Is this a new scam and if so how does it work

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 5

I work for a small glass company. Three times this year we have been contacted by people (2 of whom were 'vicars') requesting the supply of ridiculously large amounts of glass. In all cases they have wanted to pay by mastercard or visa and need the glass shipped to an African country (the congregation would fry!). In one case I checked with Card Services and it was a valid card but registered overseas.

We haven't fallen for any of these and deal with them by bamboozling with safety regulations untill they cease to communicate.

Could someone please advise us how this one operates or have we rejected valid customers?

419Eater is my life Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 344

My guess is stolen card that hasnt been reported yet.

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:01 pm

It's either that ^^^ or they just initially offer to pay by credit card and later on, ask to pay by cheque. Then they'll send you a cheque for more than the actual amount ask you to send them the difference back by Western Union. The cheque will, of course, turn out to be fake and bounce.

Or maybe, they just need a lot of glass? Razz

Not!

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

The overpayment scam is also used with credit cards. Some time after the business has wired back the difference of the cc charge and/or shipped the goods, they'll get a chargeback notification from the real owner's credit card company.

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:32 pm

A couple of years ago I dealt with a college in London at which a scammer had paid for a terms fees (GBP4,000) with a compromised credit card.
He promptly cancelled the course and asked the college to refund the GBP4,000 by Western Union transfer.
Since then I've seen the same scam worked many times for orders of various goods and services.
If worked quickly, i.e. before the cardholder realises his card has been compromised (which under normal circumstances can be up to 2 months), the scam can be very successful.

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:49 pm

^^^^^
That's how I assumed it works.
All companies should simply refund only to the Card.

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 7:33 pm

Ahh Yes, but two things working together ensure that that doesn't always happen.
1. This is a scam and the scammer will put up any number of excuses why he doesn't want the refund to go to the credit card.
2. Companies are staffed by idiots or, at the very least, people who have little or no knowledge of such scams.

Master Baiter Joined: 03 Jul 2007 Posts: 158

Breddan has it pretty much covered. Best option to save yourselves time, is add some kind of new clauses to the bottom of an email that covers cash refunds can not be made on credit card purchases.

Many companies in Aus have adopted this approach with everything. You buy it with a credit card, the refund will only be returned to that card. It basically meant that eventually the scammer would stop contacting them because it doesnt work anymore.

This basically gets filed in the 'they will try anything' vault.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 5

To everyone who has replied.

Thank you so much.

We suspected they were scams as we have been major fans of 419eater since the Church of the Painted Breast episode and for this reason never got as far as taking payment. We just couldn't figure how they would get us in the end.

Unfortunately we can't bait as they contact us through our website, so we'll just carry on as we are. Health and Safety regulations suddenly have a whole new meaning.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 27

Another probable scenario is that the bad guys have either generated a block of legitimate credit card numbers using any one of a number of programs or they have bought a block from a hacker. The numbers will come back as good because the real card holders still have their cards in hand. It may take a month for the real card holder to notice the bad charge on their account. By then you have already shipped the items and the credit card company hits you for a chargeback. The merchandise you shipped goes on sale at a number of storefronts in Akra or Lagos. Its actually a pretty common scam.

Master Baiter Joined: 03 Jul 2007 Posts: 158

Absolutely Lordy. Another quick easy way to deal with them is say the card was denied. They will come up with another, say it got denied too.

Also contact either Visa or Mastercard and give them the card details and that you suspect this is fraud. That way they cant use it anywhere else as can immediately contact the real card holder for verification - and cancel it before they can do anymore damage. Hopefully contact any other places it has been used and stop any shipments before they leave.

When you get something like this, and can instantly identify the intent, you can save a lot of people a lot of heartache.

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:01 pm

@beeman.
I haven't yet seen a generator that will generate both a Card Number and corresponding security digits.

All companies should ask for both of these when taking phone or web orders.

If they don't, they're just asking for problems.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 27

no credit card generating program can generate valid CVV numbers. Unfortunately, not all vendors require them. A cosmetics company that I know of sent over $80,000.00 worth of their merchandice to Ghana before they figured out what was going on and startted to require that the buyer provide them.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 5

Wow!

If these guys put as much energy into something positive as they do scamming, they could be the next Richard Bransen or Alan Sugar.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 4:12 pm

^^^^

Naw.
That would be too much like hard work.
All they do is recycle known methods.
There is no such thing as a hard working Lad. (Unless we MAKE them work...) Laughing

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