Beth Hennessy
Burlington,#2Consumer Comment
Sat, November 24, 2007
I too fell pray to the same scam that all others claim with TechTraders. They took my money and created a trail of what appeared to be legitimate correspondance of receipt and then payment clearing to keep me from suspecting what was really happening; larceny by check. Sam or Hashem Barakat (Mr. Barakat whom payment is made to) is the official name on the Canadian URL that was used as the face of TechTraders. This website was suspended two days before I began to get suspicious about my order (11.14.07). The canadian government contacted me to tell me the site was suspended by court order. The payments were sent to: Earth Class Corporation 14525 SW Millikan #47089 Beaverton, OREGON 97005-2343 UNITED STATES This is a private mail service that screens all mail by scanning the actual envelopes and forwards a PDF document to the registered customer (#47089 or Hashem Barakat) with each piece of mail. The customer or Barakat in this case can request what should be forwarded or destroyed. This process or the time of this process is even built into the scam of email confirmations from TechTraders. The first email, thanks you for your order, the second confirms mail has been recieved (via Earth Class). The third acknowledges the payment as received and states a shipment confirmation is forthcoming. Of course this never happens, only your money is taken and nothing is ever shipped and no shipment tracking info provided. Earth Mail claims to have no understanding of what a customer is using their service for and claims complete immunity. They also claim that they cannot take the ongoing investigation as enough evidence to discontinue service to Mr. Barakat. Due process was used to cancel the web site or URL and cut off a path to more innocent customers, why can't Earth Mail discontinue his service for the same reason. The only positive comment on this site by a "mark" is actually the web administrator Mark Mayo who had a number that is also only an answering machine which is now to full. He claims a Tampa address ... There is also another TechTraders.ca that sold used PC equiptment in the late 90's and early 00 - I have been unable to find a cached site that I can capture like the former site where the designer items were promoted falsely. "Save On Factory Direct" is the Tampa based company also connected with this group of criminals. BDH