Vigorousm.com is a scam website that offers to buy items at exceptionally cheap prices. It may appear as a discounter, or as a marketplace for warehouse liquidation items, but it is actually just a narrative to make you think this site is legitimate. Upon ordering goods from this site, you will likely get nothing at all, or, at best, inferior or counterfeit items.
In this article, I will demonstrate the red flags regarding the Vigorousm.com shop, the way this fraud operates, and show how to detect similar frauds. This will help you to avoid similar shopping scams in future.
Vigorousm.com Site – Scam Overview
As I said, Vigorousm.com may initially appear like a legit discounter or the seller of stock liquidation items. But a swift analysis shows a concerning amount of red flags that indicate clearly about this site’s deception. Questionable advertising methods, excessively low prices, absence of user support and customer testimonials – this site completes the fraud bingo right away.
Website | Vigorousm.com |
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 on pages like Vigorousm.com, it is unlikely that you will get the items you’ve ordered. More commonly, it results in one of 3 cases typical for scam sites.
Counterfeit goods. Not the worst option, as you get at least something. But as it usually happens to imitation items of popular brands, the quality will be inferior, to say the least. Eventually, the site may inform about that somewhere deep in the item description or “about us” page, but users rarely check them thoroughly. This is a especially common case when ordering from websites that promote baubles, small electronics and stuff the like.
Wrong item. To make the transaction look more legitimate, but spend even less money on the delivered item, scammers may send a random item they have instead of what you’ve ordered. An old t-shirt instead of a brand new one, a dented aluminum dish instead of a set of dishes – frauds may turn quite inventive in that case.
Nothing at all. This is the most usual scenario when ordering goods from pages like Vigorousm.com. Fraudsters take your money, promise the delivery, and then simply vanish. As scams are not going to exist for a long time, scammers are not wasting effort creating even a vague visibility of legitimacy.
Vigorousm.com scam – How does it work?
As any scam, Vigorousm.com follows a simple and well-proven scheme of operations. It usually consists of 3 stages, with certain deviations from time to time.
Step 1 – Attract the Masses. Scammers post massive amounts of marketing 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 deem ads on the mentioned platforms genuine, they do not suspect anything at this point. Ads become especially convincing during major events that boost people’s interest in shopping, like Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, etc. Sometimes, they mask themselves as resellers of the liquidated stock of bankrupt retail companies.
Step 2 – Take the Money. Once users are on the site, scammers do their best to make the individuals buy something. Mind-boggling deals, additional discounts, free delivery, bright and blinking “Order Now” buttons that are just everywhere – they use every single method possible. And this works out – uninformed consumers stick to the offers and proceed to paying for the order.
Payments are done in a curious 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 swindlers, “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 about the site being a scam, they simply vanish. Usually, this happens at around the 2nd or 3rd week of the site activity. Once enough people are aware about the dishonest activity, the profits will dry up, leaving cheats with no motivation to move on. Reporting the scam to the hosting helps take the domain down pretty quickly.
Why is Vigorousm.com a Scam?
Well, we just talked about the way the hoax site operates. Now, let’s see how to understand whether the site is untrustworthy without risking your money. Fortunately, frauds 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 purpose (and way) to make any online reputation with feedback. Obviously, even legit online shopping sites will lack customer reviews when they have just started, since there were not many buyers yet. For that reason, this sign is not stand-alone and must be confirmed with other signs or indicators.
However, once you face unrealistic reviews that have no relation to what the site sells, that’s definitely not a good sign. Any blurred or balderdash reviews that may describe any item sold on the site should be taken with a grain of salt. And well, on deceptive sites you will get an entire saltcellar. Do not hesitate searching 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% reductions are not feasible even during sales events such as the aforementioned Christmas. In some cases, dishonest websites have the initial price low without saying anything about discounts, but they will most likely be ridiculous, 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 reasonable limits.
3. No customer support.
That factor distinguishes deceptive websites from the genuine ones, even newly established. When a site is about to rip off the buyers, there’s no need to bother about answering their questions. Check out the “About us” or “Info” page – the page will most likely have no contact info at all.
When they offer a contact email, or even a phone to reach them out, there is a great chance that these numbers and emails will be dead silent to your request. This, or you will receive some generic text regardless of your question.
As frauds often reuse phone numbers and email addresses as “support” contacts, you can search them on Google. When they appear on a completely different site, be sure you’re facing a blatant scam.
4. Payments via payment systems that does not support refunds
This scam indicator is complementary, as there are a whole lot of genuine shops and services using direct bank transfers, CashApp, Venmo or payment systems like them. Each of the latter has the same pitfall I’ve already mentioned above: they do not suppose any refunds. And this is what attracts scammers – once you paid for the order, there’s no way to get the money back.
Some websites may also ask for payments in cryptocurrency, which feature even less control. While cryptocurrency transactions 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 real items, they cannot shoot unique pictures. Thus their only option is to steal these images from other sites. When fraudsters market identical items on different pages, you can find such images on similarly-looking scam pages. By reverse image searching on Google, you can prove whether the image is unique or not.
6. Design repeats the one of a different page
Scammers do not steal only pictures. As scammers may parasite on the same topic again and again, they reuse the same site design under the new address, and voila – a new scam site is ready to rock-n-roll! In some cases, image search on Google advice from the previous paragraph may lead you to the copy of the original site. It allows you to uncover such scams particularly easy, but crooks who stand behind them never aim at cautious users.
Is your PC infected?
There are situations when Vigorousm.com site, along with similar scam sites, are promoted by malware. Adware and browser hijackers are two particular malware types that aim specifically at such purposes. If you notice excessive amounts of ads appearing in your web browser, see your search queries going in an unusual search engine and some random pages open time to time, scan your PC 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 Vigorousm.com Scam
Vigorousm.com 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 multiple indicators that point at fraudulent nature of Vigorousm.com shop. Firstly, Vigorousm.com shop recently created its webpage, which is a common characteristic of short-lived scam websites that rapidly disappear. Secondly, the site lacks contact information such as a phone number, physical address, or live chat choice, making it challenging to tackle matters or inquiries. Third, it provides fake company details, presenting no authentic data about the enterprise behind the online platform. Additionally, this scam entices buyers with exaggerated discounts and promotions, cutting prices by over 70% or even 90%. Moreover, Vigorousm.com reproduces text and item pictures from genuine web shops like Alibaba, Amazon, and Aliexpress, demonstrating a absence of originality and reliability. Furthermore, despite claiming to provide trendy and fashionable items, the webpage lacks any online networking presence or links to online networking platforms. Lastly, genuine customer feedback is completely absent, with reports of delayed or missing deliveries, substandard customer support, faulty or wrong products, refund difficulties, and unapproved charges 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 Vigorousm.com:
- 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 Vigorousm.com as a fraudulent site and urge them to block future charges from it.
- Promptly change your passwords if you have a Vigorousm.com 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 Vigorousm.com 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, Vigorousm.com does not have genuine customer feedback or testimonials. The absence of legitimate customer reviews further indicates its untrustworthiness and potentially fraudulent nature.