Scammer warning for armourers.

[Mad Matt]

Recently I had someone claiming to be from italy who wanted to order 6 pairs of fingermittens. Not a small order. Then they wanted to pay with credit card without using paypal and I was able to do that through my mom's store. He also wanted to use a specific shipping company and gave me an e-mail address to get a quote so he could pay the full cost of the order including shipping up front.

I got a quote from the shipping company which was more than double what the most expensive shipping option from fedex or UPS was and he was fine with the price. He asked that I bill two seperate credit cards placing charges on the two cards in $1,000 increments alternating cards. The first $1,000 charge went through the second was rejected. Before I had a chance to let him even know that part he e-mailed me insisting that I pay the "shipping company" as soon as I had the funds to make sure I wouldn't be out any money if the shipping cost changed when the order was completed.

I e-mailed the person at the shipping company asking for a website. Also noticed that they required that I make payment via wire transfer. Luckily I have a wonderful smart and suspicious fiancee who started asking questions. I refunded the $1,000 that was charged to the card the same day. Let him know that he could pay for the gauntlets and wire transfer the money to the shipping company himself since he was a "premium client".

And I never heard another word.

So obviously it was a scam. Likely the shipping company I was going to be wire transfering over $2K to was him and either the credit card charges were going to be reversed or the cards were stolen.

Thought I should share this experience so that nobody would fall prey to this scammer.

[jamesedgarson]

Wow!!!

Good job, Matt....your lady is a firecracker!...like most things that seem "too-good-to-be-true" this does sound very much like a scam....as you're in Canada you should give a shout to the RCMP, I've included the link below...although the odds of finding the actual perpetrator are small, any criminal activity crossing borders should be passed on to the authorities....you might be saving someones grandmother from losing their lifesavings...it might sound far-fetched, but criminals have no qualms about stealing from the helpless...it IS important not to let thieves like this slide....you are an excellent armourer and a $2,000 hit to many shops could have closed their doors for good.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams-fraudes/index-eng.htm

Good job sir!!!

[Winterborne]

This scam is pulled on printers all the time. We watch for it. Good job sniffing it out!!

[Sevastian]

Thanks for the heads up Matt! Scammers need to be thrown into forced labor camps.

[CTrumbore]

it's hitting restaurants too.

I've gotten an order for "250 fry chicken sandwiches with lettuce tomato and chips, individual wraps" for some guys dads birthday party (hell of a party!) to be picked up next tuesday..

then the want to charge the cash payment to their "shipping agent" to the card.

Usually, it's a stolen card, they ARE the shipping agent, and they walk out with the cash.. which leaves me (or you, in you case) on the hook for the cash you took out of your till.. as the credit card company isn't going to give it to you.

[Ramsay318]

Is it bad that I kind of miss the days of Nigerian princes? At least you knew they were scams and could get a good laugh out of the terrible English.

[Paladin74]

Cheers to having a smart partner, eh Matt? Thanks for sharing; never ceases to amaze the lengths some people will go through to scam others.

[knotwolf]

Thanks for the heads up Matt! Scammers need to be thrown into forced labor camps.

And used as food for the forced laborers.

R

[Murdock]

Yeah i had a fake check sent to me a while back. Bank wouldn't cash it. The customer went crazy, i told them my bank said there was no such bank. Not one more complaints. IIRC it was from Spain.

[Thomas Powers]

Americans tend to be not very international business savvy and now the internet allows international access the vultures are circling...