An efficient and cost-effective way of collecting personal- and credit card information has long been a sort of Holy Grail for criminals and cyber criminals of all types, and through Big Tiger Mall, an online retail operation offering some extremely attractive prices, that Holy Grail may just have been realized.
The operation is obviously a scam and though it does not directly steal money from its victims, it does walk away with their personal/credit card information, causing damage which may indeed turn out to be way more substantial further down the line than the loss of 10-20,or even 100 bucks.
What is the exact MO of the Big Tiger Mall scam?
The MO is pretty clear.
What might still be subject to guesswork is exactly how the scammers use the information skimmed from their unsuspecting victims.
Big Tiger Mall (and a number of other sites built on the very same template) pose as legitimate online stores.
They offer attractive merchandize at attractive prices, while making sure that everything about the operation looks as legitimate as possible.
Yes, there are product details pages, complete with shipping estimates, availability information, description, price and even customer reviews, not to mention detailed warranty information.
For the rank-and-file shopper, Big Tiger Mall does indeed look legitimate and that’s why the scam can be much more dangerous than other – more obvious – scams.
Only those truly well-versed in shopping and product prices will spot anything wrong with the setup, in the sense that the prices are indeed a bit too good to be true.
While bigtigermall.com is the “official” site of the operation, there are scores of other URLs used for this exact- or other similar – scams.
Chumingha.com for instance is another site, which is set up in exactly the same way bigtigermall.com is.
Apparently, Tiger Direct represented the inspiration for the whole layout.
Other sites which peddle similarly scammy deals are Mitmall.com, Raceprotax.com and Nasatex.com.
How can you tell that these sites are all “related”? The same phone numbers and contact information is used for all of them.
How can you be certain that Big Tiger Mall is indeed a scam?
The most obvious indication of the site’s shady status is user feedback.
There are scores of accounts available out there, regarding the way the site operates. People order certain items, drawn in by the attractive prices and then nothing gets delivered.
While no money is stolen either, it is alarming that the “merchant” does not even attempt to charge the clients’ credit cards. Its “job” is obviously done at that point.
What’s truly alarming about the whole scam though is that it used to be pushed through Google ads, so its owners were certainly interested in driving visitors/potential clients to the site, even through paid advertising.
Several users have already reported the Big Tiger Mall scam to the authorities though, so their Google Adwords membership may have been compromised.
The sites are still very much online and kicking though, despite these complaints.
Another scam giveaway is the fact that the phone numbers and addresses provided by the site are all fake.
As a matter of fact, none of the footer links purportedly pointing to pages relevant for the corporate background of the operation, seem to work anymore.
The pages where the information is collected on users at checkout are in tip-top shape though. They accept fake information input, even with glaring mistakes such as zip codes not matching the state/location etc.
The last checkout step is obviously the most important one for the operation: this is where you’re supposed to provide your credit card information. Long story short: don’t do it.
Conclusion
The Big Tiger Mall scam is a rather dangerous one, in the sense that it makes an almost legitimate pitch, and this makes it extremely difficult to spot.
The prices on the products they “sell” are way too good to be true at a closer look though.
Whenever an online retailer such as the one Big Tiger Mall is pretending to be, arises any sort of suspicion on your part, do not hesitate to run a quick search on it.
People are eager to warn others when they’re scammed, so you’re likely to find something in the way of user feedback on it out there.
Ever had any identity-theft related problems and never realized how the perpetrators got to your personal information?
Try to recall whether you ever had a run-in with an operation of Big Tiger Mall’s ilk. That’s the cause of your troubles right there…
For now, we’d recommend that you keep shopping on Amazon.com.
I found your website after having ordered an Apple Watch, and noticed that my Visa was never charged and when I calle there 800 number it is not in service so I Googled you I wander why the site has not been taken down?
Placed an order recently and no response from Big Tiger Mall. After trying to call the inoperabke phone number and no response by email I grew suspicious. Yep! A scam. I just blocked my credit card. Getting a new one issued to be on the safeside.
We just ordered something a couple days ago what should I do???
I just ordered the same thing twice. When my card had not been charged the first time, I figure there was a mistake and ordered a second time. My card wasn’t charged this time either. So, does cancelling my credit card keep Big Tiger Mall from hurting my information?
I too fell victim to the price “too good to be true” and entered my credit card info although on their website it stated something about Paypal. After a bit of research, I discovered the true story of Big Tiger Mall. The telephone number is not in service and the address is a house in El Segundo, California when I look on Google maps. Immediately called American Express and they cancelled my card & a new one is in the mail. Will stick with Amazon from now on.
Great post – I posted a notice of this on Reddit as well.