Buying Refurbished consoles, such as Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3 is relatively common.  Though they are indeed second hand and most likely recently repaired, they are still cheaper.  You may be able to save somewhere between $100 - $150.   Not a bad bargain especially if you’re like me, who dresses like a hobo and tries to buy everything on the cheap.

After reading this discussion over at FraudWatchers however, and then receiving this comment on our own blog, I would like to reiterate.

You cannot buy a refurbished console for $34.99.

There are some sites that are legitimately selling refurbished consoles, but if you see a price for $34.99 with free shipping, or a price even remotely close to that, you should stay away.  The statements on the Credit Card will show the payments as going to gaming-plugins.com.  If you have one of these you should call your Credit Card provider immediately and explain the situation to them.   Hopefully you can reverse the charge and get your Credit Card number changed to prevent any fraudulent activity.   You should also report the crime to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, they will want any reports of this.

Thankfully their sites are being shutdown in quick time, but I’ll list them anyway because Google is friendly to these kinds of things.

These sites are still active, but remember kids, it’s a scam.

These ones oddly sell what seems to be a fake WoWCheat Mod

If you come across more, please let me know in a comment below and I will continue to post them here. 

Edit : There is also a more extended write up on these scams here http://www.prowler-pro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=466