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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

ZAMBID: first scam, slammed

www.zambid.com is a brilliant idea to make legitimate money off of the internet, but that's all it is, an idea. Zambid is a website that allows you to bid on items that seem as if they are being sold EXTREMELY cheap. I saw things such as nintendo wii's going for just over $34. The website could afford to do this because they charge people to bid. Each item starts out with a starting price of nothing. Each time you bid, the price of the item goes up $0.10. The catch is that each bid you make, costs a dollar, and adds 10 seconds to the timer of the auction. So the nintendo wii selling for $34.90 actually made them $349 dollars off of the bids spent on the item, plus the $34.90 you would have to pay them to have the item shipped. If that was all that went into the situation, the site would be a spectacular way to buy ridiculous cheap items, that could easily be resold to turn a profit. The problem is, I watched this site for hours upon end in the last week or two, and have seen various different signs that i felt showed it is nothing more than another scam.

1. The same people bidding on up to 15 items at the same exact time, all within the last 10 seconds of the auctions, over and over again. This could really be happening. One person really could have 15 windows open on a supercomputer, and it still run fast enough, and the person could really bid one time on 15 items in a 10 second period. The issue I found with the situation, was that these same 'user names' are doing the bidding 24 hours a day, all day, every day. This makes me think that either a bidder, or the site itself is running a program that automatically bids, over and over, making it impossible for the average person to win an auction, but completely possible for you to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on bids, showing nothing in return.

2. I also witnessed many different auctions state that there was NO time left. The timer read 00:00. A winner was even proclaimed that very instant on the auctions page. Then, out of nowhere, the winners name went away, and the timer said 00:00. If that was me, and i was proclaimed as the winner, i'd be furiously pissed off when i saw the auction that said i just won, start AGAIN at the same price, and not refunding me my $1 each bids.

3. They claim that they give refunds on any unused bids. From what i've read from pissed off users trying to vent on the internet, is that they never actually refund you the money. If you bought 100 bids, used 10 of them, decided it wasn't for you and wanted a refund, you'd actually be stuck with $90 worth of bids, on a website where you could bid on an auction you will never win.

4. I have searched and searched for someone saying that they ACTUALLY won something off of the site, and that it was ACTUALLY delivered to them. There are a few seldom instances where i found someone saying they won and received something one time, but never after that. but with the number of auctions that end on their every single hour, of every single day, you'd think there would be more people talking about it.

5. The exact same usernames, that win items back to back to back, show up as different winners in the recent winners the site boasts. The same username was listed as both a male, and female name, in two different locations, one in alabama, and one in new york. I  personally watched both auctions end, about 2 hours apart, by the same user. Yet, the winners were two different people.

The idea of zambid is a very very good idea, for both the customer, and the provider. The only problem is, its WAY to good to be true. They ruined a fantastic idea, for the entire world. Zambid, you are the first of many scams i'm gonna call out. Prove its not a scam, i'll revoke the post instantly. Until then, your just another scam slammed.

68 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this. It seemed very scammish to me at first site and this confirms it for me.

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  2. I met a guy on craigslist that said he won an IPAD and that I should check it out. I spent $60 on 3 items and never came even close to winning. The user names that won came out of nowhere. I wish I had seen this blog before I got suckered. I'm going to ask them for a refund and report them to the BBB.

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  3. Shit what?

    I got directed to Zambid too by a guy I was buying an Xbox 360 from on CL. He was selling a whole bundle of stuff worth $250+ for 140. Took four days to respond and said "Well I already sold it, try zambid, that's where I got this."

    Seemed fishy, but I thought he might've had a trade secret or something. Now I'm pretty sure its just a more brilliant CL plot to steal your money.

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  4. Yeah, same here some shady person on CL told me about this site. Thanks for the warning! Keep up the good work

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  5. Same here.. Took forever for the Craigslist seller to respond and when they did they told me it was already sold and to try this website zambid. It seemed too good to be true so I googled it's name and found this site.

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  6. This must have just started up recently, because I am the 4th person posting on this blog this morning.
    I was told about this site off of Craigslist, when inquiring about an iPad.

    The email I received from the CL seller was this:

    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    After reading this blog, as well as the testimony from multiple CL users, I've decided this is a total scam.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I got the EXACT same email response from a Craigslist query for an iPad as well. The return email address was .
    It took 4 days for the guy to respond, with the following:


    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.


    So it IS a CL scam.. Interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  9. OMG!! I got the exact same CL response from a guy trying to sell an entertainment center & tv. Like a flipping dummy I went to the site(did some minor research) and decided to sign up and entered my debit card info...now I can't even log into the freakin' site. I admit it-I fell for the scam. Here is the response I got regarding the entertainment center/tv item for sale on CL: From:PetronilaLacaze214482@hotmail.com. hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    I wish I had seen this site sooner...thank you for the information!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I got following msg for an iphone enquiry in CL. CL should take some action on this.
    "Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ditto here - same exact response from a craigs list posting for an LCD TV. Just like everyone else the response came about for days after the initial email. It said, "hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  12. Same response here...unbelievable! I inquired about a "New In Box 8GB iPod Nano"

    *hey, Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.*

    ReplyDelete
  13. Exact same CL response for me, too. Mine was for an Ipod Touch.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for everyone posting, i just found this blog after trying to research Zambid.com

    Just like everyone else i was refered to zambid from someone on craigslist that sold a iphone i wanted to buy..

    "Sorry sold the iphone already, check zambid that's where i got it"

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  15. if i fell so the scam should i cancel my credit card? or is the scam just to make you keep buying the bid credits?

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  16. got the same email from someone i wastrying to buy a tv off ebay!!!

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  17. Me too. Here's the guy who did it to me..

    "WhitleyBiermanfijwz@hotmail.com"

    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    NOW, we have to mark them as scammers on Craigslist.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I got the same reply from a Wii on CraigsList two days after I sent the first email.

    From: VivienKalaf590206@hotmail.com

    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Same here. 32GB Ipod Touch. 5 days later..."Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple of weeks I'll have one up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Response to a CL ad for a Wii
    from
    ColbyBuckham188289@hotmail.com

    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    ReplyDelete
  21. CL ad for an iPad for $260.

    Response four days later:

    cecil65553@hotmail.com

    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    Response from me:

    Yeah whatever man. Sounds like you're a scam.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Got the same email from annie58846@hotmail.com when trying to buy a TV on CL. Glad I found this site before I got sucked in. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  23. yep.. got the same response from CL when I was looking for an iPad. fucking CL scammers.. they're pretty smart though ahha

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  24. Yep.. I got the same respone back when i enquired about wii on craigslist.

    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow. I had a feeling it was a scam. I am so glad you posted this because I got the SAME EXACT REPLY ON CL after contacting a "guy named Theo in NYC" who was supposedly moving to England and needed to sell his huge flat screen tv fast. I was shocked at how low his price was, but even more shocked that he posted the tv at 2:19pm and I responded to him at 2:21pm the same day-- but he had already sold it???

    hey,

    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick on up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple of weeks I'll have one up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    Crazy stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Same here, got sucked in through Craigslist , Ive been trying to get a refund for my remainding credits but I get no answer and no call back. I wish I should have seen this blog before. I will be contacting the better business bureau.

    ReplyDelete
  27. WHat a rip I knew something was fishy when I got the same craigslist reply and when you look at the recent winners tab the winning bid is not a multiple of 10... for example 3.77, which is not possible if every bid is only 10 cents

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ditto... SCAM!

    I just received a message from dolly94490@hotmail.com, "hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at
    zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you
    can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  29. SCAM SCAM SCAM!

    Thanks for posting this one! Just like majority of you, I got the same reply from a seller on CL! I was about to sign up for ZAMBID but i decided to google it first to see if it's one of those scams or not. And I just found an answer here! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  30. yeah, that's really weird. I inquired about an ipod touch on CL and i got an email at 1:30 in the morning that said, " hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    It's definitely a scam.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Response for a TV on CL. CL post looked legit, even had a actual location (unlike most CL spammers just put location as the name of the local CL site)

    From: evelyn43794@hotmail.com

    "hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  32. I got the same message from e-bay: "hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."
    Thanks for this warning!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Zambid Major Scam and like everybody before me has said, they received message like the way this one from craiglist
    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Same response as the rest from jaquelyn32671@hotmail.com. How can we get CL's attention to do something about a good site being used to fraud people?

    ReplyDelete
  35. I responded to a cl posting and received the same info as everyone else .....so glad I found this posted too much of a coincidence

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  36. Same here, and me too.This is what responce I got.

    On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 11:38 AM, wrote:

    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    ReplyDelete
  37. It was from debbra46807@hotmail.com. Sorry it did not show up on my last post.

    ReplyDelete
  38. CL scam. I was looking for an iPad on CL. Ran across this scam. "Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick on up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple of weeks I'll have one up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  39. Yep, good ole google, wasn't hard to find this site. Just got my auto-reply when inquiring into the ipod touch...."Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick on up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple of weeks I'll have one up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yo me to i tried to buy a t.v on craigs and the person told me word for word''hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too" wow right

    ReplyDelete
  41. I was also directed to this site from Craiglist guy. Thank God i didn't fell in his trap.
    (Sorry i must thank this blog owner for this EXCELLENT POST)

    ReplyDelete
  42. Same thing happened to me. Impossible to win no matter how many bids you have or how high you bid. They will even log you off after you think you have the winning bid and when you log back in, the bidding will be over and it shows someone else winning the bid for the item.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thanks for this. I was directed to Zambid from a CL person too. I was going to sign up, but didnt want to give my CC info. I do paypal. Then I did a google search and found your blog. Thanks a bunch.

    ReplyDelete
  44. holy god, i just received the same email today!!..

    thanks everyone for letting people know that that web site is a big scam

    ReplyDelete
  45. This topic is what blogs were made for, kudos to Mike! My story is the same, this time from leena86624@hotmail.com:
    "hey, Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    So they post fake ads on CL to drum up business to their fake site and get around an abuse flag b/c there's no way to filter something that won't trigger until to select them. Again they're genius, still assholes, but genius.

    ReplyDelete
  46. karolyn23542@hotmail.com

    Got me - word for word. Did you notice they almost always use a female name in their e-mails?

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  47. What a scam, It looked to good to be true so I googled it and found this page, thankyou

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  48. I just flagged the CL ad that had responded to me in the same way. Let's get em'!

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  49. Thanks much of this post, i was very close to get into the zambid trap. I got the referral from CL as well with the same exact email but from nicole22143@hotmail.com

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  50. here is another proof that they are for sure scammers
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThE-Oh2VYUs

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  51. Thanks for the post. Got the same crap line from CL. I was tempted to try zambid until I did research and found this. Man I hate scammer websites and I wish they would all go away!

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  52. Awesome post--so glad you did this. Ditto to the above about scam CL response when I inquired about an HDTV!

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  53. Exactely what somebody already said, I e-mailed a person about an iPhone for $100. They take forever to respond only to tell me "Hey thanks for the reply but I already sold it, you should try zambid.com where I got mine"

    Psh! I go on that piece oh sh*t and all it does is instantly freeze my web browser.

    Reading this got me so angry, 'cause I would've definately been ripped off! But thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  54. got the same email after inquiring for an iPod nano from a seller at Glendale, CA for $80:
    from yesenia74099@hotmail.com
    hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too.

    Thanks for this blog! :)

    ReplyDelete
  55. I also received the same email. But what sucked is I went on zambid website purchased a bid credit of $60 but they make multibles transaction to my acc. of $230. Pissing me off so bad. Totally a scam.

    ReplyDelete
  56. I email this guy selling an Iphone 3gs on CL and took him almost 2 day to respond this:

    "hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  57. Thanks guys... saved me from wasting a couple hundred dollars

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  58. Yep, almost got me too. Guy off CL said thats where he got it and then was selling it for profit. Thank you for this post. Im glad I found it before learning first hand.

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  59. I got scammed didnt research before buying credit though it was pretty good deal but too late

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  60. Same CL response for me as well. Scam!!!!

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  61. I got the same email from someone supposedly selling a 37" Vizio LCD TV for $240 on CL in Charlotte, NC.

    "hey,
    Thanks for responding but I already sold it. You can probably pick one up at zambid.com where I got mine. In a couple weeks I'll have on up on ebay so you can keep an eye there too."

    ReplyDelete
  62. Last night, I decided that I was going to win an iPad no matter what it took... I bought $90 worth of bids and decided that I would not stop bidding until I won. After watching the site for about a week, I found that the average selling price of iPads was $90-$120. I figured that I would pay no more than $150 for it. Literally, I bid from 10:30 p.m.-4:30 a.m., eventually spending $150 in bids, before the system "lagged out" and had someone else win. By that point, the bid was up to $265 (unheard of for zambid.com). Based on readings from other forums, zambid.com hires people to bid and you will never win. It is an absolute SCAM!

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  63. This is extremely shocking. Im an impulsive person and when I see great deals (referring to zambid.com postings) I become a predator. I have received the exact message, i didnt pay attention to how many days it took to receive the message though. I was inquiring details on an ipod touch. I received the message from CL user "dyba386@hotmail.com" . i made numerous attempts to purchase $30 bid package and my card was declined each time, and i think i tried to process my card about 10 times. I was going back and forth to the $500 dollar card bid and google.com to find a zambid customer service number to figure out why my card was being declined and I WAS ABSOLUTELY UNSUCCESSFUL TO FIND THE CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER. Somehow I came across this site, I didnt give much attention at first, but due to my card being declined repeatedly for no reason i started to read what people said on this blog. This is flabbergasting. Hopefully my card does not get debited every time i tried to process my information. OMG.

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  64. Wow am I glad I read this. Nice work slamming this b.s. I got the same email everyone else got - verbatim. It seems like a pretty complex setup. I suppose I'm happy for whoever is actually making all the money on this, considering the work they must have put into it...

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  65. Hmmm id like to figure out how CL is involved or if they are just using CL as a way to promote it...i also recieved the same message after emailing a person about their 2x ipod nanos for sale.that looked used and the post also looked legit.

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  66. I wish I had come across this blog before I lost $30. I am so mad everytime I think about it. Now if you type their domain name, Godaddy.com has a note that says, NOTICE: This domain (zambid.com) expired on 08/12/2011 and is pending renewal or deletion.

    ReplyDelete