alert! Component scams reach out to out-of-stock buyers, and many terminal manufacturers are defrauded of advance payments

The intensified global "core shortage" of semiconductors in the past six months has triggered the competition for production capacity and spot in the industry. At the same time, it has also nurtured some criminals who use terminal manufacturers to rush production and worry about lack of materials to concoct fake inventory and trading websites. , after taking away the advance payment of the purchasers, there is no news from then on, let alone delivery!
Warning component buyers not to fall into the latest false inventory trap. According to ERAI, the scammers used a chain method to defraud the payment for the goods from a number of component terminals, but never delivered the goods. Due to the eagerness of the buyers for the goods, the scammers succeeded easily and repeatedly.

At present, it is only known that the scammer used the pseudonym "NickMartin", and concocted several "component companies" and "trading websites", and used various methods to claim that they had stocks of many popular models. The buyer will be asked to pay in advance and the status of "in stock" or "ready to ship" will be displayed during the order process. Once payment has been wire transferred, the order will never be updated or shipped. If the victim asks for a refund or delivery at this time, no one responds to the email or message, and the payment will fall into the pocket of the scammer and will never be recovered.

In these multiple fraud cases, scammers lured eager buyers to their own "phishing websites" through search engines and component trade portals, and then used false inventory and ordering systems to defraud purchase trust and payment.
Among these multiple scams, the target of this "NickMartin" scam is not limited to independent component distributors, but OEM, CM and EMS end users are its ideal "fat sheep", because such customers are often used to remittances in advance The so-called "inventory" is "locked" for the shipment, and it is accustomed to swallowing up after being deceived, choosing not to report the deception to the third-party platform.

In addition, among these scams, there is an obvious commonality, that is, the victims did not obtain reliable transaction credentials in advance before placing an order. Of course, there were also buyers who insisted on certificates, but this "Nick Martin" used a business entity in his name to issue false certificates and deceived the buyers.

In addition, scammers use false GIs on trading websites to defraud trust in purchases. Buyers see a so-called "office address" that doesn't actually exist. This takes advantage of the psychology of buyers who are eager to "snatch" inventory, and there is no way to spend time verifying the background of the transaction object.
As early as 2018, I noticed that "Nick Martin" (pseudonym) began to defraud. Although the merchants lost only a sum of money, the cumulative amount could reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. At the same time, ERAI itself was also jointly and severally sued, with a total compensation claim of $321,463.30.

Since then, many victims have reported and posted their victimization experiences on fraud prevention platforms such as Better Business Bureau, ScamPulse.com and Scamdoc.com. The majority of Soxinyi merchants who are concerned about this matter can go to check and investigate the transaction objects they are currently in contact with.

Soxinyi intimately reminds everyone that in the process of international trade, frauds from overseas are often well-camouflaged, highly concealed, and difficult to trace. Domestic purchasers should not be impulsive and believe in unfamiliar sources of goods, let alone give unfamiliar distributors. Business payment, especially overseas accounts. If the seller refuses payment methods other than wire transfer, then it is necessary to pay more attention to verify the actual situation of the transaction subject before conducting the transaction.