apple-computers.us is a scam (?)
Update (6/21/05): someone actually tried to purchase a Powerbook from this outfit; here is his story which seems to confirm that it is a scam as expected.
My cousin Rachel· pointed me to www.apple-computers.us·, which appears to offer “rock bottom” prices on Apple laptops and desktops. The thing is, it’s pretty hard to find much variation in Apple prices—I think Apple keeps a pretty tight lid on new Apples, and last time I looked there wasn’t more than a 5% variation in top and bottom prices for the same new machine.
Which leads me to suspect that “apple-computers.us” is a scam. Interestingly, a google search on the domain comes up with nothing relevant at all. The whois record is funny (in the odd sort of way): a California mailing address, but a Ukrainian email address and phone number. Not to be xenophobic, but my recent experience is that anything coming from a former Soviet Republic and relating to Internet commerce is…. sketchy.
It’s also worth noting that the domain name was just registered this month, and appropriates much of the look of the official Apple website.
I thus must reluctantly conclude that apple-computers.us is a scam, unless anyone can present evidence to the contrary. Hopefully, this blog entry can serve as a tip-off to future searchers.
In any case, could you ever really trust a company with this as their emblem?
I suspect it will now be less than a week before Apple files a UDRP complaint, or perhaps something more aggressive.
Update: the site seems to have changed its prices from dollars to euros, which makes them slightly more reasonable. Still not sure if it’s legit, though.