The domain shrinkcontrol.com was registered less than a year ago (December 19, 2011), however, it has the same registrant details as handkeys.com (which redirects to the new domain). It is possible that the website owner changed names due to some scathing Internet reviews of handkeys.com, perhaps in an attempt to rebrand itself. On first inspection of the new website, one is given the impression that it offers a wide variety of retail theft solutions, but on closer inspection it becomes apparent that it’s only selling detaching devices under the guise of a loss prevention image.
We Googled ‘shrinkcontrol.com reviews’ and the first link that came up was from ripoffreport.com. Here, it is mentioned that the website used to accept PayPal, but somewhere along the line their account was revoked. One possible reason this occurred could be due to some customers claiming they had their PayPal account permanently limited (banned) when purchasing from Shrink Control, as there have been reports that the owner was being pursued by authorities:
“The website, www.handkeys.com, along with other multiple aliases, is operated by an individual known to be selling stolen goods. As of November 1st 2011, authorities have instructed the website host to terminate the domain, and all pages have been subsequently removed at the request of the Sensormatic Corporation.”
Tag Removers decided to perform its own investigation. We started by reviewing their website, but it does not display any trust or safety seals. So, we went ahead and entered the domain at safeweb.norton.com and it brought up a big question mark. It seems the website has not been around long enough to establish conclusive evidence of its authenticity. This sounds like a familiar story; it’s been a well known tactic by scammers to close up shop and then reappear elsewhere in order to evade its own reputation.While we can’t prove shrinkcontrol.com is a scam, users should still exercise caution. There is a chance that if you have purchased from this website, personally identifiable sales records may have been seized by the Sensormatic Corporation.