Prime-Goods.uk is a scam website that offers to buy items at unusually discounted prices. It may appear as a discounter, or as a marketplace for warehouse liquidation items, but it is in fact just a story to make you think this site is legitimate. Upon ordering goods from this site, you will most likely get nothing at all, or, at best, inferior or counterfeit items.
In this article, I will demonstrate the red flags regarding the Prime-Goods.uk shop, the way this deception operates, and show how to detect similar frauds. This will help you to avoid similar shopping frauds in future.
Prime-Goods.uk Site – Scam Overview
As I said, Prime-Goods.uk may initially seem like a genuine discounter or the merchant of stock liquidation items. But a brief analysis shows a concerning amount of red flags that indicate clearly about this site’s deception. Unfair advertising methods, unreasonably low prices, absence of customer support and user feedback – this site fulfills the scam bingo right away.
Website | Prime-Goods.uk |
Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
IP Address | 104.18.11.62 |
Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
Scam Type | Fraudulent/Scam online shop |
By purchasing items on sites like Prime-Goods.uk, it is improbable that you will receive the items you’ve ordered. More often, it results in one of 3 scenarios common for scam sites.
Counterfeit goods. Not the worst option, as you get at least something. But as it usually happens to fake items of popular brands, the standard will be inferior, to say the least. Eventually, the site may mention about that somewhere deep in the item description or “about us” page, but users rarely check them thoroughly. This is a specifically often case when ordering from pages that offer baubles, small electronics and stuff the like.
Wrong item. To make the deal look real, but spend even less money on the actual item, rascals may ship a random item they have on hand instead of what you’ve ordered. A worn t-shirt instead of a new one, a dented aluminum dish instead of a set of dishes – frauds may turn quite inventive in that case.
Absolutely nothing. This is the most frequent outcome when ordering items from pages like Prime-Goods.uk. Scams take your money, promise the delivery, and then just disappear. As scams are not going to exist for a long time, rascals do not bother themselves with creating even a faint sight of legitimacy.
Prime-Goods.uk scam – How does it work?
As any fraud, Prime-Goods.uk runs a simple and well-proven modus operandi. It commonly consists of 3 stages, with certain deviations from time to time.
Step 1 – Attract the Masses. Scammers post massive amounts of promotions on online platforms, particularly preferring Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Paid ads say the same things as their sites do: 90% discounts, free delivery around the world, hurry up to get the deal.
As users regard ads on the mentioned platforms genuine, they do not doubt anything at this point. Ads become particularly convincing during major events that boost people’s interest in shopping, like Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, etc. Sometimes, they disguise themselves as resellers of the liquidated stock of bankrupt retail companies.
Step 2 – Take the Money. Once consumers are on the site, tricksters do their best to make the consumers buy something. Mind-boggling deals, additional discounts, free shipping, bright and blinking “Order Now” buttons that are just everywhere – they use every single method possible. And this works out – uninformed users stick to the offers and proceed to paying for the order.
Payments are done in a peculiar manner. Instead of more classic options for online shopping, like Visa/MasterCard payments or PayPal, deceivers offer using direct bank transfers, Venmo or CashApp. Thing is, the latter do not provide any refunds, regardless of the circumstances. Even when you can prove that the transaction went to tricksters, “no refunds” is a part of their policy which you agree on upon registration.
Step 3 – Vanish. Once swindlers get enough money, or – what is more likely – there are enough complaints and user reports regarding the site being fraudulent, they simply disappear. Usually, this happens at around the 2nd or 3rd week of the site activity. Once enough people know about the dishonest activity, the money flow will dry up, leaving scammers with no reason to move on. Reporting the scam to the domain hosting speeds up the domain takedown.
Why is Prime-Goods.uk a Scam?
Well, we just talked about the way the fraud site operates. Now, let’s see how to understand whether the site is fraudulent without risking your money. Fortunately, scammers do not bother themselves with creating well-rounded disguises, so the same red flags repeat from one site to another.
1. Fake or absent reviews
Scam sites aim to exist for 1-2 weeks, so there’s no reason (and way) to make any online reputation with reviews. Obviously, even legit shopping sites will lack consumer comments when they have just started, as there were only a few patrons yet. For that reason, this sign is not stand-alone and requires confirmation by other signs or indicators.
However, when you face phishy-looking reviews that have no relation to what the site offers for sale, that’s definitely not a good sign. Any unclear or drivel reviews that may describe any item sold on the website should be taken with a grain of salt. And well, on scam sites you will get an entire saltcellar. Always search for reviews on Google – this may save your money.
2. Unbelievably high discounts/low prices
No merchants will sell goods at loss for themselves. 70%, 80%, 90% discounts are not viable even during sales events such as the aforementioned Black Friday. In some cases, dishonest websites set the prices low without saying anything about discounts, but they will most likely be outrageous, like $30 for a bed or $10 for a branded leather bag. Goods may be sold at a low price, but every discount has its logical limits.
3. No customer support.
This is what distinguishes fraudulent websites from the benign ones, even newly established. When a site is about to defraud the clients, there’s no need to waste time on answering their questions. Check out the “About us” or “Info” page (if it is present at all) – the page will likely have no support contacts at all.
When they offer an email, or even a phone number to contact them, there is a great possibility that these emails and numbers will be dead silent to your request. This, or you will receive some generic text regardless of your question.
As frauds tend to reuse phone numbers and email addresses as “support” contacts, you can search them on Google. When they appear on a different website, be sure you are facing a blatant scam.
4. Payments via payment systems that does not support refunds
This scam indicator is complementary, as there are a lot of benign services using direct bank transfers, CashApp, Venmo or payment systems like them. Each of the latter has the same feature I’ve already mentioned above: they do not suppose any refunds. And this is what makes it so attractive to scammers – once you paid for the order, there’s no way to get the money back.
Some websites may also ask for payments in crypto, which feature even less control. While crypto payments expand their presence slowly, they still remain a beloved bay for different scams.
5. Items’ images are sourced from another page
As frauds are unlikely to have any goods on hand, they are not able to make unique pictures. Thus their only option is to hijack these images elsewhere. When fraudsters offer identical goods on different websites, you can find same images on similarly-looking fraudulent sites. By searching for the image on Google, you can prove the uniqueness of an image.
6. Design repeats the one of a different page
This is the continuation of the stolen images I’ve just described. As rascals may parasite on the same topic repeatedly, they reuse the same web design under the new web-address, and voila – a new scam site is ready to rock-n-roll! In some cases, image search advice I’ve mentioned above may lead you to the copy of the site you’ve started on. It allows you to uncover such scams particularly easy, but crooks who create them never aim at cautious users.
Is your PC infected?
There are situations when Prime-Goods.uk website, together with similar scam pages, are promoted by malware. Adware and browser hijackers are malware types that aim specifically at such purposes. If you see excessive ads in your web browser, have your search queries redirected into an unusual search engine and some random pages open time to time, scan your system with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This will help you to get rid of annoying promotions and scam sites.
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Frequently Asked Questions about the Prime-Goods.uk Scam
Prime-Goods.uk operates as a scam website that pretends to be an online store selling various items at low prices. However, it is involved in fraudulent activities and aims to deceive customers by sending counterfeit or inferior products or not delivering anything at all.
There are several red flags to watch out for. First and foremost, Prime-Goods.uk shop recently set up its online platform, which is a common trait of brief deceptive sites that rapidly evaporate. Second, the site lacks contact details such as a phone number, physical address, or real-time chat choice, making it challenging to address problems or queries. Third, it provides fake business information, presenting no genuine data about the enterprise behind the website. Moreover, this scam entices buyers with unrealistic rebates and sales offers, reducing prices by over 70% or even 90%. Furthermore, Prime-Goods.uk reproduces content and product images from genuine e-commerce platforms like Alibaba, Amazon, and Aliexpress, indicating a absence of innovation and trustworthiness. In addition, despite asserting to provide trendy and fashionable products, the site lacks any social media presence or links to social media platforms. Lastly, real client testimonials is completely absent, with reports of delayed or missing deliveries, substandard customer support, faulty or inaccurate products, refund difficulties, and unauthorized billing on credit cards.
No, it is not a legitimate or reliable website. The aforementioned red flags indicate that it lacks credibility and has been reported as a scam site. Customers have experienced receiving counterfeit products or facing difficulties in obtaining refunds or contacting the company.
Take the following steps if you have made a purchase on Prime-Goods.uk:
- Firstly, immediately contact your bank or financial institution if you paid with a credit card or debit card. Request them to cancel the transaction and initiate a refund. Additionally, report Prime-Goods.uk as a fraudulent site and urge them to block future charges from it.
- Promptly change your passwords if you have a Prime-Goods.uk account or use the same password for other online accounts. Consider enabling two-factor authentication to enhance security against hackers attempting to access your accounts and steal personal information.
- Beware of phishing emails related to your Prime-Goods.uk order. Treat any emails offering discounts or refunds as phishing attempts. Avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading attachments that may contain malware. Delete such emails immediately.
- To prevent malicious ads, Trojans, phishing attempts, and other undesirable content, use a browser-based content blocker like AdGuard. This will complement your antivirus software and provide enhanced protection.
- If you suspect your device is infected with malware, scan it using Gridinsoft Anti-Malware to ensure your security.
No, Prime-Goods.uk does not have genuine customer feedback or testimonials. The absence of legitimate customer reviews further indicates its untrustworthiness and potentially fraudulent nature.