Have You Been a Victim of The Newegg.com Scam?

A few months back I wrote this post wondering if Newegg.com is running a scam. To recap the Newegg.com scam, someone got my wife's credit card number, address, and email and then ordered a $1000 camera lens. I contacted Newegg.com and yelled at everyone I could speak with regarding their terrible fraud protection.  We received an email to setup a return which we did and when we shipped the item back to Newegg.com it was refused at Newegg.com's warehouse.  So I worked with American Express and put a block on Newegg.com to prevent them, their scammers, the people who try to scam, and even us from ever putting a Newegg.com charge on our cards ever again.  Amex did credit the scammed purchase.

Well you'd think after I wrote that story, Newegg.com would get their act together when it comes to people scamming them.  Unfortunately, based on the comments on my original post, it's clear that Newegg.com doesn't care that there is a scam happening with their platform.  I'd encourage people to just call their credit card company and place a block on Newegg.com so that no charges can be placed on your card from this subpar company.

HOW THE NEWEGG.COM SCAM WORKS

1. Somehow someone gets your credit card, name, address, and email.  Obviously getting your credit card is the hard part
2. This person orders a $1000 item and has it shipped to your house.
3. You get a strange email from Newegg.com alerting you to the scam order. Of course you think it is scam so you probably ignore it or maybe you think it is a "gift"
4. Then the item shows up at your door which you open and to your surprise you are now the owner of some item you didnt order, but to your bank credit card, it looks like you actually bought the Newegg.com scam item.
5. You then call into Newegg.com to tell them you didnt order this.  Of course to Newegg.com it looks like you did.
6. If you are smart and angry enough, you convince them it was the Newegg.com scam and you setup a return. They'll probably tell you that this item was the result of a scammer who got your card and was on their way to pick up the item at your house (don't believe Newegg.com but please call your local police).
7. You'll then setup the return, UPS will pick up the item and then about a week later you'll find the item at your house because it was denied acceptance by Newegg.com
8. Finally, at that point you'll be at the mercy of your credit card company.  American Express agreed with me and reversed the charge.  One of the commenters from my original Newegg.com scam post wrote that Wells Fargo agreed with Newegg.com and they are now fighting with Wells Fargo.

I wouldn't buy an item from Newegg.com. I wouldnt let a friend by from Newegg.com.  I wouldn't ever let a charge from Newegg.com show up on a credit card.  I'd put a block on my credit cards.  If everyone did this, Newegg.com would finally take their scam problem seriously and actually do something about it.  Read the comments on my original post.  You'll see there are tons of people that have been impacted by the Newegg.com scam.

PardonMyFrench,

Eric

Comments

[Edd B]

I recieved 2 items that I didn't order from newegg at the same time. The retail value for both items combined was less than $200. I called my credit card carrier and found out that the items were not billed to my account, so I do not know who ordered or paid for these items. I called newegg, and sure enough, they gave me the same UPS will pick them up song and dance that you got. They didn't seem concerned that fraud had occurred. I have since contacted Steve Cooley, their DA to have them investigated.

[Joseph Damiani]

I just had the same thing happen to me. I had a computer arrive at my home from Newegg and never ordered it. I never heard of this site and never visited the site online. I had a $1064 charge on my credit card from Newegg which I did not authorize.I have filed a fraud complaint with Wells Fargo about this company. I was given the same information as the about person has noted. I believe this company to be the cause of this fraud and hope that I am given my money back. J Damiani

[Martin]

I have just received email notification of an order that was billed to my MasterCard. Ive never heard of the company let alone placed an order. When I tried to investigate the order my anti virus software didnt allow the connection. Waiting to see if there are any charges on my credit card and if anything shows up at my door.

[LarryG]

I got one this morning. The tip off was mention of an AmEx card, which I haven't owned in 20yrs.

[HaHa]

I love that since you reference NewEgg the Ad Banners on the side offer to send you TO NewEgg to buy Stuff....Priceless

[Stephen Oliver]

I'm here because I've just received an e-mail from newegg.com about an order apparently booked to my amex card. The problem is, I don't *have* an amex card.

In addition, the e-mail address quoted as the customer ID is wrong; the ISP is correct, but the user ID one of four on the recipients list. Links all point to the same URL: http://perthmobilemarketingconsultant.com.au/Qbaz23z0/index.html.

What am I supposed to do about all this?

[Eric Frenchman]

I'd say call your local police. Newegg.com doesn't care and when I spoke with them last year thats what they told me. They said their security is awesome

[Newegg customer]

The emails are not from Newegg. They are fake phishing scams to get you to click on the order number and be directed to a phony website to get more information from you. The website that s actually linked by the order number in the email I got this morning was a page on iamyourvillain.com

[Eric Frenchman]

The recent batch is phishing. My original post was not - it came directly from newegg including the camera lense

[The Big O]

Its not just Newegg, this happens at every major online retailer, so keep your pants on. I can understand youre mad but discrediting a fantastic retailer because someone frauded you is just spiteful. An order submitted with a shipping adress same as the billing address, as in your case, seems completely normal, so i dont know what other form of protection you were looking for. Ive purchased many things from them and their customer service is great when dealing with returns. Look at the complaints about Amazon fraud...a lot worse than any other retailer. When dealing with fraud go to your bank for resolution. Dont blacklist a great company because you had to make a phone call. Good day, sir!

[PardonMyFrench]

Hi The Big O,

I appreciate your comments and your defense of a company you like to do business with. However, it's not as simple as you think.

1) Newegg.com decides fraud protection on their site. Not the credit card companies. Weak site fraud protection = more fraud. My wife's Amex got compromised. I put a lot more value in Amex's fraud protection then Newegg.com

2) Newegg.com refuses the return even after I called into complain. I spoke to supervisors and got the same awful customer service. If they are such a great company why do they refuse a return that was already credited back?

Based on my experiences and countless other people's similar experiences, they are a bad company. They don't take fraud seriously. They don't care. You obviously enjoy their services and have had no issues. That's great.

Me and other people impacted by similar fraud practices, disagree and won't don't business with them EVER again (I blocked their charges on all of our Amex cards).

Finally, if your defense of Newegg.com is so great, why were your googling Newegg.com scam to get here?

PardonMyFrench,

Eric

[aziz senan]

I purchased a Dell laptop supposed to be refurbished but I received I totally damaged computer, CPU fan not working it starts to get burning smell after a minute, keyboard keys not functioning and bad battery.

[E S]

Thank you, The Big O. Eric, you're overreacting. These companies are so huge it's structurally impossible for them to (a) prevent the kind of fraud being discussed here and (b) provide the kind of customer service about it you are looking for.

Eric, I got here by Googling "why is newegg called newegg", so again, please keep your pants on.

Finally, I'm sorry this happened to you guys.

[Eric Frenchman]

Hey ES,

Pants are on. Not sure why your Google search of "why is newegg called newegg" got you here but if Google is spreading my message and other people's message of terrible customer service, then that's fine by me.

Customer service was what set me off. I spoke with a rep, supervisor, and executive complaint. They offered no help. No explanation and refused shipment of the item when I followed their own instructions to return it.

The customer service is pathetic and they can fix that. I'm not the only one who had the item refused.

Why is it refused? That's not normal for a legitimate retail company.

None of the newegg.com defenders and newegg.com employees that have posted here have ever offered an explanation for the refusal of the item and the lousy customer service I received up and down the customer service chain. Why is that? Also, they choose which fraud protection they use.

I'd never buy from newegg.com. If you've had good experiences with them, more power to you. Not me. It was lousy and fixable and they don't care.

PardonMyFrench,

Eric

[C.C.]

I googled newegg.com scams because I am looking for good black friday deals for my kids christmas, and I have never heard of them. Was looking for what negative has been said first because you just can't be too careful! Don't think I will try this website, just for safe measure, whether they are at fault or their customers are being victimized by others, don't look like they are giving much support in it. Thanks for the info!

[Anti-scammer]

The only scam here is the OP.

I've used Newegg nearly since it first opened up. Never had a single problem. Then again I don't have my credit info stored on my computer at all.

[Karen]

OMG....I just got an mini ipad...have no idea who newegg is until I got the ipad mini and charge on my card!!! They have reversed the charges, cancelled my card and now I am not sure I want to send this thing back if it is just going to keep coming back to me! I am closed my cc account and sadly...I think the number might have been picked up from Amazon as my son gets his college books from there!

[VM]

I had an issue with Newegg a few years back. Two items which I didn't order showed up on my credit card bill. These items weren't shipped to my house but to some address across the country. I contacted Newegg only to be told these items were ordered using my credit card and there was nothing they could do. I contacted my credit card company to dispute the charges. The first response I got from my credit card company was that in speaking with Newegg they determined the charges were legitimate. I wonder what song and dance these Newegg clowns tell the credit card companies. Anyway, I sent a follow-up to my credit card company telling them that I had recently been issued a new card because of the previous card being lost. The curious thing was that the Newegg charge was after I received my new card. There was no way the credit card company should've authorized a charge on a cancelled card. Visa almost immediately got back to us telling us they were reversing the charge and were sorry for any trouble. To this day I'm more angry at Visa than Newegg to be honest with you.

[matt]

They just hit me for 129.99 . I NEVER heard of them before, when I called about it , the guy on the phone started fishing for more info , info that IF I had ordered they WOULD HAVE , I quickly shut him down.

I'm not sure where they are getting the info but it seems they have NO PROBLEM making obviously fraudulent charges on peoples cards.

[Kris]

thank you, was just getting ready to make my first order with them and thought to google. Thank you everyone here that has posted. You might have saved me!