Escrow Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Escrow Wolves in Sheeps Clothing

The word unscrupulous does not go far enough to describe those who seek to gain by others misfortune or bad luck; we have to add words like devious, deceitful, cunning, and not least of all merciless and cruel.

Predators

For this is the world of praying on the innocent and unsuspecting; and worse even, perpetrating fraud in the guise of help. What, indeed, could be more contemptible?

This is the world where the weary online buyerwell read by now about online auction frauds and false promisesto safeguard his money turns to an online escrow service to make sure that he receives and approves the merchandise before his funds are released to the seller.

He Googles “Online Escrow” and is met with a host of sites, one seeming more legitimate than the next. He reads the “about us” carefully, and as much of the fine print as he has time or mind to absorb. Finally settles on one: Integrity Escrow.

He establishes an account, and his email is verified by the site, over a secure https link. So far so good. Seeing the https and the little security symbol in his browser makes him feel warm and fuzzy.

He then provides the details of the transaction, and, as a final step, deposits the purchase amountin this case $3,500in his newly established escrow account.

And that, as the saying goes, was the last he saw of that money.

Impersonating the Solution

Turns out Integrity Escrow was nothing but a slick impersonation of a bona fide escrow company, establishednormally in China, Russia, or the former Eastern EUfor the sole purpose of stealing your money while pretending to do the exact opposite, i.e., preventing theft.

Did I say unscrupulous? Yes, it is a step down from out and out theft; it is stealing in the guise of helping.

Unfortunately, online escrow fraud is escalating, due to factors such as:

Online identity/credit-card theft
The Anonymity of the Internet
A lamentable lack of public awareness about fraudulent escrow sites
Web hosting companies that allow fraudulent escrow sites to be created with stolen credit cards, and then allow them to remain on their service even after they have been reported.

To this I would add an increasing number of tech savvy criminals with zero concern for their fellow man.

How Do They Do It?

Luckilyfor the Fake Escrow Detectivethose who set up fraudulent escrow sites are, as a rule, lazy people, who wouldnt (probably couldnt) create original copy if their lives depended on it. No, too much work.

Lazy people normally resort to templates, made to order scam sites (which abound as well) where they go to download a respectable site. As for trust-inducing copy, few sites are better than bona fide online escrows, such as Escrow.com, which is where they go for the words.

Voila: A new online escrow site.

The Detectives

The fraudulent online escrow detectives have seen this all before, and many, many times. They recognize the templates; they recognize the words.

And so they should, because those words are normally stolen from their own sitesthese private eyes are normally employed by the bona fide escrow companies to search out, track and close down as many fraudulent sites as possible.

The Hunt

I asked one of these detectives, Brandon Abbey of Escrow.com, how they find out about the fraudulent sites.

“There are a couple of ways we hunt down the fraud sites,” he said.

“Quite often someone calls our customer support department to inquire about a particular site. In this case, the site is reviewed and if fraudulent a notice is sent to the hosting company.

“The note to the hosting company is a request for them to review the site giving consideration to their Terms of Service (TOS) and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), and it usually results in the takedown of the site.

“Some hosting companies, however, take the stance that they are not responsible for the content on their servers regardless of what it is. There are specific laws that address certain things like child pornography but nothing we can point to regarding the escrow fraud.”

What if nobody calls you? I wondered. How do you track them down?

“Often we Google a word-string (phrases) taken from our own site, and youd be surprised how often we get hits. This means weve found a fraudulent site which came to us for the copy.

“Now, when we find a fraudulent copy of our site we can send a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notification to the ISP and that usually works.

“The main problem is that the ISPs are afraid of someone suing them for shutting down a site. The reality is no one has ever been sued by a Romanian scammer.

“We have also built a library of templates, which we can track down; as well as a library of phrases that we Google.

“On a good day (or bad day, depending on viewpoint) some of these searches will come return over a hundred matches. We then inspect each site to see if it is legitimate. If suspicions we forward the notice to the hosting company asking for a TOS and AUP review.

“As you can imagine some hosting companies are better than others. Generally, hosting companies in the US are very responsive.

“Xinnet, on the other hand, a hosting company in China, has supported some of the scam sites for months at a time.”

Valuable Advice

How can, I wondered, the average Internet user protect him- or herself against online escrow fraud?

“Of course,” said my detective, “it is important that people do research on these site before ever sending money or merchandise. In fact, I suggest doing a WHOIS search on the domain. This way you can discover how long the site has been up, where it is being hosted, how many times the site has been taken down. These are clues.

“If it smells fishy at all to you, go elsewhere.”

Safeguard Your Money

It is your money. Handing it over to a cyber criminal probably has not yet made it onto your top-ten list of what to do with it.

There are many great deals online. There are many great auction houses online. There are bona fide online escrow sites, but nowhere near as many as there are fraudulent ones.

Do all the online research you can. When you have found a site that seems legitimate, you can do one of several things:

Firstly, while fraudulent sites can buy the necessary certificate to make it a secure site, they seldom do;
Secondly, you can check at escrow-fraud.com to see if the site you have decided on is listed as a fraudulent site by them; they also maintain a list of bona fide sites;
Thirdly, you can call the sites customer service department to make sure they are based in the United States. If you have any doubts about that, ask them to call you back, and check the caller IDif its an international call, beware. Also, if the site does not have a customer service department, again, beware;
Once you know that youre talking to a U.S. based service department, ask any questions you can think of to ensure they are legitimate, such as which bank are they using for their escrow accounts, and who is their main contact at that bank (whom you can then call to verify that this online escrow company does in deed have an escrow account there);
If the answer is a well-known American bank, and if the customer service rep can supply contact information at the bank, you are 99% there. Then, if you want to reach 100%, make that final call to the bank to rule out any vestige of doubt.

Now you have found an online escrow company you can trust.

Enjoy your purchase.

P.S. Escrow.com is an online escrow company you can trust.

Finding Wholesale Clothing Distributors Lists that are not Some Kind of Scam

Whenever anyone are searching for quite a few truly beneficial wholesale clothing distributors without having all the scams that seem to stick to this business then this specific post was made merely for you. Acquiring wholesale clothing distributors isnt that hard. The tough part is pinpointing which ones are ripoffs and which distributors are respectable.

Selecting these wholesale clothing distributors isnt tough if you recognize where to look. Most people today start out their search by heading to one of the internet search engines and merely inputting what they would like to sell as a organization. Anyone might be able to choose a solution this way nevertheless chances are youll be subjected to all sorts of frauds this way. Just about any of these hoaxes may seem legitimate and include incredibly convincing websites however they are merely out to con people.

The ripoffs that arise in this business are typically middle men posing as genuine wholesale shops. These kinds of guys mark up the cost of the products and subsequently sell to you at a more expensive price. While its excellent business for these individuals, its harmful for you. Youll be paying out much more for the merchandise than your competitors and you will certainly not be able to be competitive with these folks on rates. Even if you do in some get your costs for products down, you will endure with a reduced amount of sales or perhaps losing dollars.

The best method to get these wholesale providers is by utilizing a wholesale list. Generally there arent many zero cost wholesale lists that are accessible on the net yet people can discover them occasionally. Implementing a wholesale list, anyone can discover the suppliers specifics. It can be fantastic having all these specifics as what the web page address is and just how to get in contact with all of them. Having a list will help drastically also because you have numerous companies that people can chose from rather than just a handful. Countless wholesale lists are marketed and can charge as much as $100. It is hard to consider paying that much cash for a list, but consider of it more as an investment decision.

Clothing

The primary purpose of clothing is functional, as a protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Further, clothes provide a hygienic barrier, keeping toxins away from the body and limiting the transmission of germs.

Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and sexual differentiation, and social status.[1] A uniform, for example, may identify civil authority figures, such as police and military personnel, or it may identify team, group or political affiliations. In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty, religion, gender, and social status. Clothing may also function as a form of adornment and an expression of personal taste or style.

Throughout history, many materials have been used for clothes. Materials have ranged from leather and furs, to woven materials, to elaborate and exotic natural and synthetic fabrics. Recent scientific research estimates that humans have been wearing clothing for as long as 650,000 years. Others claim that clothing probably did not originate until the Neolithic Age (the “New Stone Age”).

It can be said that there are five primary factors in clothing comfort, “identifiable as the ‘4 Fs of Comfort’ (1) fashion; (2) feel; (3) fit; and (4) function. [3] One of the primary purposes of clothing is to keep the wearer comfortable. In hot climates, clothing provides protection from sunburn or wind damage, while in cold climates its thermal insulation properties are generally more important. Shelter usually reduces the functional need for clothing. For example, coats, hats, gloves, shoes, socks, and other superficial layers are normally removed when entering a warm home, particularly if one is residing or sleeping there. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects, so that thinner materials and fewer layers of clothing are generally worn in warmer seasons and regions than in colder ones.

Clothing protects people against many things that might injure the uncovered human body. Clothes act as protection from the elements, including rain, snow and wind and other weather conditions, as well as from the sun. Clothes also reduce the level of risk during activity, such as work or sport. Clothing at times is worn as protection from specific environmental hazards, such as insects, noxious chemicals, weapons, and contact with abrasive substances. Conversely, clothing may protect the environment from the clothing wearer, as with doctors wearing medical scrubs.

Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to environmental hazards. Some examples include: space suits, air conditioned clothing, armor, diving suits, swimsuits, bee-keeper gear, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and other pieces of protective clothing. Meanwhile, the distinction between clothing and protective equipment is not always clear-cut, since clothes designed to be fashionable often have protective value and clothes designed for function often consider fashion in their design.

Advice On How To Organise Your Clothing And Accessories In Your Wardrobe

When a new fashion season begins do you find it hard to decide what items of clothing and accessories to buy? Sorting through the clothes in your wardrobe will make it easier to see what new items of clothing you actually need to create a fashionable look.

If you are one of those people who have a closet full of clothes but never have anything to wear, then you definitely need to organise your clothes, shoes and accessories. This is well worth doing and will save you time, money and stress.

Splitting your clothes, shoes and accessories into categories, will allow you to see what you actually have. The best way to do this is as follows,

Go through your wardrobe, anything you wear on a regular basis pull out and put in a pile.
The items left in your wardrobe sort through them and anything you no longer like, maybe because it doesnt flatter your figure, or its just not you anymore, bin them.
Any items that are left over that you dont regularly wear but you cant bring yourself to throw away, put into a bin liner and store them away.

All clothing, shoes and accessories that you wear on a regular basis can then be split into categories of casual wear, work wear and evening/smart wear. Hang these items in your wardrobe in sections, or if you have more than one wardrobe, categorise each wardrobe accordingly.

When you look at your work wardrobe, casual wear, work wear or evening wear, you will be able to see exactly what you have. This method makes it so much easier to see what new fashion items you need to complete an overall look.

With regards to the clothes you have stored away, give it six months and if you havent needed any of these items, chances are you never will in the future. If the items are in good condition take them to your favourite charity shop, if not bin them.

A great way to save wardrobe space is by splitting your clothing up into summer and winter items. When summer arrives store you winter clothes in a damp proof box in the attic and vice versa when winter arrives.

Have fun shopping for those clothing and accessories that will add value and fashion to your wardrobe.

Maintenance Of Latex Clothing

The latex clothing enhances the charm and personality of person. It gives a trendy and fashionable look to men and women who wear it. The proper carefulness and maintenance, your latex clothing can provide many years of pleasure and wear. To get the most out of it, you need to take certain precaution.

As the latex clothing is tight-fitting, so they can be difficult to put on. So before putting on use lightly dust the inside of the garment with talc. There are 2 main methods of preparing latex for wearing. You can also use silicone-based oil such as Eros Bodyglide or Eros Cult Dressing Aid. Apply a thin coating to the inside of the garment and your skin if necessary. Rubber can easily be marked or torn with fingernails if excessive force is used when pulling on your garment. You must ensure latex clothing is well lubricated or talced. Rubber can easily be marked or torn with fingernails if excessive force is used when pulling on your garment. You should not expose your garment to naked flame and fire as rubber burns.

Proper cleaning is also important for latex clothing. Wash in lukewarm water with a little soap or mild liquid detergent. Wipe down the surfaces with a soft cloth both inside & out. Never use bleach. Shake away surplus water, and pat dry with a lint free towel. After drying naturally hang them on a plastic hanger.

You should store your latex clothing in direct sunlight as it may cause harm. It is safer in a cool, dark, dry space. You can also make use of a broad plastic hanger to help your garment keep its shape; wire hangers, thin hangers, or hanging an outfit from the straps may cause the outfit to lose its shape.

You can employ a silicone based polish, such as Eros Bodyglide or Eros Cult Dressing Aid to make it shine. Dont try to polish the latex clothing using furniture polish and avoid oil-based lubricants and creams as these can make damage rubber.