The website 123 Importados is an online store that has been calling attention for a few months because of the very low prices. Products advertised on the website have up to half or a third of the prices practiced by large stores. However, some characteristics of the page and the company behind the deal trigger the danger alert for the buyer.
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The site also became known after advertisements on open TV and in widely circulated newspapers. However, Reclame Aqui brings records of thousands of consumers who complain about orders that never arrived. The company behind the store is also the target of lawsuits filed by consumers who have not received paid products. dnetc talked to digital security experts to find out about the site. We also tried to contact 123 Importados through the 0800 number and through the SAC e-mail available on the website, as well as on the phones that appear in the Revenue base, but we did not get a response. See below all about e-commerce with suspected fraud and understand the possible risks of buying on the site.
Online store 123 Importados turns on expert alert for possible fraud – Photo: Reproduction / Paulo Alves
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What is 123 Importados
123 Importados is an e-commerce site with a new registration, of about six months. The domain was registered in December 2019 by namesilo.com and the site was found online for the first time in February 2020, according to a report by the company Netcraft. The online store specializes in electronics, including notebook, cell phone and TV, as well as white goods, such as refrigerator, stove and washing machine.
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The site is registered in the name of the company Online Intermediações Ltda, which, according to the page, is headquartered in room 816 on the 8th floor of the Torre João Salém Building, located at Av. Paulista, 1079, Jardim Paulista, São Paulo. The address, however, is not the same as that which appears in the CNPJ registration (35.912.902 / 0001-89) with the Federal Revenue Service. The official register mentions headquarters at Rua Itapeti 809, Vila Gomes Cardim, São Paulo, in addition to a share capital of R $ 500 thousand.
123 Importados is reliable?
There are several signs that suggest that 123 Importados may pose a danger to consumers, such as the fact that it is not necessary to confirm the account through e-mail, a resource used by many e-commerce today, and that there is no product in stock currently. But the main one, according to experts heard by the dnetc, is the boleto bancário as the only form of payment.
“[A forma de pagamento] is what draws the most attention, because a boleto is a direct deposit in someone’s account, making refunds or cancellations much more difficult. There are numerous complaints about the website and its entire internal system has little credibility for customers ”, explains Daniel Cunha Barbosa, ESET security specialist.
Neither ESET nor Check Point Brasil, online security companies consulted by dnetc, identified malicious behavior on the site, such as malware activities. 123 Importados carries HTTPS certificate and is apparently not connected to any dangerous server. However, dubious advertisements and the lack of credit card payment, which is safer and allows for chargebacks, make the operation dubious.
Wayback Machine shows old prices at least 50% lower than the market average – Photo: Reproduction / Paulo Alves
Highly dubious prices
Currently, e-commerce brings all products with zero inventories and prices in line with the market. Nothing can be bought, but TVs, cell phones, notebooks and other products have values that correspond to the average of the Brazilian market, according to Compare dnetc.
However, consultations with the Wayback Machine archive show that prices have recently changed. On May 28th, a 65 » Samsung RU7100 4K Smart TV appeared for R $ 1,799.90, a Lenovo Ideapad S145 notebook with Intel Celeron, 4 GB of 500 GB HD RAM was sold for R $ 899 and a Electrolux 10.5 Kg LAC11 washer was announced for R $ 699. The values are equivalent to 50% of the market price.
On June 21, all prices were reverted to normal retail prices. At the same time, all stocks have been cleared and it is no longer possible to buy anything.
123 Import was updated in the last days with prices ‘corrected’, but without stocks – Photo: Reproduction / Paulo Alves
Complaints and legal proceedings
Several customers have filed lawsuits against 123 Importados. Only in the São Paulo Court, there are 12 cases in which Online Intermediações e Comercio LTDA appears as a defendant filed only in June. These are all consumer actions, initiated by people who have not received purchased products.
In Reclame Aqui, there are almost 2,600 records of dissatisfied customers. In most cases, the complaint is delayed delivery. In April, the complaints website itself reported irregularities involving 123 Importados.
At the time, Reclame Aqui CEO Mauricio Vargas said that Sony and Samsung denied having any commercial relationship with e-commerce, contrary to what a company representative would have said in videos published on YouTube.
123 Imported accumulates thousands of complaints in the Complaint Here about products that do not arrive – Photo: Reproduction / Paulo Alves
Soon after, Procon-SP notified 123 Importados to «clarify problems with non-delivery of products sold on its platform, as well as the measures adopted to remedy them». The Consumer Protection Foundation, however, said the online store claimed it had not received the communication and never responded to the inquiries.
