Buying iphone on alibaba.com and aliexpress.com?

[Trifun]

Hi everyone,

My name is Marko and i am trying to buy iphone on alibaba.com or aliexpress.com. Looking in these 2 ads -

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/90674 ... obile.html

http://mx1047861575.fm.alibaba.com/prod ... ginal.html

What do you think, is it scam?

Thanks,

Marko

[Trifun]

Had offer from this scamers

RE: RE: RE: Inquiry from NEW YEAR PROMO Hot Price for Apple iPhons 4s 16GB 32GB 64GB NEW Factory Unlocked 100% GENUINE
2014-01-15
Message Origin: EGYPT Message IP: 41.130.178.*
Dear Buyer,

​ Thanks so much for your reply.

We have confirmed your address now and your goods will be package and label for shipment.

We take all shipment from our head office in the United Kingdom and it's just 2 days delivery by Air.

So below is the western union details you need to make the payment:

Receivers Name: Kolwole Stephen Komolafe
Address: 23 Wilson alien street
City: Cambridge
Country: United Kingdom
Postal Code: CB2 3PT
Amount: $300 USD

So kindly proceed with the payment now and send us the details of transfer such as:

1)MTCN NUMBER
2)SENDERS NAME
3)AMOUNT PAID

Once we receive the details,we will proceed with the ship out and i will send you the tracking number immediately.

Thanks so much as we await the payment,

Best Regards,

Managements.

[Michael]

Both of the ads listed are fake. The first is (most likely) a knock-off chinese phone, the second is an outright scam.

[Trifun]

BANK TRANSFER：（T/T）

BANK ： CHINA MERCHANTS BANK (HONG KONG BRANCH)
RECEIVER NAME： WUHONGBO
RECEIVER ACCOUNT: 6212998604524344
SWIFT CODE: CMBCHKHH
ADDRESS: 21/F, BANK OF AMERICA TOWER,12 HARCOURT ROAD, CENTRAL, HONG KONG

That is what i got from them. Can you see something from this?

[TerranceBoyce]

What recourse do you think you'll have against a Chinese company if they don't send you anything ?

I'll answer - NONE.

Even a company in the West wouldn't send you anything if doing so wouldn't have consequences.

Buying online is inherently risky, and doing so from companies you know nothing about located in China virtually guarantees you'll lose money. Thinking that you can buy Western branded goods from China is a fallacy. Branded goods are sold for fixed prices wherever you buy them from. You are therefore either buying poor quality imitations if you're lucky, or dealing with a scammer.

The old-fashioned way of going in to a retail store remains the safest way to shop unless you can spot the fakes and scams appearing online.