Amazon continues its war on professional refunding scammers. And they are not messing around.
In a significant development, Amazon revealed that it identified the mastermind behind Rekk Refunds and subsequently exposed another professional refunding operation named “DIVO” this month.
Recent Court Filings Reveal The Counterstrike
In a recent court filing of an amended complaint against REKK Refunds, Amazon identified Dom R, a Lithuanian resident, as the primary operator of the scam.
While investigating him, they discovered he had set up another massive operation on Telegram called DIVO. The Telegram channel and service were immediately closed when Amazon exposed it, and all message history was deleted. The refund service boasted over 58,000 subscribers.
Like Rekk Refunds, the site specifically targeted Amazon and boasted that it had close to 100% success rates defrauding the retailer.
Interestingly, he used the moniker ” REKK” for his refund service, which closely matched his own name.
Investigative Techniques And Sopeonas Exposed Radeckas
Based on the information provided in the court document, Amazon discovered the identity of Dom R, the alleged primary operator of REKK, through investigative techniques and legal processes.
First, they were able to link an IP Address associated with him to fraudulent refunds posted as vouches on Telegram. The IP address was based in Lithuania.
Amazon then obtained information through subpoena responses from several companies, including Google, Reddit, PenFed, and Paypal.
That information uncovered additional email addresses and bank accounts that they believe will help them identify other Rekk Refund players so they can pursue them as well.
Within an hour of filing, he allegedly wiped both DIVO Telegram channels that were used in the scheme.
DIVO Emerged After REKK Refunds Went “On Hold”
After Amazon exposed REKK, instead of shutting down the operation, he and others merely re-emerged as “DIVO Refunds” and continued their fraud scheme against Amazon. In a screenshot, Amazon showed that he wanted to focus on “other stuff”; however, that was not the case.
They created two new Telegram channels called @DIVORefunds and @DivoVouches and continued scamming. They seemingly put Rekk Vouches “On Hold” to make Amazon believe they had stopped operating.
The first message on Divos Refunds claimed that REKK refunds had “retired” from refunding service activities.
Like REKK, DIVO accepted both cryptocurrency and PayPal as payment methods. It charged a thirty percent fee for cryptocurrency payments and a thirty-five percent fee for PayPal payments.
An Undercover Investigator Working For Amazon Ordered An Apple Watch
An investigator working for Amazon’s outside counsel initiated an undercover operation to obtain details of DIVO’s scheme.
During that investigation, he communicated with the perpetrators, filled out intake forms, and ordered an Apple Watch. DIVO instructed him to create a new email address and “just wait” for order to arrive.
The investigator subsequently received the Apple Watch. Shortly afterward, he received an email from Amazon Customer Service at his newly created email address stating they were investigating an order
reported missing and requested a police report.
DIVO provided Amazon with a false police report. The investigator reviewed the account chat history between DIVO and Amazon and found all of the false statements indicating that he had not received the Apple Watch.
Amazon Will Not Be The Weakest Link ?
To other retailers, Amazon is giving a master class on how to solve the problem of professional refunding.
First, by taking aggressive action against professional refunders, they are effectively pushing these scammers to other retailers that don’t even recognize it as an issue.
Secondly, by using the power of the legal process, they are effectively doing what record labels did years ago to squash Napster’s illegal music downloads. They are going after customers, insiders and perpetrators to dismantle the fraud from all sides.
