In early July 2023, we looked into a website named Adventure Haven on elainecrealestate.com to find out if it was a scam. The website's address appeared to be named for someone named Elaine C. who perhaps might have been involved in a real estate business.
However, to put it simply, elainecrealestate.com is a scam, and nothing on the website had anything to do with real estate. We noticed several hallmarks of scams that, collectively, allowed us to come to this determination.
First, the English-language website's registration information showed that the domain had been created on a registrar located in China. At the same time, the Facebook page associated with the website showed users who managed the page were located in Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Singapore.
Second, the top of the website showed a currency selector, a feature that lots of scammers seem to feel the need to add to their websites.
Third, the scam website promised a TenPoint crossbow that normally would cost close to $5,000 for only $49, a suspicious discount of around 99% off, just as one example.
Another product that had been shared on Facebook was promoted as, "2323 new Waterproof Fitness Tracker Bluetooth Call Smart Watch K55."
Fourth, we found signs that the website once promoted a whiskey sale that claimed, "Don't Miss Out on Our Closing Down Sale: Get Our Whisky at Unbeatable Prices Now!" However, we were unable to find alcohol being listed anywhere on the website.
Fifth, in calls placed hours apart, the phone number listed on elainecrealestate.com went straight to a busy signal. A second phone number that was listed on the website's Facebook page was for a completely unrelated business named Nutrisystem. We also received no response to the email we sent to the address listed on the website, which wasn't much of a surprise.
If readers are curious about whether an online store they've never heard of is legitimate, we recommend proceeding with caution and taking the time to ensure it's genuine before pulling out a credit card.
Also, if you've been a victim of a scam such as the one on elainecrealestate.com, we recommend immediately calling the phone number associated with the payment method you used to make the purchase, such as your credit card company, for example. Inform the company of everything that happened and request a new credit card number if the agent over the phone believes it to be necessary.
And always remember with online offers that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.