Colvern Indonesia Scam - Penipuan Colvern Indonesia

12:03 PM

I haven't posted anything in a while, sorry.

What's happened lately?

I got scammed.

A student pursuing master's degree in Universitas Gadjah Mada in Jogjakarta insulted Jogjakarta through a Path status and is now cyber-bullied and faces risk of going to prison.

I find it hard to find a suitable company that I want to try to apply for internship.

I have been traveling a lot.

--

Scammed!

Beware, there might be some swear words in this post. And it is not censored like my previous posts.

Helpful links:

http://momento.mataku.com/blog/2011/12/15/inextron-penipuan-berkedok-trik-marketing-2/

http://myzone.okezone.com/content/read/2013/05/13/10470/

and many more... just Google: Colvern Indonesia or Penipuan Colvern Indonesia and you will see most of the top articles are about scams. Unfortunately, they're in Indonesian, so if you're a non-Indonesian and you'd like to find out, I hope my post can help you become more aware, or I hope Google Translate will do a good job.

So I went to Poins Square Lebak Bulus on a fateful 9th of August 2014. Who knew that that was a day I'd learn a lesson the hard way?

OTOPlus is the name of the store/showroom that scammed me. And many others. It goes by many names, and the first link from momento.mataku.com has kindly listed some of their scammer company names. First of all, OTOPlus is located next to California Fried Chicken, but I forgot which floor was it. They are a small showroom, does not look nice, and their workers consist of 4 people: 1 who supposedly act as manager, 1 woman named Ifah, Ipah, or whatever, 1 man named Lucky and another man named Ijal if I remember correctly.

Lucky approached me while I was on my way to my car (at the basement). He offered me a detox patch as a complimentary gift but to get it I'd have to fill in a form and sign some stuff he said. I always felt pity for these salesmen/women because it's hard to find passersby who'd actually listen to you, so I listened.

This Lucky guy says he studies at BSI (Bina Sarana Informatika) and is currently at 2nd semester but he works while taking college classes. He constantly praises me, like how come someone as pretty as you don't have a boyfriend? Your skin is so smooth, you must be the epitome of male adoration, etc etc. Maybe the flirting would've worked more if he was good looking. Then another male joined in the praising, and that is Ijal. This Ijal has almost-bald-short-hair, very skinny, and super sweet mouth (again, it would've worked more if he had better looks). This impudent guy dared to touch my calves while praising my smooth legs. Who the hell are you?

They were promoting their foot massager from a Japanese brand called NIIRO. I saw the brochure and I was a bit surprised that all of them were priced nothing less than IDR 10 million. Yes, 10 million. In an ugly showroom. But I was stupid enough to not feel suspicious. They said their foot massager had JADE inside. When they asked me if the massager felt good, well it was so-so, good, but not extremely bad.

Maybe because I'm a female, the bitch Ifah did a lot of the talking. She said she was a dangdut singer and showed her CDs and photos. She is a voluptuous lady. And not in a good way. Bla bla bla and then they said because their company Colvern is celebrating their 17th birthday, they are giving me a chance to win a "doorprize". They had prepared two examples: one coupon said "Thank you for your visit" and the other was "You win a massage machine worth IDR 1,890,000". They said the majority of the coupons were like these examples.

I pulled one, and guess what, I won a portable stove priced at IDR 15,990,000.


If it is too good to be true, then it is. Why didn't I think that?



They said I was very lucky, because most of the coupons were the ones like the example (thank you for your visit and winning an item worth IDR 1,890,000). B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T. Oh, and see the barcode, this is the first time I saw that kind of barcode, but I was not suspicious. They said they'll call the sponsor and let him talk to me. I wanted to grab this coupon because I wanted to see the terms and conditions but Ifah bitch would not let me. I was confused, why wasn't I allowed to see it? This sponsor head's name is BAPAK PURNAMA. Hell, I don't even think it's his real name. So he said, to win this stove, there are several conditions:

1. You must not sell the item you won.
2. You must become a Colvern member. To become one, you simply have to purchase two of Colvern products. (NONE OF THEM ARE LESS THAN FVCKIN 10MIL)

There may be other conditions he stated but these were the one I remembered. So, see the 2 million voucher on my "winning coupon"? They said I have to use this coupon in order to get the stove. Oh, and the VISA and MasterCard logo meant that they have partnership with them, so if you use a card that has either logo, you'll get one year warranty for your products.

See the barcode? It has ISTIMEWA on it. The sponsors said, people who got coupons with this ISTIMEWA on it, is prioritized to win the grand prize which is a Daihatsu Xenia. I might seem arrogant for saying this, but what I thought was: seriously, the grand prize is only a Xenia?

They said that I am the first prioritized winner from Jakarta, out of only 3 people. Wow.


I should've written false info instead! :-/

This Ifah bitch greedily took my cards, and said my BCA Flazz card is a credit card. IT DOES NOT EVEN HAVE A VISA OR MASTERCARD LOGO, you dumb bitch. I bet you don't even know that Flazz cards can't have more than IDR 1 mil inside. But unfortunately, I do have one credit card, that has MasterCard logo.

I told them I want to call my dad. THEY DID NOT WANT ME TO CALL MY DAD. They forced me to okay the transaction right away. For God's sake, what's wrong with calling my dad? I snapped at them. But stupidly enough, I didn't think of leaving the place. They said, my dad would not agree because he doesn't see the products. I called him, and well although it's not my dad's fault, he was kind of angry-sounding, and said it's definitely a scam and told me to tell them we could not pay. He sounded angry, so I became even more confused, and thought I was the right one. That I won these shits.

Fuck yourself OTOPlus, you made my dad angry at me, he became emotional because of me, and it's thanks to you guys forcing me to swipe my credit card for useless shits you offer me. I ended up swiping my card for useless pieces of shit.

They helped me bring the stuff to my car, and then you know what? They fucking dared to ask me for TIPS. TIPS? Eat shit. I didn't give them any. Then I called my dad again and explained what happened, and of course he was furious. He said he's experienced this before. Well I didn't know that... he's not the kind to tell these stories after all. He told me to go back and void the transaction, just give all the stuff back to them.

I went back to the shitty showroom. I screamed at them, telling them I want my transaction canceled right this moment.

Ifah bitch: But miss, you said you were okay with it.

I yelled at her. I was ok, but now I want my transaction voided!

They are playing stupid. They said the accounting staff's not here, so they can't void my transaction. Well I don't buy it, but unless I can void the transaction myself, there's no way of getting money back. They also said, "IF WE GET RETURNED ITEMS, IT WOULD MEAN WE ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL SELLER,"

They continue on to say that they have the permission of KEMENSOS. They keep saying this.


The banner says they have Facebook, Twitter, etc but their Facebook only has 4 likes and their Twitter account is nonexistent.


The manager guy said slowly that if I won the car, this showroom will be renovated, and then continued to show me their book of documentations, which has terrible quality photos and paper, and said "here, we have a lot of branches" and I yelled angrily, "Close the damn book! I don't need this shit!"

I told them to talk to my dad and my dad said he'll call the police. This Ijal guy is used to police I guess, because he told my dad confidently that they ran this business for over 7 years and if they weren't official, the mall wouldn't let them stay here.

I went back and forth from my car to the showroom. In the middle, my dad told me that he called the credit card issuer bank, and said only the merchant can cancel it, and I can also call the merchant hotline, and the number must be on the machine. I looked at the machine, and yes there is.

Stupid me did not think of using loudspeaker. I called the merchant hotline, and I told them, if you guys are official then help me talk to the merchant hotline. One of them talked on the phone, and said that the merchant hotline wants to talk to the credit card holder. I asked the man on the phone again, and he reconfirms that he wants to talk to the merchant. But I said I will call him again.

Looking at that Ijal's face, it was damn obvious that he was playing stupid.

When I called the merchant hotline again, it was constantly busy. That time I used loudspeaker. And it was constantly busy. I felt like giving up. They reassured me again that I could exchange the foot massager for a cheaper item and get the remaining money in cash. I already thought that that was impossible, but I was looking for a gleam of hope.

In the end my dad angrily told me to just go home and bring all the stuff. Ifah bitch left her phone number, and I feel like putting it here so trolls can text her, or cyber bully her. But nah, I'm hoping that she'll get her karma soon.

In total I was scammed for a total of IDR 8,990,000. The foot massager cost IDR 11,990,000 and with that 2 mil voucher I have that "special" price. Wow, I was very generous. With that money I could've bought a brand new phone. And all I got is a shitty foot massager.

This happened to me in Poins Square, but they exist in most ITC shopping malls, Mal Taman Anggrek, and many many other malls. If you ever go to "cheap malls" like ITC, it's best to not be alone. At least a friend can help you out of a sticky situation like that, but when you're alone, you're more likely to get scammed, especially when you are too pitying, or too trusting of these lowlifes.

If I had taken a photo with them, I would definitely post it here for all of you to see. But just beware of these lowlifes sneaking inside malls.

If you go to Poins Square, Ifah is a fat bitch with short hair, dark skin and full-framed spectacles; Lucky is a short guy with short hair, has fringes, is a sweet-mouthed bastard and talkative-- he's probably the one who will come up to you while you're walking; Ijal is very skinny, his hair is almost bald but still has hair, and he's not tall as well, also very talkative and is an impudent sweet-mouthed bastard; and finally the manager, he has a face with large pores, like the surface of a moon, wears spectacles (no frame if I remember correctly), doesn't talk much and speaks in a low volume (you kinda barely hear him), and seems like a scaredy cat.

I would very much like to translate this post into Indonesian, but I hope Google Translate will do me the favor for Indonesians who can't read English and happens to come across my blog. Without me, there are already many victims who kindly wrote an article so people can be more aware of these scammers. Google will help you find these articles. They are all over Indonesia, gets easy money-- usually a few million rupiahs per victim.

Lastly, I would like to state some signs that help you identify these kind of bastards:

1. They will offer you a free complimentary product. Detox patch, pen, dolls, etc etc. They said they'll give it for free if you sign something/fill some sort of form.

2. If they have given you the free item, they will take it back once you're not interested in buying their shit.

3. Most of them roam around in cheap malls. Cheap malls that sells cheap stuff.

4. They are the reason why big companies that hold lottery/sweepstakes always say "We do not ask any money from lottery winners". So if you win a lottery and you have to pay a lot of money to get the prize, then it is a scam. No doubt about it.

5. They will force you to do the transaction right away. If like me, you have credit card from your parents, and you want to call your parents to ask if it is okay to do the transaction, they will not like you calling them (your parents). But they will try to hide their annoyance because they still want your money.

6. If you say you're not interested and keep on repeating maybe until you get annoyed, they will change their attitude completely. They were so nice to you, now not anymore.

7. They are likely to call their sponsors using an old-looking phone. In my case, they used an old wireless phone.

8. If you're a female, they will praise you like you're the most beautiful woman in the world.

Edit: 9. The more someone tries to convince you that they're official, they're trustworthy, by saying proofs that prove their point, repeatedly, the more they are likely to be scammers, or just untrustworthy.


And one word of advice if you have at least one credit card: Find out how to void transactions. On BCA machines it's more confusing than other EDC machines, and that's what made me not know how to void my transaction-- the menus were not helping at all. And if you're still a child financially depending on your parents, it's best to have a credit card with a low limit-- and find a bank who can give supplemental credit cards with low credit card limits. My friend says BCA lets you, but you have to be over 21 and have an official statement of how much you earn every month (pocket money for me), but you'll need a salary receipt for that official statement.

That's all for this post. I hope this helped in a way. I know some of the things I did seemed stupid and it is, but this was a hard punch to the face-- it was a hard lesson but I learned much.

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9 comments

  1. Hi there, I'm sorry to hear this. I experienced exactly the same too..., got scammed Rp.9.990.000.
    It happened last month in a grand new luxurious mall; Bumi Kedaton Mal, Bandar Lampung.
    Thank God, with the help from BPSK (Badan Penyelesaian Sengketa Konsumen) and after exhausting efforts, I got my money back Rp. 8.499.000.
    They took 15% off with 'stupid' reasons. Can we say that those people are 'white collar thieves'?
    Fyi, the contact person of the Colvern is Alvared Pasaribu. At first, he told me that he is the lawyer of the company, another day he said as the service center manager, then the board of director, then finally he said that he is the owner of the company.... . Huh! so annoying! His cell is 081318581.
    I asked help from BPSK because Alvared Pasaribu gave me no discussions. He didn't pick any calls, so I texted him at first.
    Well... I hope things will run well with you.., just give it a try to proceed your claim to Alvared/Colvern.
    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sorry, his cellphone is 081318581858

      Delete
    2. I totally forgot to reply comments on this post... I'm so sorry. I think mine was also Alvared Pasaribu, because the name does sound familiar. But I'm glad you got money back even if it was cut 15%! I didn't get any cent back. White collar thieves.. more like corrupt pigs. They always think they need to be paid some 'commission' for helping you.

      However, I did not pursue the case. Tbh I don't even know if Jakarta has BPSK, but they should have. Also, them scammers might be paying the police officers eventually when I pursue the case or have backings from police officers themselves, and knowing the Indonesian police officers are, they'll probably tell you "udah ikhlasin aja mbak/bang" -- recently someone who got scammed for 1 million was told that by a police officer.

      Delete
  2. Im succeed claim back all of my money.without any terms n conditions.u should go to their main office at graha cempaka mas jl.letjend suprapto blok d 31.jakarta pusat.u should cimplain to their salesman also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to know you got all yr money back.
      I already complained to the salesgirls many times, her answers are always "No refund", their boss in main office - graha cempaka is also no different. All their stuff are already returned, but they still kept my money. Can I know the contact person in main office that you meet? Is the person Alvared Pasaribu? Thank u for the info.

      Delete
    2. I'm glad for everyone who's got their money back, since these bastards don't deserve any cent from someone who's honestly working hard for every penny. Yeah I pretty much got "no refunds", they don't even accept returns of products.

      Whoever the contact person is, you might want to go there straight instead of calling them, but Google first in case there are actually successful cases or if the office does exist. But getting money back from scammers is never an easy task.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Damn, I jst got scammed by today 3 hours ago. The sales trick was specifically the same! I lost 500.000 for down payment and 100.000 for tips. Will they give my money back, If I go back there tomorrow and bring security with me? Is it work? Please helping me out. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for the late reply.

      I don't know if you've tried, but even if you bring security, the security will probably not be smart enough to not fall into their mind and psychological games. They'll assure you they're a certified tenant that has been here for some years and therefore, trustworthy. I'm not going to say 500k is a little amount, it could be big for some, but you are very lucky. Some others were fathers or mothers who lost 10++ million, who have a family to take care of.

      I was never much of a tipping person, and thankfully I didn't lose more money for tips to these sick assholes. I hope you could get your money back, but I wouldn't bet on it as, what scammer would willingly give you your money back? You probably would need a hypnotist instead of a security guard.

      Delete

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