A-Cape Transportation, LLC scam

A-Cape Transportation, LLC Fraud

Don't Bear Internet Fraud

This fraudster should not be confused with any legitimate company of the same or similar name - the website graphics below and the following evidence clearly identify the fake website and these criminal fraudsters and no other company or individual.

A-Cape Transportation, LLC scam screenshot (13-Feb-2010)

A-Cape Transportation, LLC This is an all-flash scam website with stolen content formed into the usual flash template, complete with added irritating muzak that has been set up to form a front for an illegal 'Purchase Manager' job campaign using a completely fake company identity. The criminal's domain acape.net was first registered on 28-oct-2000 to the Association of Canadian Arab Professional Engineers, (this is the original website and this is the historical data), and continued to serve that organisation until after late 2007 then sometime after that the domain was sold and transferred to these scammers and went under Privacy Protection, (not the action of a genuine company) on 19-Dec-2009 or thereabouts which is exactly what happened with the Advanta TN scam, which had an identical MO to this scammer. Unfortunately, when this happens the date that the scammers acquired the domain does not appear in the whois data. It's not an uncommon ploy by these criminal fraudsters to buy a pre-registered domain from a dealer to try and get around the 'recently registered domain' syndrome - a similar ploy was also used by the Orion Logistic Group scammers for example. The site content is stolen, they are not a registered company at any of their locations, they have zero web presence and their bogus address and contact details are the same as for the Advanta TN scam, (website now disabled), which this is a clear follow-on to - clear evidence of a serial fraudster.

A-Cape Transportation, LLC : Evidence of Criminal Fraud

i) Stolen site content: Unfortunately for the crooks who use flash pages to evade detection, Google search now has the ability to read embedded flash text content so let's look at a less anonymous web-page from their fraud site, their 'Services' page:

A-Cape Transportation, LLC Services page

A Google text search for "has an exceptional presence and scale" shows that the above 'Services' page text has been taken word for word from this Toll Group page. The search also shows that the same text was used by the Advanta TN scam. Other content, e.g. their 'Employment' page) has been taken word for word from various pages e.g. this page. If you click on the 'Employment' menu option, then click on 'read more', you get their 'President's Statement' entitled "Diversity is Good Business" which is actually a statement from the chairman of Goodyear and has been lifted directly from here. All clear evidence of site theft and fraud, mostly the same as their Advanta TN scam.

ii) As the website content is stolen, it mostly doesn't really apply to the criminals, however, as they state above "A-Cape is the leading integrated logistics provider in the EU and Asian region and operates an extensive network throughout the continents delivering seamless, end to end, local, regional and global supply chain solutions.", however, their domain acape.net was first registered on 28-oct-2000 to the Association of Canadian Arab Professional Engineers, (this is the original website) and continued to serve that organisation until after late 2007, then sometime in 2009 the domain was sold and transferred to these scammers and went under Privacy Protection, (not the action of a genuine company) on 19-Dec-2009 or thereabouts which is exactly what happened with the Advanta TN scam domain, which this has an identical MO to. Unfortunately, when this happens the date that the scammers acquired the domain does not appear in the whois data. It's not an uncommon ploy by these criminal fraudsters to buy a pre-registered domain from a dealer to try and get around the 'recently registered domain' syndrome - a similar ploy was also used by the Orion Logistic Group scammers for example. An indication of a fraudulent registration.

iii) Despite their above inflated (stolen) claims A Google search shows absolutely zero internet presence for A-Cape Transportation, LLC, (ignoring the crook's own website, of course). Clear evidence of a fake company.

iv) Fake 'Contact Us' details from their website (click on Contacts):

A-Cape Transportation Headquarters:

A-Cape Transportation, LLC.
Copenhagen HQ:
Copenhagen City Center
Address: Larsbjoernstraede, 3
1454, Copenhagen, Denmark
Tel/fax: +45 (65) 74 00 30
email: office@acape.net

A-Cape in UK:
LONDON
address: 90 Long Acre, Covent Garden,
London WC2E 9RZ
United Kingdom
Phone/Fax.. +44 (207) 849 330
email: ukdept@acape.net

A-Cape in USA
NYC [opening: 03-2010]
addres: 445 Park Avenue
New York City, NY, USA 10022
Tel/fax: +1 (646) 845 9250
TOLL: (866) 507-1119
email: usdept@acape.net

A-Cape in CH:
HONG KONG,
Shui On Business Centre
address: 6-8 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
Hong Kong, China
phone/fax: + 8 (52) 284 8888
email: chdept@acape.net

The above fake address details are exactly the same as for their previous Advanta TN scam - just a few telephone numbers have changed.

• - A deep search of the New York State business entity registry returns no registration for these criminals as A-Cape Transportation or any of its variants in New York state - they are not a legal registered business entity in New York.
• - A similar deep search of the Danish company registry shows that there is no company by the name of A-Cape Transportation registered in Denmark.
• - A similar deep search of the Hong Kong company registry (ICRIS) shows that there is no company by the name of A-Cape Transportation registered in Hong Kong.
• - A similar deep search of the UK Companies House Registry shows that there is no company by the name of A-Cape Transportation or any of its variants registered in the UK
As they are clearly not a legal registered business entity at any of their supposed locations, the above location details are not going to be genuine.

• - A Google websearch for the address "445 Park Avenue, New York City, NY" Advanta returns no reference to these criminals at that address, ignoring their own fake website, of course and their previous Advanta TN scam.
• - A Google Maps Business Search for the address "445 Park Avenue, New York City, NY" shows no business of that name at that address.
• - Their Danish address is apparently mis-spelt according to Google - it should be "Larsbjørnsstraede, 3 1454". There is no Google evidence of these criminals at that address.
• - A Google Maps Business Search for the address "Larsbjørnsstræde 3, 1454, Copenhagen, Denmark" shows no business of the name A-Cape Transportation at that address.
• - A Google maps business search for them at the London address "90 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London" also returns no hits.
• - The above London telephone number +44 (207) 849 330 is clearly fake - it does not have enough digits and doesn't connect.
• - There is no telephone number listed for these criminals in the UK London directory.

All clear evidence of fake details. (I could go on, but it's a waste of time).

v) Independent Scam and spam information.

Victims are often sucked in on the pretext of a managerial job with these fake companies, but due to a 'delay' are offered a 'temporary' job either 'managing payments' or 'buying equipment for their company', (as if they couldn't do it themselves....). These are the clear 'Money Mule' and 'Purchase Manager' fraud 'jobs' where you are asked to accept funds to your bank account and transfer a balance to someone in the Ukraine or purchase high end electronics equipment using 'phished' (stolen) funds that have been transferred to your account or credit card and asked to send the goods off to their new "European Office", which just happens to be in the Ukraine. Don't be tempted or you WILL be liable to lose a lot of money, have your bank account and your assets frozen and risk ending up with a criminal record.

This is how it goes - the initial approach:

From: Linda C. Gray, A-Cape <lcgray@acape.net>
Date: Wed, Feb 3 2010
Subject: Project supervisor
To: xxxxxx

Dear xxxxxx,

A couple of days ago I got your resume and contact details from my assistant, you were interested in one
of our openings (PPH-0162). Here are some details of our latest vacancy, please take a look.

A few words about the company first. Aaron Cape Transportation Network is one of the major European logistics operators,
we provide a transportation and warehousing services of all levels of complexity for industrial and
mining companies since year 2000. Please take a look at our web-site for more details / acape.net/
The headoffice is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. American branch is located in NYC and currently coordinates
the work of our US projects and training of new employees. In May-2010 we are planning the launch of a
massive advertising campaign in most of the states, before that we need to set up a chain of
representatives all over the country. I need to cover most of the states with our representatives,
we plan to hire at least 5 new managers in all the states where our customers are located.
The company is not so big, started in US only in 2007, but rather well known in the mining industry,
thanks to our operations in EU and Mediterranean area. In US we already cooperate with few mining
companies, such as FMC Technologies Inc, Smith International, Derrick Corporation. We expect to
improve our positions in Delaware, hopefully with your help. To cut a long story short, I can say that
we are like FedEx, but work only with huge industrial corporations and ship their mining equipment
all over the world, we don't do private transportation.
Again, for more details please take a look at our web-site - /acape.net/

Position name: Logistic Project Supervisor.
Salary/Type: $55.000/year - Full time
Details: On this position you will be responsible for the customer support and all of the aspects
of selection, acquisition, implementation, support, and continuous improvement of the shipment systems
we use. Your duties will include promoting our services, explaining all the details related with order,
scheduling transportation, tracking the shipment and after that tracking the payment back to our
accountants. Will have to keep in touch with clients, lawyers, accountants, suppliers, handle other
administrative duties, possible conflict solution, report writing, managing finance. You won't have
to look for new customers, only work with ones we already have, located in your state.

Requirements:
-Undergraduate degree required.
-Computer knowledge of order processing.
-At least 5 years of work experience
-Credit score over 600 and NO criminal background
(required because you will get an access to our corporate bank account)
-Knowledge of and experience with international export documentation and procedures.
-Orientation toward helping customers.
-Ability to promptly handle multiple detailed tasks simultaneously.
-Ability to interact with outside customers in a professional manner.
-Above-average mechanical interest and aptitude.
-Problem-solving abilities.
-Good organizational skills; time and stress management skills.
-Ability to speak, read, and write at a business level in the language of assigned customer.
-Leadership abilities.

To get the position you will have to start with the training, consists of 2 stages:
Stage One takes 4 weeks + 1 week for final test. Done at home, over the Internet. For 4 weeks, every morning you
will receive the studies (4-5 pages document) and a test for them every Friday. Might take you up to 30 minutes a day,
easy to combine with your full time job if you have one. For taking stage 1 you will receive a salary: $1,500 to $3,000
for the training course (depends on your results), to compensate your time spent + the company may bonus you a cell phone.
The paychecks will be sent at the end of the training period.

If you succeed with the first stage, you will be invited to one of our offices (in London or NYC) for 1 week instruction
course and final interview, this will be a stage 2. Tickets and stay expenses are covered. There you will be assigned to one of our
departments and will officially become our employee if you pass the final interview.
After that, for the next 2 months your salary will be $4,000/month + bonuses and you will
work under the control of an assigned manager. At the end of qualify period your salary
will raise to $55,000/year + bonuses and privileges.
Full Benefit Package offered: Performance Bonuses, Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Disability, 401k.
For the first 6 months you will work at home (except NY), after that your state might be chosen as one of the companies
priorities and we will open an office in your area. Within next 3 months there will be 5 states chosen, with the highest
level of clients activity.

You will have everything you need to work out of your home until an office will be opened in
your area. We provide all the necessary equipment for that.
Everything is free, you won't have to pay for it. There may be local trips, up to 3-4 days/month, not more, don't go out
of state.
In case you have any concerns it's not the type of job where you
have to involve any money of your own or pay for anything. It's not a business opportunity.

Please note that since you will have an access to the company financial information,
your credit score has to be at least 600 and NO criminal background.
If you got any questions, please, don't hesitate to apply through phone or e-mail.
The best way to reach me might be via e-mail. However, if you’re in a rush, by all means, do call.
I stay in the office 10-00 - 17-00 EST. If you are interested, let me know and I will forward you the training
process details and a pre-contract agreement, so you could apply. Pre-contract is signed
only for the period of the training, for one month. If you pass all the stages of training and interviews you
will become an official A-Cape Transportation employee.

Thank you,
--
Linda C. Gray, Human Resources Dept - (646) 845-9252
Aaron Cape Transportation Network, LLC

So, an interest is shown and this response received:

From: Linda C. Gray, A-Cape TN <lcgray@acape.net>
Date: Thu, Feb 4 2010
Subject: Re[2]: Project supervisor

Dear xxxxxxx,

thank you for your interest! Here are some details, please look through and let me call you if any
questions. The GA area is important to our headquarter because of Home Depot Inc, The Coca-Cola Company and few others,
all located in your area. The office will be opened in Atlanta in summer 2010, but we will provide all the necessary
equipment for you to work at home, so you will have to come to our office once or twice a month for paperwork or paychecks.

Once again I would like to underline some important moments of this position, the one which arise a lot of questions.
I want to offer you to pass to the first stage of paid training, which consists of 4 weeks of studies and 1 week to
complete the final test. If you successfully complete the first stage, you will be invited to the next one, which will
consist of 1 week instructions course in one of our offices. All expenses are covered. The final interview is also held
during stage 2. If you pass, you will pass to the qualifying 2-month period and start working with our clients. Until
we open an office nearby, you will work out of your home, we will provide all the necessary equipment.
As soon as the office is opened, you can either start working from office or home.

The most important part of work is managing the payment system. Together with our accountants you
will devote a lot of time to practicing it during stage 2 of training in our office and after that a
three-month qualifying period. Please note that because of the security requirements, your score has to be
at least over 600 and no criminal background. Please understand that since you will get an On-line access
to our corporate account our security department is very strict on those aspects.

The salary: As you start the 5 week training course, you will receive $1,500 or $3,000, depends on the
results of your tests. $1,500 is to compensate your time spent and you will receive it no matter what.
But if more than 2 tests of total 4 will be successful, you will receive a $3,000 paycheck instead of
$1,500. It doesn't matter if you pass the final test or not, the $1,500 paycheck is sent anyway, but you have to
complete at least 4 weeks of training. 1099 form will be issued for the IRS. After that, you will arrive to our NY office
to attend 2nd stage instruction course and the final interview with the head of the department which you will be assigned
to. All expenses are covered by our side, incl stay and tickets. If you pass stage 2, you become our official employee and pass to a
two-month qualifying period. Salary during this period is $4,000/month + performance bonuses. After this period your
salary rises up to $55,000/year + bonuses.

Next training group starts on Monday 02/15. The first part will be done while you stay at home - for 4 weeks
you will receive training documents through e-mail from your training assistant every morning and a
test for those documents every Friday. 5 candidates who will complete their first Friday test
with best results will get additional tasks for the training and cell phones
as a bonus gift. You will need this equipment to complete the off-training activities which will help you
to get extra points for the training. The financial dept will send you money for equipment into one of
your credit cards. Your participation in such activities will guarantee the $3,000 paycheck instead of $1,500,
I will provide all the necessary details later. After 4 weeks and 4 Friday tests you will take the last
test for what you studied for the 4-week period. You will have 1 week to complete it.
By the time you complete the final test you will receive a paycheck for the stage 1 training.

It won't matter if you decide to proceed working with us and pass to stage 2
or you will choose to leave after the training is over - the minimum payment of $1,500 is sent anyway.
If you complete all 4 Friday tests at least on an average level, a $3,000 paycheck is sent. Again,
it doesn't matter if you are going to move further with us or not.
If you pass the final test, you will be invited to the second part of the training,
a 1 week instruction course in one of our offices (London, UK or NYC),
location depends on which department you will be assigned to. You
will arrive to one of our branches for the final interview with the head of your
department and for signing all the necessary papers.

The trip expenses and hotel are also covered by our company - you won't pay for anything.
Once again I reassure you that you won't have any out of pocket expenses, you won't have to provide
any type of sensitive information, like credit numbers or SSNs.

For the training period you will sign a pre-contract agreement, here I attach a copy of it.
It's only active while the training goes, for 5 weeks. After/if you successfully complete the
training you become official Acape Transportation employee. If you want to apply just fill in the bottom part and
send it back to me over the e-mail, I will send it for further approve,
which will take 2-3 business days. Also, please fill in the questionnaire.

After you fill them in and send back to me we will schedule a short
phone interview with the training dept.

Please don't hesitate to apply if any questions.

Thank you in advance.
--

Linda C. Gray, Human Resources Dept - (646) 845-9252
Aaron Cape Transportation Network, LLC

Most of it is total flim-flam - I've highlighted the relevant bits. This fraud is completely identical to the Advanta TN fraud and with that fraud the bottom line was that the 'Independent Contractor' had, (as part of his 'training'), to purchase high end electronic equipment using transferred stolen funds and send them off to this address in the Ukraine:
ZAJCEV SERGEJ
BALKOVSKAYA STR 130, KV 23
65466 ODESSA
UKRAINE

Anyway, after all the 'softening up', you are passed to their 'Special Projects Supervisor' for the final coup-de-gras - (you can see how that ends in the identical Advanta TN fraud):

From: Daniel F. Durant, A-Cape TN <dfdurant@acape.net>
Date: Fri, Feb 12, 2010
Subject: Training

Dear Mr. xxxxxx,
My name is Daniel Durant, the Senior Assistant of HR Dept and Special Projects supervisor,
I received your file from Ms. Gray this morning and I will be responsible for your training, which starts
on Tuesday, Feb-16 and will last until March-15. On March-16 we got the final test scheduled.
Starting Tuesday over your e-mail I will send the studies, 5 studies per week, one
for every day (usually sent near noon) and a short test every Friday.
Tuesday noon please expect your first study and all the instructions you may need.
All in all the training is not difficult, so please don't worry and call or e-mail me if you need.
The other important thing is the address I got on your file:
------------------------------------- Please let me know if this is the correct one, as it will be used for the salary paycheck,
send me a short note to confirm.

Have a great weekend!
--
**** GO N-Y-Giants [!!!!]
Daniel F. Durant, Special Projects - (646) 845-9250
Aaron Cape Transportation Network, LLC

I see they're still rooting for the NY Giants....

This is a complex fraud and they even go to the trouble of creating fake LinkedIn profiles for their 'Special Projects Supervisors'. This is the one for Daniel F. Durant and this is the previous one for the Advanta TN 'Special Projects Supervisor', David Maeweather.

The above evidence clearly demonstrates beyond any doubt that A-Cape Transportation, LLC is a fake company and their website has been set up by criminal fraudsters using stolen content purely for the purpose of spamvertising an illegal money mule/reshipping fraud job. If you are an abuse team that has received an abuse report regarding these fraudsters, please consider immediate termination of their services in view of the absolutely undeniable evidence of criminal fraud - please don't delay - these criminals will not respond to any communication from you, (all their whois data is false), but will simply take advantage of any attempt at communication as a delaying tactic to allow them time to carry on their criminal activity and prepare their next network.

A-Cape Transportation, LLC Fraudsters - hosting details

Main Domains, Registrars and Hosts

Domain

acape.net
aaroncape.com

Registrar

GoDaddy.com, Inc./Domains by Proxy, Inc. - 28-Oct-00 (Transferred domain see info.)
Regional Network Information Center, JSC dba RU-CENTER - 24-Feb-2010

Host Network

UK2-NET
INSOLVERTC2 (In-Solve/1Gb.ru)

Host IP

77.92.95.238
81.176.226.80

Key:
Active
Suspended or Inactive
Parked

Please notify me of any other current domains used by this criminal.

Domain Whois Data

Domain: acape.net
Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.

DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: ACAPE.NET
Created on: 28-Oct-00
Expires on: 28-Oct-10
Last Updated on: 18-Jan-10

Administrative Contact:
Private, Registration ACAPE.NET@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624-2599 Fax -- (480) 624-2598

Technical Contact:
Private, Registration ACAPE.NET@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624-2599 Fax -- (480) 624-2598

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.HOSTIK.BIZ
NS2.HOSTIK.BIZ

Registry Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Status: clientRenewProhibited
Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Status: clientUpdateProhibited

Registrar:     REGIONAL NETWORK INFORMATION CENTER, JSC DBA RU-CENTER
Status:        clientTransferProhibited
Dates:         Created 24-feb-2010   Updated 24-feb-2010 Expires 24-feb-2011
DNS Servers:   NS1.1GB.RU NS2.1GB.RU

Domain name:             AARONCAPE.COM
Name Server:             ns1.1gb.ru
Name Server:             ns2.1gb.ru
Creation Date:           2010.02.25
Expiration Date:         2011.02.25

Status:                  DELEGATED

Registrant ID:           UJMXP9P-RU
Registrant Name:         Denis S Lomov
Registrant Organization: Denis S Lomov
Registrant Street1:      Kerimaantie 60 58200
Registrant City:         Kerimaki
Registrant State:        Finland
Registrant Postal Code: 58200
Registrant Country:      FI

Administrative, Technical Contact
Contact ID:              UJMXP9P-RU
Contact Name:            Denis S Lomov
Contact Organization:    Denis S Lomov
Contact Street1:         Kerimaantie 60 58200
Contact City:            Kerimaki
Contact State:           Finland
Contact Postal Code:     58200
Contact Country:         FI
Contact Phone:           +358 15 555 0200
Contact E-mail:          mu2ina@yahoo.com

Registrar:               Regional Network Information Center, JSC dba RU-CENTER

DNS Lookup: acape.net A record
Searching for acape.net A record at j.root-servers.net [192.58.128.30]: Got referral to E.GTLD-SERVERS.net. (zone: net.)
Searching for acape.net A record at E.GTLD-SERVERS.net. [192.12.94.30]: Got referral to ns2.hostik.biz. (zone: acape.net.)
Searching for acape.net A record at ns2.hostik.biz. [77.92.95.249]: Reports acape.net.
Response:

Domain	Type	Class	TTL	Answer
acape.net.	A	IN	14400	77.92.95.238
acape.net.	NS	IN	86400	ns1.hostik.biz.
acape.net.	NS	IN	86400	ns2.hostik.biz.
ns1.hostik.biz.	A	IN	14400	77.92.95.109
ns2.hostik.biz.	A	IN	14400	77.92.95.249

Looking up at the 2 acape.net. parent servers:

Server	Response
ns2.hostik.biz [77.92.95.249]	77.92.95.238
ns1.hostik.biz [77.92.95.109]	77.92.95.238

This fraud website is hosted by UK2-NET on IP address 77.92.95.238. This is the same host as for the crook's previous alias - Advanta TN.

***Latest News*** Initial entry 13th. Feb 2010

***Latest News*** 31st. Mar 2010

These criminals remain active - their domain acape.net has been suspended for spam and abuse and they now have a the domain aaroncape.com registered with the unresponsive Russian registrar of many of these criminal's domains, Regional Network Information Center, JSC dba RU-CENTER and hosted on the following network by the Russian INSOLVERTC2 (In-Solve/1Gb.ru) hosting services provider:

DNS Lookup: aaroncape.com A record
Searching for aaroncape.com A record at f.root-servers.net [192.5.5.241]: Got referral to I.GTLD-SERVERS.NET. (zone: com.)
Searching for aaroncape.com A record at I.GTLD-SERVERS.NET. [192.43.172.30]: Got referral to ns2.1gb.ru. (zone: aaroncape.com.)
Searching for aaroncape.com A record at ns2.1gb.ru. [195.161.112.91]: Reports aaroncape.com.
Response:

Domain	Type	Class	TTL	Answer
aaroncape.com.	A	IN	3600	81.176.226.80

Looking up at the 2 aaroncape.com. parent servers:

Server	Response
ns2.1gb.ru [195.161.112.91]	81.176.226.80
ns1.1gb.ru [81.176.69.150]	81.176.226.80

The host of the criminal's domain is the Russian INSOLVERTC2 (In-Solve/1Gb.ru) on IP address 81.176.226.80. The criminals have reverted to their clear Russian roots - so much for them being a Copenhagen, UK, New York & Hong Kong company...