I’ve been aware of a website for a little while which has been operating under the pretence of a marketplace. It works in a similar way to other marketplaces like XStreetSL, except that all the products on there are listed as free.
Except they’re not free at all.
Virtualget.net has been operating for a couple of months now and they claim to be offering the merchandise of reputable retailers in Second Life for free. Only, you have to sign up to a monthly subscription for it, to the tune of USD14.86/month.
So claiming to be selling products from creators who haven’t given permission is one thing. Then scamming the customers out of their credit card details is a whole new thing which I don’t believe we’ve seen before. This is a direct attack on both the retailer’s reputation as sellers, and on the consumer’s financial position.
Whereby I normally don’t waste my time on thieves or petty drama, a blatant phishing scam like this requires as much attention drawn to it to be sure as few people as possible hand over their credit card details in what will inevitably cost them dearly.
This is simple – the website does not send out any of the goods it claims to have. They’re simply harvesting the listings from XStreet SL and then relisting them on their own website. It’s fraudulent activity with the simple aim of harvesting your credit card details. Simply put, don’t buy into it because you’ll just get burnt.
A Whois search on the Domain name shows it has been made private by the domain owner. Which should already ring alarm bells. Then there’s the logo which appears to claim that they’re affiliated with Linden Labs. My sources within the Lab assure me that they’re not. This is in no way a legitimate business, and is simply a scam designed to target the users of Second Life.
At time of publish, Virtualget.net have not responded to the allegations.
Tweets that mention The Scam of Virtualget.net - Metaversally Speaking.. -- Topsy.com on October 7, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Indigo Mertel and Invictus Berthold. Invictus Berthold said: @phoenixwaller thanks for warning. I've just found an article on this VirtualGet site. Hope LL will do something about it: http://ow.ly/t3qK [...]
Arduenn Schwartzman on October 7, 2009
These are their domain registration specs:
OrgName: Reality Check Network Corp.
OrgID: RCN-12
Address: 155 Water St
City: Brooklyn
StateProv: NY
PostalCode: 11201
Country: US
NetRange: 69.55.48.0 – 69.55.63.255
CIDR: 69.55.48.0/20
NetName: REALITY-CHECK-NETWORK
NetHandle: NET-69-55-48-0-1
Parent: NET-69-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.REALITYCHECKNETWORK.COM
NameServer: NS2.REALITYCHECKNETWORK.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 2007-05-21
Updated: 2007-05-21
OrgTechHandle: MUR-ARIN
OrgTechName: Uretsky, Moisey
OrgTechPhone: +1-866-726-4678
OrgTechEmail: *****@realitychecknetwork.com
# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2009-10-05 20:00
Arduenn Schwartzman on October 7, 2009
It’s a webhosting company. They could be notified that one of their customers is scamming and possibly violating their terms of service.
The Scam of Virtualget.net – Metaversally Speaking.. | Portal site of Second Life and metaverse"MetaLog-meta log" on October 7, 2009
[...] Virtualget.net has been operating for a couple of months now and they claim to be offering the merch… [...]
Sam on October 12, 2009
How do you get domain details as such? I could find this very useful.
Speak Now, or Forever Hold Your.. « on January 30, 2010
[...] Hold Your.. I was once criticised by irrelevant individuals for “sitting” on the story of VirtualGet which appeared to be a phishing scam, in that it asked for credit card details in return for a [...]