Thursday, December 24, 2009

Victim scammed by bidpax of 800-1000 dollars!

Another Singaporean victim has been scammed by bidpax. Tell your friends beware of the scam!!! Read the full story here of the 800-1000 dollars lost.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Is Bidpax using bidbots? Yes, says one victim

After getting scammed by bidpax, this user decided to pull off some data for an analysis.

I've copied his posting below. His post is available at newmyanmar.com. Read about his experience of finding bidpax fishy here

Recently I have been the scammed by bidpax.com (formerly known as ipennybid.com and bidvoo.com).

You can read my first post on how I ended up buying bids. Now that I got cheated, I am trying to find out how they cheat it and how I can cheat them back. I can probably win the bid by cheating but I can’t do anything if they don’t send you what you your winning items. So, all I can do is file a complaint.

After doing research for sometime, I can safely assume that they have bid agents. How do I find out? let me show you.

Username Items Number of Bids Link
1Time Kodak EasyShare Digital Picture Frame 66 2046
1Time Breville Espresso Maker 51 2148
1Time Whirlpool Duet Electric Dryer 900 2149
1Time Nokia N97 453 2359
segnon Need for Speed: Shift (CD) 32 2006
segnon Sonicare FlexCare Toothbrush 152 2015
segnon Sony Bravia 40 inch 228 2197
segnon Operation Flashpoint 129 2443
rebecca92 Sony Bravia 40 Inch LCD 425 2057
rebecca92 1 Ounce Gold 413 2083
rebecca92 Delonghi 14 Cup Drip Coffee Maker 34 2164
rebecca92 1 Ounce Gold 82 2433
ncollis Samsung TL225 Digital Camera 298 2076
ncollis Sony Clock 60 2120
ncollis 1 Ounce gold 337 2349
ncollis Kodak EasyShare digital Picture Frame 272 2538
jared9 Sonicare FlexCare Toothbrush 32 2053
jared9 Nikon D90 1970 2070
jared9 Nikon D90 332 2128
jared9 Delonghi 14 Cup Drip Coffee Maker 222 2513

Well, I haven’t check much. But these guys freaking Win 4 items in about 2 days. Too much to be coincident? Thats the way their system works?

From the log above, you can easily see that those are their bid agents. They got unlimited bids and they just sit there and bid all the way and win most items themself. So, whatever real bidder spend on bidding on their site is their net income. I am not sure how long the links will work. But those link direct you to their page about that specific items with the winner name in it. After seeing my post, they might get wiped out.

And from my research, they change to new username everyday. But occasionally old username pop up but a bit rare. I have yet to see any user winning 5 items. so far, 4 is max for their bid agents. (yet again, i checked for only 300 records. 90% of the winner (their own bid agents) win 2 or 3 items but I just listed a few 4 items winners.

I am not sure what other prove they need. This is as far as I can gather information as normal user. But who knows, one day, I can hack into their system.

A New Zealander was scammed!

Another unwitting user got hit by bidpax. It was the same for me after I rationalize and logicalize how I can beat the system and win, not knowing that bidpax has programmed bidbots to outbid real bidders to scam them. A user has reported that bidpax is using a customizable bidding system that includes bidbots option to automatically bid till a certain amount. More details of that soon.

Click here for full story of the New Zealander victim of bidpax scam

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Bogus site to trick users into using Bidpax. BEWARE!

Recently, with tons of complaints from the public, a bogus site was created to trick users.

Do a search on "bidpax scam" in google and you will see a google advertisement like the one below:

Is BidPax a scam?

I will list the reasons why people
believe BidPax.com is a scam!
www.BidPaxScam.com


I will tell you why this is a bogus site from (i believe) Bidpax itself.

1. The user call himself BidPax. If this is not a dead give-away, i don't know what is. Think about it, would a user/winner call himself BidPax if he intends to create a site to show support?

2. It seems the user loves bidpax so much that he even paid google to advertise this site to show support for bidpax. Not only that, he even mislead net users by putting the statement - "I will list the reasons why people believe BidPax.com is a scam!". This is to get net users to click the link thinking it is a site with proofs that bidpax is a scam. But the site called "bidpaxscam.com" (emphasis mine) turns out to speak well for bidpax!

3. Lastly, the NO.1 GIVE AWAY. Look at the user comments. http://www.bidpaxscam.com/bidpax-is-not-a-scam#respond
The timing of the 3 comments claiming of wins in bidpax are 10.17pm, 10.20pm and 10.22pm - all on the SAME day. Furthermore, they attempt to discredit PennyAuctionWatch because there are many bidpax complaints in the comments section and try to use Swoopo as an example without realizing that Swoopo has many supporters as well as detractors (plus, Swoopo has a real face - Chris Bauman - the manager who came out to speak/defend the site and gave interviews). As for BidPax? NOTHING BUT COMPLAINS. And it does not have a real face to it, and it's office location doesn't even exist! FLEE from it!!! (comments screenshot below)

Monday, November 9, 2009

Bidpax trying to Win users over with False "Guarantee"

Due to many complaints, BidPax has recently released a barrage of statements in their "guarantee" page which doesn't really guarantee anything. Here's why (read my answer in RED):

1. We do not use 'shill bidders' and our auctions are participated upon solely by genuine users.
- No one had ever spoke up for BidPax about being genuine users OR WINNERS except those who have ONLY complaints about them. Who won? Real people or bots? You decide.

2. At certain times, albeit very rarely, suppliers are not able to ship items direct to customers because of their stock level. We will always work with a customer to reach the best solution possible. This means, we are prepared to reimburse the customer with the full value of their won item in cash or an item of similar or greater value.
-
Not True. They will refund you your BIDS. A user disputing a claim with BidPax via Plimus has recently sent this screenshot in.
11/02/2009 08:40 Vendor Reply to customer - Hello, If this was the case, your bids would have been refunded in accordance with our terms and conditions.
11/02/2009 08:32 Customer Reply to the software vendor - this email is from you. "Dear XXX, Unfortunately, several users complained that they were unable to bid in the final second of the iPhone auction. After passing this information onto our IT department, they checked the server load at the time the auction closed and concluded that other users were unable to bid on the auction due to a server error. As per our terms and conditions, we have refunded this auction and have returned all of your bids. We encourage you to bid again, and wish you luck with your next round of bidding." You are not providing a genuine service. Refund should be given.

They continue to claim:


Here's a few things you may not know about BidPax.com

  • We have merchant agreements with leading online stores so your item will be delivered brand new.
  • WHO ARE THESE MERCHANTS? They mentioned NONE of these leading online stores. You asked:"What is there to hide?" Exactly. They have no valid backing from any leading online stores so they hide. So much for their claim on transparency
  • We work directly with leading online payment merchants to process all payments securely and efficiently. These include PayPal and Plimus this means we never see your financial information.
  • This guarantees nothing. PayPal and Plimus are just an online transaction processing medium. Anyone can work with them. You can register with them as a seller and sell your goods online.
  • We have over 2500 winners worldwide, who have won items such as Nintendo Wii's, iPhones and LCD TV's.
  • TILL this date, they have not proven any authenticated winners other than some snapshots of so-called winners on their testimony page. Do a search online and you will find NO ONE claiming to have won anything from them (All are complaints!). Real auction sites DO have real people supporting them. Even a controversial site like Swoopo has a user-created community page for winners.
We have no objection bringing this information to light, as we are committed to complete transparency and want to express our legitimacy.
B
idPax.com is committed to complete transparency and strive to provide a fair, honest and genuine service.

Transparency?

1. We have not seen any winners supporting them

2. We have not hear any leading online merchants declaring they partner with Bidpax and support them

3. Why, we do not even know who is running BidPax! At least Chris Bauman of Swoopo came out to talk and clarify their auction site. Now, that's transparency.

When there are many things to hide, you know what you are in for. A Scam. A REAL BAD ONE.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Singapore and Malaysia users scammed by bidpax

Another case of singapore & malaysia internet users getting caught by bidpax's scam.

Click here for the full story. Warn your friends of bidpax, bidvoo and ipennybid.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Klik.tv hit by bidvoo/bidpax scam

Klik.tv had an encounter with bidvoo and found that it is a scam.

Click here to read his encounter and how his credit card's security was compromised a day or two after using it on bidvoo. Avoid bidvoo and bidpax like the plague!!! It's an evil scam!!!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

RM840 down the drain at bidpax

Earth Survivor blogged his own encounter with bidpax and how it got him to throw RM840 down the drain. How he got to know bidpax? Through ads from Facebook. Someone has to put a stop to the ads on facebook!

The next time you see an ad of bidpax on facebook, click the X button to close it and give your reason as misleading, offensive or write "You are advertising a scam!" under "Others" as the reason.

Earth Survivor's story here

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

What a blogger found out about bidpax's scam

Blogger, Mar, and his thoughts on the bidpax scam. Very insightful.

1. How To Get A First Hand Macbook Pro For SGD $12.97 — But wait, It’s A Bloody Scam!

2. Is Bidpax Really A Scam And Can I Actually Win Cheap Auctions?

Make a complaint about bidpax's ad on Facebook to the Advertising Authorities.

So you've reported Bidpax.com as misleading or offensive but Facebook is still displaying their ads.
So what do you do when Facebook couldn't care less about misleading ads that direct users to a scam except that they reap a profit?

File a complain to the Advertising Standards Authority. Yes, you can do so to pile some pressure on Facebook and get the authorities to move in. Click here to go to the complaints page.

Let's save people from more heartbreaks and losing their money to scams advertised by irresponsible sites.