charges went through and I was able to cancel the card and kill the orders. Strange thing is to be able to pull up the address on Google Earth, go into street view and see the store front of the restaurant. I also think I found the guy on Facebook...where he identifies himself as the owner of a computer and peripherals company...nice.

Hang in there and I hope you get everything back.
 
I would say you are a victim of phishing. I've been to Kellyco's store numerous times and there's no mustafa there unless he's new.

I'm pretty sure paypal will help you recover your money. I have gotten a ton of "phishing" emails disguised as paypal and just delete them. I've even got them disguised as my bank before which I forwarded to my bank and to the FBI. You have to be very careful and aware when making transactions online.
 
I feel so bad right now like it was something I did? Maybe I should have been watching my computer virus program more closely? And yes, my virus progams on both of my compters were up to date when all of this took place.

you did wrong??? no way. is it your foult that someone got criminal and took you as a victom? is it your fault virusses and theft excist?
is it your fault if you have a good lock on your door, but someone manages to pick it?

great that your losses (as i understand) will be made up by the bank.

your a victum. @#$% that you've been burned......
 
Another way to pay Kellyco:

Feel bad for you, there are a lot of crooks in this world. When I ordered my detector from Kellyco, I ordered it C.O.D. Kellyco told me exactly what the bill would be and when the detector arrived by UPS, the UPS man handed me my package and I handed him a money order for the exact amount. End of story...
 
Can you please explain a bit more? I'm not sure what you mean by ..."Maybe your HOSTS"....

Thanks

Your computer keeps a file (Host file) of commonly accessed (by you) URLs, together with their Internet IP address. Any time you surf the web, a translation needs to be made between the name of the site you want (e.g. metaldetectingforum.com) and its IP address (ours is 66.197.170.69). This translation is made by a distributed group of what are known as Domain Name Servers (DNS).

Your computer, although not a full fledged DNS, does keep a small table with the information for many of the sites you frequent. This saves time, since the computer doesn't have to ask your ISP DNS server for the address and wait for the answer.

However, imagine what happens if your computer's Host file is compromised by a hacker, and he loads into your Host file a bad address for ... the PayPal web site. The next time you try to navigate to PayPal, you'll be directed to a fake PayPal web site where the hacker can steal your money by getting you to log in, effectively getting your PayPal ID and password. :shock:
 
Your computer keeps a file (Host file) of commonly accessed (by you) URLs, together with their Internet IP address. Any time you surf the web, a translation needs to be made between the name of the site you want (e.g. metaldetectingforum.com) and its IP address (ours is 66.197.170.69). This translation is made by a distributed group of what are known as Domain Name Servers (DNS).

Your computer, although not a full fledged DNS, does keep a small table with the information for many of the sites you frequent. This saves time, since the computer doesn't have to ask your ISP DNS server for the address and wait for the answer.

However, imagine what happens if your computer's Host file is compromised by a hacker, and he loads into your Host file a bad address for ... the PayPal web site. The next time you try to navigate to PayPal, you'll be directed to a fake PayPal web site where the hacker can steal your money by getting you to log in, effectively getting your PayPal ID and password. :shock:

Hot Damn!! That is some crazy techno, hacker war games crap. People suck...not all people of course. I think I'll fly from Seattle to Kellyco to get my detector.
 
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Soooooo finallllllly my situation has been resolved. All funds are back in my account. Initially the money was sent to some honest dude in Russia. Well he seemed honest? Weird, in an email to me he called me mate and his name Mustafa?? What?

A few other side notes. Paypal had completely shut his account down. Like closed it! Usually during a paypal dispute your account is put into limited access but apparently this guys account was closed. He told me that he couldn't even log in. He sent me an email he had received from paypal which back this up. Hummmm, I wonder, wonder, wonder why paypal deemed him to be such a threat?

Lastly, he informed me in broken English that Kellyco's website it wide open to hackers? I wonder how he knew that? When I called Kellyco to inform them of my entire story the gal on the other end said that she had heard of another customer having this same problem. Maybe Mustafa was right?

So during this charade I changed my mind about the Explorer SE....I'm going with the E-trac instead. Having an e-trac with the x-1 probe (showed up today) makes me feel armed and dangerous!!

Thanks for hearing out on this everyone. It was nice having people to whine and complain to.
 
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