MicroMagic/ChinPC/4MagicUS Scam Victims:
Contact the El Monte Police

Detective Brian Glick of the city of El Monte, CA police department is investigating MicroMagic scam reports, and needs more reports from people who think they may have been scammed.

Please describe your experience and how you believe you have been scammed, and email or call:
Brian Glick Financial Crimes Detective El Monte Police Department phone (626) 580-2175 email bglick@elmontepd.org

The MicroMagic a.k.a. ChinPC a.k.a. 4MagicUS RAM Scam

last update October 22, 2006

My name is Shimon Rura. I live near Boston, MA, and on Feb 24, 2006 I ordered some memory from a store called MicroMagic.us, apparently based in California. The merchandise I received was not what I ordered, and had been fraudulently mis-labelled. I believe the individual(s) behind MicroMagic are intentionally perpetrating fraud, and have created this web page for two purposes:

To describe my experience, and explain why I believe I have been scammed.
To serve as a resource for others who have dealt with or are considering dealing with MicroMagic. (My recommendation: don't.)

Latest status: A couple of readers of this site have alerted me that the same scam appears to be running again at ChinPC.net and 4magicus.com. Sadly, it seems like until the responsible individuals are apprehended, they will continue repeating the same scam using different names and storefronts.

Getting Your Money Back

If micromagic/chinPC has your money, you should file a complaint with your credit card issuer; I was able to get my money back that way.

Contact your credit card company and let them know that the vendor has sent an incorrect item (and if appropriate, cannot be reached for a return) and you believe him to be intentionally perpetrating a scam. They should investigate and get you a credit. Most likely, the scammers will credit your full amount back as soon as they hear from the credit card company; because if they investigate and discover a scam, the scammers might lose their credit card merchant account.

Here's what happened to me: I called American Express and said I had received undesired, fraudulently mislabelled merchandise. They agreed to investigate and asked if I had sent back the merchandise. I said that I hadn't but would. A day later, before I had bothered sending anything, I got a call from Leo to tell me I'd be getting a full refund. I still have the RAM; all Leo will do with a defective 512MB DIMM is resell it to someone else, and Det. Glick asked me to hold onto it for evidence.

Other Victims

Many review sites contain comments from people who seem to have experienced a similar scam:

PriceWatch reviews. PriceWatch is the product search engine where I originally found MicroMagic (because MicroMagic showed an extremely low price in PriceWatch).
Reseller Ratings. An independent reviews site with many scam reports.
Ripoff Report. A site that tracks scams and ripoffs, with a detailed description submitted by Sean from Renton, Washington.
LA Better Business Bureau report card for MicroMagic. Micromagic earns an F, with 17 unanswered complaints.
Yahoo! Store merchant review for MicroMagic. Dozens of the same scam stories.
A similar cautionary tale from "Kervon" on UnknownUnderground.com.
Another account, from Joel Baumgartner.

I've gone to these sites and posted the following review:

Like many others, I have been scammed by MicroMagic. I ordered 1GB of RAM but received a 512MB RAM module with a fraudulent 1GB label. This store appears to be scamming customers by offering a great deal, shipping a fraudulent item, and then ignoring return requests.
I've written a web page detailing my scam experience, including pictures of the fraudulent merchandise:

http://rura.org/scam/

SCAM UNDER INVESTIGATION

This store is being investigated by the city police of El Monte, CA. If you believe you have been scammed, please call Detective Brian Glick at 626-580-2175 or email him at bglick@elmontepd.org.

Do not buy from MicroMagic. They are a scam.

My Own Experience

The DIMM

I ordered a 1GB Non-ECC PC2100 DDR SDRAM DIMM module from the cheapest store off of Pricewatch, Micromagic.us. They advertised "ALL NEW (TA)1024MB/1GB NON-ECC PC2100 DDR 266Mhz DIMM MODULE". It cost me $58. It arrived in a padded envelope and looked like this:

Odd... my computer thinks it's 512MB. Yet the website said it would be compatible with my motherboard's chipset, the VIA KT400. It excluded ASUS mobos, but didn't mention anything negative that would apply to my Biostar M7VIT Pro board. And on second glance, that sticker looks like it came out of an ink jet printer. Micron does manufacture a 1GB PC2100 DIMM under part number MT16VDDT12864AG-265. But you know what? They probably build it out of Micron Technologies brand chips, not "LD" brand.

The Sticker

What's under that sticker?

The numbers on the lower sticker have been scratched off. Look closely. Do you see what might be edges of a 5 and a 2?

The Phone Call

At about 4pm EST on Friday, 3 March 2006, I called Micromagic at the number listed on their website, 626-401-9974. In California (where they are) or Massachusetts (where I am) it's not legal to record a phone conversation without the consent of all parties, so I'll paraphrase in my own words.

MicroMagic: Hello.

me: Hi, I'm calling because I ordered an item off of your website and received the wrong thing. I ordered a 1GB DIMM and the one I received is 512MB.

MicroMagic: OK, what you need to do is get an RMA number, you need to go to the website— no, no you don't need to go to the website, here let me give you an RMA number, it's 20051323.

me: OK. But can you help me figure out what happened here? I don't want to send this memory back and get the same thing. According to your website, it should be compatible with my motherboard.

MicroMagic: Yeah, did you order the cheap high density stuff? What's the last four digits of your order number?

me: 1234

MicroMagic: Yeah, you ordered the high density stuff but it looks like we made a mistake. The customer is always right. Are you sure it's compatible? Just email me the information about compatibility... see it says you need a VIA P4X266A or KT600 or KT400—

me: Yes, I have a KT400 so it should be compatible.

MicroMagic: Right, then it looks like we should fix that and the customer is always right. Thank you—
me: Well, I'm still a bit confused.

MicroMagic: It should work on Athlon and Sepron (sic) but not the 64-bit AMD processors. You don't have one of those do you?

me: No I have an Athlon.

MicroMagic: Alright. Send that back and we'll send you the right part.

me: Since you sent me the wrong part, could you send the replacement in advance and then I'll send back this one?

MicroMagic: Sorry, but my boss requires that we receive yours first.

me: OK, but I want to make sure that if I send it back you won't just send me another of the same item, since it doesn't seem to be defective, but actually looks like a 512MB DIMM labelled as 1GB.

MicroMagic: Right, well it would detect as 1GB if your motherboard supported it, it's actually PC3200 RAM running as PC2100, but it's high density. I'll send you back a DIMM that's NCP instead. Thank you. The customer is always right.

me: Hmm, just one more technical question. Are you saying that you can take a PC3200 512MB DIMM and use it as a PC2100 1GB DIMM, without any changes?

MicroMagic: Yes, if it's double sided.

me: OK, thank you. And what is your name?

MicroMagic: Leo. And the owner of the business is Catherine Martinez.

me: Thank you, bye.

This isn't a great paraphrasing of the call, but it covers all the points I can remember. Leo liked to say "the customer is always right" and seemed to want to end the call very quickly (perhaps this scam keeps him quite busy; perhaps he was nervous; or perhaps the UPS guy was delivering his new plasma TV). In addition to giving me an RMA number as soon as physically possible, Leo tried three standard distraction techniques: raising his voice, talking quite rapidly, and using heaps of technical jargon. I tried to stay calm and patient, ask straightforward questions, and to avoid reacting to claims he made that were completely, obviously bullshit.

The overriding ridiculous claim is that you can use a PC3200 512MB DIMM as a PC2100 1GB DIMM. "If it's double-sided"? You'd do better pouring beer into your computer until it sees double.

The Next Step

After the phone call, I was convinced that this was a scam, and that the person I had just talked to was consciously involved in it, if not its main perpetrator. Had I read some reviews of MicroMagic before blithely ordering from them, I probably would have avoided Leo. Oh, and does he really have a boss named "Catherine Martinez"? Pretty doubtful. The WHOIS information for MicroMagic.us notes the following about the domain registrant:

Registrant ID:                               A111307178440156
Registrant Name:                             Leopoldo Guillen
Registrant Organization:                     Leopoldo Guillen
Registrant Address1:                         1881 valencia st
Registrant City:                             Rowland Heights
Registrant State/Province:                   CA
Registrant Postal Code:                      91748
Registrant Country:                          United States
Registrant Country Code:                     US
Registrant Phone Number:                     +1.6264013922
Registrant Email:                            micromagicpc1@yahoo.com
Registrant Application Purpose:              P3
Registrant Nexus Category:                   C11

What to do next? Depends on who I want to deal with.

Leo. I could send back my DIMM and hope for a replacement. This has a good chance of leaving me feeling like a Christian Scientist with appendicitis.
American Express. I paid with a credit card, and they can definitely charge back what I paid for this scam, providing a nice safety net. Perhaps they know how to trigger a deeper investigation against this merchant, too. I will call them first.
El Monte and/or Rowland Heights Police Departments. Maybe they have a fraud division that can nail this guy.
California Attorney General's Office. Ditto.
US Postal Inspectors. The item was sent through the mail, but isn't clearly mail fraud.
Micron Technologies. They may want to know about this fraudulent rebranding in their name.

Oh, and did I mention the review pages? Writers there describe similar scams, including fraudulent rebranding, and failure to satisfy the RMA after returning the incorrect merchandise. Those reports date back at least two months. Someone has to stop this guy.

American Express

AmEx has noted my claim and will credit back the $58 charge while they investigate. I should get a letter in 6 to 8 weeks (Apr 17 to May 1, 2006).

Update: I got a call (at 9:30pm EST on 3/10/2006) from Leo at MicrMagic informing me that $58 would be refunded to my AmEx. I think this might be because of AmEx's investigation.

Other Complaints

Yahoo! Store hosts the web store for MicroMagic. I submitted a complaint to their abuse department.

Also submitted a complaint to the LA BBB, ResellerRatings.com, and Pricewatch. Sean, who created a MicroMagic complaint on RipOffReport.com, has linked to this page from there. Yahoo! Store seems to be having technical problems saving my review there.

El Monte Police Department

I have been in touch with the El Monte, CA city police department. Financial Crimes Detective Brian Glick has been very helpful and is beginning to investigate. If you have been or are being scammed, Det. Glick needs to hear your story. Please see the big yellow banner at the top of this page.

shimon@rura.org

MicroMagic:	Hello.
me:	Hi, I'm calling because I ordered an item off of your website and received the wrong thing. I ordered a 1GB DIMM and the one I received is 512MB.
MicroMagic:	OK, what you need to do is get an RMA number, you need to go to the website— no, no you don't need to go to the website, here let me give you an RMA number, it's 20051323.
me:	OK. But can you help me figure out what happened here? I don't want to send this memory back and get the same thing. According to your website, it should be compatible with my motherboard.
MicroMagic:	Yeah, did you order the cheap high density stuff? What's the last four digits of your order number?
me:	1234
MicroMagic:	Yeah, you ordered the high density stuff but it looks like we made a mistake. The customer is always right. Are you sure it's compatible? Just email me the information about compatibility... see it says you need a VIA P4X266A or KT600 or KT400—
me:	Yes, I have a KT400 so it should be compatible.
MicroMagic:	Right, then it looks like we should fix that and the customer is always right. Thank you—
me:	Well, I'm still a bit confused.
MicroMagic:	It should work on Athlon and Sepron (sic) but not the 64-bit AMD processors. You don't have one of those do you?
me:	No I have an Athlon.
MicroMagic:	Alright. Send that back and we'll send you the right part.
me:	Since you sent me the wrong part, could you send the replacement in advance and then I'll send back this one?
MicroMagic:	Sorry, but my boss requires that we receive yours first.
me:	OK, but I want to make sure that if I send it back you won't just send me another of the same item, since it doesn't seem to be defective, but actually looks like a 512MB DIMM labelled as 1GB.
MicroMagic:	Right, well it would detect as 1GB if your motherboard supported it, it's actually PC3200 RAM running as PC2100, but it's high density. I'll send you back a DIMM that's NCP instead. Thank you. The customer is always right.
me:	Hmm, just one more technical question. Are you saying that you can take a PC3200 512MB DIMM and use it as a PC2100 1GB DIMM, without any changes?
MicroMagic:	Yes, if it's double sided.
me:	OK, thank you. And what is your name?
MicroMagic:	Leo. And the owner of the business is Catherine Martinez.
me:	Thank you, bye.

MicroMagic/ChinPC/4MagicUS Scam Victims:Contact the El Monte Police