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ijabbott · (This post was last modified: 09-22-2022 11:47 AM by ijabbott.)

Has anyone seen this:

https://www.nytimes.top/product/Hp-41cx-...kiqjm.html

HP 41CX, 90 in stock, for $41.50 (reduced from $83.00). Surely a scam.

Also the "nytimes.top" domain name is suspicious, suggesting some connection with The New York Times, but of course there is none. (It's registered in China.)

**rprosperi** · 09-22-2022, 12:33 PM

"Untested" plus "no returns" usually equals disappointment for any 41C model, so it need not even be a scam to steer well clear...

OTOH, they have a few other items for sale which are worth a small risk, so thanks for pointing out this website.

floppy · (This post was last modified: 09-22-2022 12:45 PM by floppy.)

One time I saw something similar on eBay (watch of price 15USD when it should have been 400USD; BS shop in China). "BS".. BankSwitched.. ;-)
I ordered with paypal.
They cancelled immediatly the appearance in eBay.
I complained to Paypal since I never got the item and the seller did not answer to my ebay mails after several weeks.
The paypal inssurance stepped in.
Same another time with Mastercard.
Got the money back anytime.
I suggest, for the fun, do it (I had time to try and learn this the week-end for few money.. like a brain-training).
If they have any paypal or any Mastercard, you will get the money back if you dont get the item (look at the selling condition of the payment.. if paypal dont support anymore what happens to me, the risk could be high).. And they could be blocked from Mastercard and Paypal.
If it is not a scam, you get the item (original second-hand or this is a DM41X in the housing?). haha.

Update: I tried to order one. Thanks for the indication of that good looking cheap item.
When paypal is clicked (no sending costs for US or Deutschland. whatever. great. haha), they try to get data from me.

Billing Vorname ist ein Pflichtfeld.
Billing Familienname / Nachname ist ein Pflichtfeld.
Billing Adresse ist ein Pflichtfeld.
Billing PLZ / ZIP ist ein Pflichtfeld.
Billing Stadt / City ist ein Pflichtfeld.
Billing Phone ist ein Pflichtfeld.
Billing E-Mail-Adresse ist ein Pflichtfeld.

I would say a typical phishing page. Somebody should complain to its local autorities.

bbergman · 09-22-2022, 03:54 PM

The 41CX image is stock, so very hard to tell if it's legit, but having 90 of them seems suspect. Smile

The HP-25 image is easier to check, and a reverse image search brings back that image from the Facebook group "Real Engineers Use...", so it appears stolen from there. And I doubt they have 19 of the exact same version.

So yes, domain name aside (which is totally sus too), I think it's safe to say this is a scam listing.

YMMV.

floppy · 09-22-2022, 04:13 PM

Report a phishing? https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrow...ish/?hl=de
(I have done)

aurelio · 09-22-2022, 08:18 PM

It reminds me when a friend of mine bought a pair of Timberland on a site that looked graphically like this. He was even lucky to receive a pair of shoes, but certainly not the original ones.... Smile

interesting.... locating your IP and then your country it correctly shows the language and currency of reference!

**rprosperi** · 09-22-2022, 10:12 PM

I made a purchase from this site today (not the 41CX, other HP items) and the sale was processed completely as expected. They use 'Checkout with PayPal' as their processor for credit card payments, so of course you do need to sign-in to PayPal to do so. The PayPal process was normal and once the purchase was completed, I immediately received an emailed receipt from the company as well as a legitimate receipt from PayPal, for the exact same amounts, etc. The PayPal invoice says "You paid $XX.XX USD to STANDARD MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC" however it is quite common for the Checkout with PayPal company name to be different from the marketing name used on the website.

Seems fuilly legit to me, at least as a company to buy from.

That said, they also offer other HP calculators which indeed have been tested by the company and these offer money back, so as noted above, just run when you see a 41C listed as "untested" and "no returns", even if the photo of the battery contacts looks clean and shiny.

It will take an adventuresome person to take a chance on purchasing one of these...

floppy · 09-23-2022, 07:15 AM

Ah. I was wrong.
However, asking personal contacts of a person and not offering the straight direct way of buying by paypal (dont ask anything, just send at the address behind paypal payment) is not a good business way.

toml_12953 · 09-23-2022, 07:41 AM

(09-22-2022 11:46 AM)ijabbott Wrote: Has anyone seen this:

https://www.nytimes.top/product/Hp-41cx-...kiqjm.html

HP 41CX, 90 in stock, for $41.50 (reduced from $83.00). Surely a scam.

Also the "nytimes.top" domain name is suspicious, suggesting some connection with The New York Times, but of course there is none. (It's registered in China.)

Maybe someone in London could drive by there and see if they're real.

St. James's London UK

Massimo Gnerucci · (This post was last modified: 09-23-2022 11:13 AM by Massimo Gnerucci.)

I think these are simply text and pictures taken from eBay auctions.

The same item (HP 42S) is listed @50% discount as 19 and 1000 items in stock (!) in two different sites.

I seriously doubt you will ever receive one.

abstractdragon · 09-23-2022, 08:02 AM

(09-23-2022 07:41 AM)toml_12953 Wrote: Maybe someone in London could drive by there and see if they're real.

It's not an address though, just a street - Pall Mall, in St James's. Whois puts the domain registrant in Fujian, China. Registered in March this year.

floppy · 09-23-2022, 08:09 AM

(09-22-2022 08:18 PM)aurelio Wrote: It reminds me when a friend of mine bought a pair of Timberland on a site that looked graphically like this. He was even lucky to receive a pair of shoes, but certainly not the original ones....

Happens here too. A family member received a "similar" product from a webpage (not the brand article which should have been sold), went to a local shop of the brand article, received a letter from them "this is similar but this is not our product" (they were soo nice to write it; normally they say "F***O** you did not buy it here"), went to the bank and gave the letter (that was a visa sold by the bank). We got the money back. That was a brain jogging. I recommend anybody to do this if they just want to shutdown corrupt sellers in China. A bit like "robin Hood" for the branded articles. However, the effort is high.
So, the "dont return" dont make me fear here, what make me thinking is who will attest this is not an HP brand? (if not). "not tested" means it can be defect because this is not written "working". It means if anybody is running after its money later, what will be for the bank a good reason to give the money back. One major reason is "product delivered not according data representation". A kind of usual consumer protection and usual thinking in banks in Germany (depending of your country it can change).

Mark Power · (This post was last modified: 09-23-2022 10:45 AM by Mark Power.)

There are a number of things about this site which would make me suspicious:

Playing on nytimes is at best misleading
.top domain name is registered in China as OP pointed out
Selling cheap HP-41 calculators from Pall Mall in London? Anyone who has played the UK version of Monopoly will know property prices here are off the scale. Rightmove has a couple of 1-bed flats for just under £1m, a 2-bed for £1.35m and a quite nice 3-bed for just under £6m
A search of companies house shows no active companies with the name Ecolife on Pall Mall, though there are 4 in other areas of London. One is for retail sales over the internet but not on Pall Mall. One is dormant, the owner of another is in Italy and the other is a Management Consultancy.
Language English but just showing a US flag? The half stars and stripes, and half Union Jack, are not difficult to find - unless you don't know any better.
The homepage image looks like it has come straight from a web builder app
How hard is it for someone selling 90 HP-41s to buy a set of batteries, test them and show them working?

Hopefully, Bob will get his goods, but I wouldn't risk a lot of money with them as it is probably just a shop front for someone in China or elsewhere.

I hope that helps.

**rprosperi** · 09-23-2022, 12:28 PM

(09-23-2022 10:45 AM)Mark Power Wrote: Hopefully, Bob will get his goods, but I wouldn't risk a lot of money with them as it is probably just a shop front for someone in China or elsewhere.

If I don't, I will get my money back, as PayPal will always cover such problems with no hassles. The fact that this site uses PayPal actually gives me confidence, why would they use a processor that will refund all buyer's fees if they were primarily a scammer?

Also, if this is indeed a scam site, it seems to me they would be selling items like PlayStation and X Box, and not bother with ancient HP Calculators and accessories. I think it's just some energetic small company in China with misc old goods to sell, and they adopted a familiar US Business Name and London Address to present a thin veil of legitimacy. We'll see...

Massimo Gnerucci · 09-23-2022, 02:00 PM

I stand with my conjecture: ebay ads harvesting.

And why add Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn icons, pointing nowhere?
Or non-existent App Store and Google Play apps?

floppy · 09-23-2022, 02:25 PM

(09-23-2022 02:00 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote: I stand with my conjecture: ebay ads harvesting.

And why add Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn icons, pointing nowhere?
Or non-existent App Store and Google Play apps?

Massimo,
haha..
jump over your shadow..
Buy 10 of them and resell them 61,50 USD in allschwill.
You will make money in order to pay your hotel
;-)

AndiGer · 09-23-2022, 02:25 PM

(09-23-2022 02:00 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote: I stand with my conjecture: ebay ads harvesting.

And why add Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn icons, pointing nowhere?
Or non-existent App Store and Google Play apps?

Exactly what I just discovered when I went to the site for the first time.
Enter HP (or any other string they "sell") in the search field and search.
Result: No products were found matching your selection.

Massimo Gnerucci · 09-23-2022, 02:46 PM

(09-23-2022 02:25 PM)floppy Wrote:
(09-23-2022 02:00 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote: I stand with my conjecture: ebay ads harvesting.

And why add Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn icons, pointing nowhere?
Or non-existent App Store and Google Play apps?
Massimo,
haha..
jump over your shadow..
Buy 10 of them and resell them 61,50 USD in allschwill.
You will make money in order to pay your hotel
;-)

I won't be there, unfortunately. :D

Massimo Gnerucci · 09-23-2022, 02:49 PM

(09-23-2022 02:25 PM)AndiGer Wrote:
(09-23-2022 02:00 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote: I stand with my conjecture: ebay ads harvesting.

And why add Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn icons, pointing nowhere?
Or non-existent App Store and Google Play apps?

Exactly what I just discovered when I went to the site for the first time.
Enter HP (or any other string they "sell") in the search field and search.
Result: No products were found matching your selection.

Yes, I did that too.
Not working: even if they show you similar items in the lower band with HP in the description.

floppy · 09-23-2022, 03:08 PM

A little Spam story (more).

The buying conditions are crucial: if you dont know the persons or the person is anonymous or the selling conditions are weird "sold as it is", just never send money or money to "a friend" or money to a country where you know you will have no chance to go to court.

I was caught at ebay-kleinanzeigen.de and the paypal account was robertfeierabendd@gmx.de
the part never arrived.
after payment nobody answered.
(no risk to keep this information here, I have all proof that happened).