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In a recent investigation, Better Business Bureau (BBB) of the Midwest Plains has uncovered an illegal operation using a nonexistent Omaha address and various business names to confuse and target consumers. The discovery was prompted by a consumer complaint, leading to an extensive investigation by BBB, which included dozens of customer inquiries to the business in the past two weeks.
All told, BBB has monitored 45 profile inquiries to the illegal operation since January 16. The operation goes by Goodway Equipment Center, variations of the “Goodway” name, MBT Business Vehicles, MBT Silver Depot, and more. Using different business names, these sites featured the same content, imagery, and contact information. This illegal operation falsely claimed its location to be 13919 Cornhusker Rd, Omaha, NE 68138. However, that address does not exist, according to the Douglas County Nebraska Assessor's office.
Further scrutiny by BBB uncovered that NameCheap, Inc. privately registered the domain goodwayequipmentcenter.com on December 13, 2023, and expires in December 2024, with the registrant's location listed as Capital Region, Iceland. Similarly, goodwayvehicleshub.com was privately registered with a contact location in Iceland.
Several consumers expressed skepticism about the unrealistically low prices offered for heavy equipment listed on these websites.
BBB issued a Scam Tracker report related to “Goodway Vehicles Hub,” where a consumer described encountering suspicious practices, including a request for half the payment upfront and the other half upon delivery.
How to identify a fake website:
- Look closely at the domain name. One way fake websites trick people is by using a domain name that is extremely close to a real business' or organization's domain name. Upon closer examination, you might notice that two letters are swapped or slightly misspelled. If you find a spelling error in the domain name, you're not on the official site, and it's best to close the tab.
- Watch out for tricky subdomains. Sometimes, attackers hope you will confuse a subdomain with the real domain name of their website. For example, a scammer might use the domain name netflix.com.movies.com, hoping you won't notice the real domain name is movies.com.
- Be careful with links in emails. Phishing scams are extremely common. A scammer might send you an email that looks like it comes from a reputable business, hoping you'll click on the links without a second thought. Always hover over links in unsolicited emails and emails from a brand, business, or person you think you know. If the link doesn't match the blue text or is a short link and you can't tell where it leads, don't click it. If you do, you may be on a lookalike website where your personal information could be compromised.
- Pay attention to contact information and shop policies. In the contact section, legitimate online stores should provide you with a physical address and working phone number. If those elements are missing, taking your business elsewhere is best. Return and shipping policies should be clear and easy to understand. If a shop has policies, but you aren’t convinced they’re legitimate, try copying and pasting the policy section into your web browser to see if it’s been copied and pasted from another website.
- Do a search for reviews and potential scams. If you still can’t tell if a website is real or fake, try typing the website name and the word “scam” or “reviews” into your web browser. If other people have been victims of a fake site, you’ll likely find reports when you search for scams. A reputable store should have plenty of reviews for you to examine. Be alert to reviews that are generic, sound robotic or unnatural, or are too brief, as these could be fakes.
For more information
To learn more about scams, go to BBB.org/ScamTips. For more about avoiding scams, check out BBB.org/AvoidScams. If this scam has targeted you, help others avoid the same problem by reporting your experience at BBB.org/ScamTracker.