Hi all. I do the web design for an author who uses a basic PayPal payment page for her online shopping cart. Works fine, no problems so far. She doesn’t have many online buyers – most people who purchase go through the 1-800 phone number that’s run by her book distributers. She also sends out books on her own, but as I said, most people go with the toll-free number.
Anyway, now she’s received an email out of the blue from a guy from Taiwan who wants to buy 100 copies of her book. The author wants to push him to pay her directly, rather than go through the distributor, because this way she doesn’t have to pay the exhorbitant fee to her distributors (she loses about 75% of each sale to them). But since she doesn’t have a merchant account (she doesn’t want to pay the fees), the only option is using the PayPal form.
Rather than using the standard form, which has a fairly low S&H fee hard-coded into it, the author wants me to set up a unique page specifically for this potential customer, together with a (pricier) shipping/handling fee.
That’s all fine. But this guy has now told her that though he has an “American credit card,” he can only make payment by sending the number via email, rather than through a webpage.
This seems … odd to me. Does it set off any alarm bells with you guys? Is Taiwan blocked from using online payment systems? That seems hard to believe. If not, why would anyone prefer to send a credit card number through email – an incredibly insecure method – rather than going through PayPal’s secure system? I know many people don’t like/trust PayPal, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here; this guy seems to be unwilling to go through any web payment system.
Yet I don’t even know what I’m worried about. Credit card fraud, I guess. What if this is a stolen card number and the author sends out the books only to have the charge disputed?
Exact thing happened to me. A buyer from Malta using ashley.dennis86@yahoo.com emailed me to place bulk order for my products. See her email below
"Let me know if you can give me discounts on this other and also let me know the total amount for the whole so that i can give you my card for you to charge and also let me know if you want my shipper to pick up the stuffs from you
MY DELIVERY ADDRESS
8 Triq il-Kangu,Birzebbuga,
Malta,BBG07.
Also, I experience difficulties when it comes to getting orders to my address here in Malta i would be best if you contact the shipper which i used in the past (premierfrieghtshipper@gmail.com), they’ll pick up the stuffs from you and ship to me conviniently,you can also notify them with my customer id# TW56HFJ76T.
I will need you to obtain a quote and get back to me with:
COST OF THE ORDER
COST OF THE SHIPPING VIA TUDOR AIR FREIGHT
TOTAL COST (ORDER + SHIPPING)
Once i have these details, i will get back to you with my credit card details immediately.so you can charge and make the necessary shipping arrangements.
Kind Regards
Ashley
I quickly emailed her shipper and got this response:
"Dear Client,
Thank you for contacting Premier Air Freight for your
service.We ran into our data base on the location you provided and
also rectified the customer id number (TW56HFJ76T) ad later got to
discover that we have shipped some wines to Mrs Kim in the past.We
located in United Kingdom but help private customers in pick up like
this. so getting your shipment to your client
won’t be a problem.
For a shipment moving from USA to Malta with the total Total weight and dimension you provide, below is the Standard and Express Shipment Air Freight quote.
customer id number (TW56HFJ76T)
Express Shipment (2 to 3 days) $1750.65
Standard Shipment (3 to 7 days) $1260.00
The freight costs includes:
Collection from your Yard
Customs clearance
Duties & taxes
Inland transit to Malta
Insurance
Door To Door Delivery
Recipient:
8 Triq il-Kangu,
Birzebbuga,
Malta.
BBG07.
Pick up will be made by our agent in the states after payment is
confirmed.We will need you to provide us with an estimate pick up date
and time so that we can schedule a date and time for you before the
the goods are ready for picked up as we normally have a lot of
shipment request.
As soon as we receive all necessary information from you we will
proceed on the pick up at your location,Also i will like to inform
you that we only accept Western Union Money Transfer/Money Gram for
now prior to pick up and collection of package which will be paid as
soon as the order is ready for pick up. so you would have to send us
the amount to which the weight of the goods weight via western
union/wire transfer so that we can do the pick up and settle the
necessary tax and custom duties,this price includes insurance and all
there duties,then we will get back to you with the necessary
details.We have greatly reduce the price of your shipment. For further
information don’t hesitate to contact us.
Looking forward to be of more service to you.
Robert Marc
custodian manager
PAF(+447024030697)
In addition, Ashley, the “supposed buyer” said she cannot pay online using her credit card due to security concern and would like to email her credit card details to me instead. She also said that I need to do western union to pay for her shipper which will be charged to her credit card. I told her to use Paypal and Amazon instead, and that credit card rules are strict in the US and doing so will violate it. Plus it will protect her and me in case something comes up. I also recommended to use FEDEX instead of her preferred shipper because I only use reputable companies for international shipping. I also made a comparison cost of her shipper versus USPS and FEDEX. To this bogus “shipper”, I told him I don’t do meet-ups & to send me information about his company because I don’t do western union and money wire. Feeling that this could be a scam, I googled the shipping address in Malta and information about this shipper. Lo & behold, this same customer ID number surfaced & was traced to a Nigerian scam. The address provided in Malta was a radio station.
Trust your instinct.If it sounds dubious and too good to be true, something is wrong.
You can never be too paranoid when it comes to online
One reason for not wanting to go through ANY payment system is that the IP of the actual person who makes an entry could be tracked. Now, if the guy claims he’s from Taiwan, has “American credit card” (btw, why not say Visa/MC/AmEx?) and refuses to use simple online form, I’d get alert.
Just an FYI, on what I would’ve done:
check the originating IP/domain from where the client is sending his correspondence
check what e-mail client (if any) he’s using
do a Google search for e-mail/name of the client.
These may seem dull, but you will be surprised how much information this might yield.
Stay alert. Do your homework. Don’t scare your client to death with your paranoia, or else she won’t be able to pay you
I aggree with that too.to be paranoid isnt good to start your business,paypal I think also wont really problem to the effect of the scammers like this,and more over before so you can consult your self with ic3 about this I think they now pretty much about save internet commerce for merchants
Thanks for the responses, folks. I was able to get my client to forward me the alleged customer’s emails, and I’m now certain it’s a shipping fraud. I told the client as much and the deal’s off, thank goodness.
The author (my client) never spoke with “Antonio” by phone, and the quote from the “shipping company” was also by email, not by phone. Indeed, this so-called company never answered the author’s request for a telephone number. Both “Antonio” and the shipping company customer service person (probably the same guy) used yahoo email addresses.
To help others who might wonder how this scam worked, here’s the first email my client received – note how devoid it is of any details indicating that the “customer” had even been to her website or knew what books/products she sold! It’s like a psychic’s cold reading; the scammer sent the message blindly, probably to hundreds/thousands of people, hoping that the recipients had something to sell.
Now check out the response from the shipping company – I’ve bolded the obvious part of the scam (though sadly not so obvious that my poor client picked up on it):
DEAR ,
THANK YOU FOR CONTACTING MOORE ACCESS FREIGHT AND WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL. IN REGARDS TO YOUR REQUEST, WE RAN INTO OUR DATA BASE ON THE LOCATION YOU PROVIDED AND ALSO INDENTIFIED THE CUSTOMER ID NUMBER(TW56HFJ76T) AND LATER GOT TO DISCOVER THAT WE HAVE SHIPPED SOME PACKAGES THERE IN THE PAST. WE ARE LOCATED IN UNITED KINGDOM BUT HELP PRIVATE CUSTOMERS IN PICK UP LIKE THIS,YOU REQUESTED FOR SHIPPING:
WE CAN QUOTE THE FOLLOWING:
We offer the following quotation for the export to Taipei,Taiwan from (address removed - choie), U.S.A… Based on the description provided, please note that this quote is based on
WEIGHTS AND DIMENSIONS:
7-8 carton boxes, weight; 240-270 lbs
Service Type: Door-to-Door ( Duties & Taxes Included)
Total: US$ 3610.60 Transit Time = 4 Days
The above would include:
Air Freight - Airport-to-Airport
Terminal Fees @ Export Terminal
Pick-up from (address removed - choie), U.S.A.**
Warehouse Handling
Airport transfer
Export Forwarding & Document Preparation
Electronic presentation of SED
Local Messenger/Courier
Taiwan Customs Clearance
Taiwan Agency Fees
Terminal Fees in Taiwan
Delivery from Taiwan Airport Import Terminal to Address in Taipei as
provided below
Local Taiwan Messenger/Courier
Banking of Documents (If needed)
Taiwan Duties & Taxes
Courier of Originals to Taiwan (if needed)
Insurance
BROKERAGE AND ALL FREIGHT COST INCLUDED,PICK UP WILL BE MADE BY OUR AGENT IN THE STATES AFTER PAYMENT IS CONFIRMED, WE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE SHIPPING INFORMATION AND YOU CAN SEND IT TO YOUR CUSTOMER AND IT WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOUR CUSTOMER IN 4 DAYS TIME AFTER PICK UP AND IN REGARDS TO PAYMENT,WE DO NOT HAVE THE FACILILTY TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS,SO YOU WILL HAVE TO CHARGE THE TOTAL COST AND SHIPPING COST FROM THE CUSTOMER’S CREDIT CARD AND SEND US PAYMENT VIA WESTERN UNION/MONERYGRAM MONEY TRANSFER WHICH WILL BE SENT TO
OUR AGENTS IN THE UNITED STATES, IMMEDIATELY AFTER PAYMENT, THE ITEMS WILL BE PICKED UP FROM YOUR WAREHOUSE/OFFICE.THE COMPANY POLICY IMPLIES AND WE WILL ONLY ACCEPT TRANSACTION FROM THE SHIPPER(YOUR COMPANY),SO LET US KNOW IF YOU WILL LIKE TO PROCEED WITH THE SHIPMENT THEN WE WILL SEND YOU OUR PAYMENT
INFORMATION SO THAT OUR AGENT CAN PICK UP THE PACKAGE A DAY AFTER CONFIRMATION OF PAYMENT AND HAVE IT SENT OUT TO YOUR CUSTOMER.
PLS NOTE THAT THE PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY YOU AND THEN CHARGED TO YOUR CUSTOMER ON YOUR INVOICE.
CUSTOMER SERVICE,
MOORE ACCESS FREIGHT
I advised my client to stop all communication with this jerk and block his email address altogether. I know she was tempted to write back and yell at him or accuse him of being a scammer, but I’ve heard many stories of would-be scammers harassing their victims when the victims get wise to their cons. Better safe than sorry in this case.
So that’s that. It’s a shame for my client, who got her hopes up for this big order, but on the plus side, she stood to lose thousands (not to mention the books she would have sent), so at least we prevented that from happening!
I must agree with you, yelling back isn’t a good idea. However, checking if there were any leaks of information (like googling for your client’s name/e-mail) might be.
I think the other obvious sign of this being a scam is the lack of good/proper grammar and just generally poor English in these emails. These emails don’t even look professional. Could be just a kid hoping to rip people off.
Our company received two emails this week, each requesting the URL to our “store.” Each was followed by a request for a quotation on an order for Taiwan, although because they’ve had delivery problems in the past, they needed us to ship their order using a specific third-party shipper. (Sound familiar?) Even though both requests came from different names with different email addresses (both generic addresses at gmail and yahoo) and asked for different shippers, they both used the identical Customer ID number, which was the same as choie’s customer’s number, too!
The first order requested that we contact and use Sky Freight Forwarding, which we did. We got a response very similar, although less detailed, than choie’s. Afterwards, we found that they have no website, and Google listed no such company. They don’t even have their own email domain, using instead a British Yahoo! account. (See the contact information they provided below.) The second order’s shipper used the same email address as choie’s.
These scammers must think we’re too desperate for business to question such obvious inconsistencies as third party shippers without websites and email addresses. In this case, the adage should be “Seller beware!”
Mike
Addenda: So that others might find information about this scam more readily, I am listing all the contact information I have for the two orders we received.
Shipper #1
“Sky Freight Forwarding”
14 Haig Road
Stretford
Manchester M32 0DS
United Kingdom
skyfreightforwarding… (UK yahoo account)
{44} (7035) 937275
Customer ID #TW56HFJ76T
Note: Royal Mail shows this to be a valid mailing address, but it’s not listed as being for any company.
Shipper #2
oneandonlyexpresscargo… (gmail account)
Customer ID #TW56HFJ76T
[/INDENT]
I found two reports of similar scams by searching on Google for the above Customer ID number or for onandonlyexpresscargo. I’m sure more reports will appear shortly.
Lastly, we too chose not to yell back or make accusations, but I did send the following to both “customers:”
[INDENT]Dear Sir or Madam:
Thank you for you interest in our products, but we are unable to fulfill your order.
We have made this decision after receiving two different inquiries from two different Taiwanese customers requesting that we use two different shipping companies but using the same customer ID number. In addition, we have found the same customer ID number on multiple web sites listing fraudulent customers.
If our research has led us to an erroneous conclusion, I apologize. In that case, I suggest you place your order again through a verifiable business. Pre-payment will be required, and we will use the shipper of our choice. Otherwise, please cease further communication with our company.[/INDENT]
That was a few hours ago. No response (or malice) so far…
Hi, all - thank you for posting information about the scams from Taiwan about buying various products and using their own shippers and U.S. credit cards. I am an author and have recently received an e-mail almost identical to one of the ones listed above (and SEVERAL of my author friends have also received the same e-mail within the last couple of weeks)… but there is a new twist. The name of the person requesting the books is now Kim Mcintosh, and the shipper is accessfreightinc@gmail.com (a gmail account for a professional international shipper??!!) - So, they’re not gone, even though they may seem to have disappeared for a couple of months.
Amazing! I’m glad this thread’s been useful in some way. Many thanks to others who’ve added the different permutations of the scam. What a racket. I’m just glad my client thought to ask me about this, because it’s quite likely if they’d gone ahead and sold the books as usual, the client would be out thousands of dollars … plus the cost of the books themselves.
Here is a new version of the scam. The customer is in Japan and the shipping company is in the UK but is now adecco with an email at adeccoshipping@yahoo.com. Below are the emails.
Email #1 “customer”
MY DELIVERY ADDRESS
8-10 Palazio Himonya Bldg. 1F,
2-chome
Minami, Meguro-ku,
Tokyo 152-0013, Japan
Also, I experience difficulties when it comes to getting orders to my
address here in japan it would be best if you contact the shipper
which i used in
the past (adeccoshipping@yahoo.com)you can also notify them with my
customer id# TW56HFJ76T.
I will need you to obtain a quote and get back to me
with:COST OF THE ORDER
COST OF THE SHIPPING VIA ADECCO SHIPPING
TOTAL COST (ORDER + SHIPPING)
Once i have these details, i will get back to you with my credit card
details immediately. so you can charge and make the necessary shipping
arrangements.
Kind Regards
John
Email #2 “shipping company”
Dear Client,
Thank you for contacting Adecco Shipping for your service.We ran into our data base on the location you provided and also rectified the customer id number (TW56HFJ76T) and later got to discover that we have shipped some wines to Mr john bill in the past.We located in United Kingdom but help private customers in pick up like this. so getting your shipment to your client won’t be problem.For a shipment moving from USA to JAPAN with the total Total weight and dimension you provide, below is the Standard and Express Shipment Air Freight quote
customer id number (TW56HFJ76T)
Express Shipment (2 to 3 days) $1,490.10
Standard Shipment (3 to 7 days) $1,378.22
The freight costs includes:
Collection from your Yard
Customs clearance
Duties & taxesInland transit to JAPAN
InsuranceDoor To Door Delivery
Pick Up Address
Columbus, IN 47203
Recipient:
8-10 Palazio Himonya Bldg. 1F,
2-chome Minami, Meguro-ku,
Tokyo 152-0013,
Japan
Pick up will be made by our agent in the states after payment is confirmed.We will need you to provide us with an estimate pick up date and time so that we can schedule a date and time for you before the the goods are ready for picked up as we normally have a lot of shipment request.As soon as we receive all necessary information from you we will proceed on the pick up at your location,Also i will like to inform you that we only accept Western Union Money Transfer/Money Gram for now prior to pick up and collection of package which will be paid as soon as the order is ready for pick up… so you would have to send us the amount to which the weight of the goods weight via western union/wire transfer so that we can do the pick up and settle the necessary tax and custom duties,this price includes insurance and all there duties,then we will get back to you with the necessary details.We have greatly reduce the price of your shipment… For further information don’t hesitate to contact us.Looking forward to be of more service to you
Customer Service
(A.S Services and Logistic)
ph+447024046746
Unbelievable, and they use the same damn ID number! I don’t think we should let them know about this clue – it’s too useful as a tip-off for the good guys. Like invisible dye used on counterfeit bills only showing up under UV light.
What’s unbelievable is how stupid they must be. Why do they bother to change the individual’s and the shipper’s names and addresses but not bother to come up with a new ID number?!?!
We also run a small internet business and had a very similar experience recently. Account numbers and details were the same as above. Ended with request to wire money to shipper. Scam for sure.
I have started a new post about this as when I tried to ‘post a reply’ this site told me that the thread was over 13 months old and I wanted to ensure everyone saw this message as this person(s) is at it again…LOL:lol:
Here we are in April of 2010. This person now is trying the name Haroild Willson. Here’s there most recent e-mail. Apprently they read this thread and slightly changed their customer ID# with their shipping Co.
First Email:
my name is haroild willson i will like to purchase some of your items to my new
store in japan i will like to inform you that i will be making payment
through credit card if this is accepted by you please kindly get back to
me with your website address so as for me to choose the item needed by
me.sipping address8-10 Palazio Himonya Bldg. 1F, 2-chome Minami,
Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-0013, Japan
I responded and this is what they responded with:
Thanks for the mail this are the item needed below
(Blanked out) Palm Trees …QTY120
MY DELIVERY ADDRESS
8-10 Palazio Himonya Bldg. 1F,
2-chome
Minami, Meguro-ku,
Tokyo 152-0013, Japan
Also, I experience difficulties when it comes to getting orders to my
address here in japan i would be best if you contact the shipper which i used in
the past (EASYMOVEAIRcargo@yahoo.com you can also notify them with my customer id# TW36HFJ76T.
I will need you to obtain a quote and get back to me
with:COST OF THE ORDER
COST OF THE SHIPPING VIA EASYMOVEAIR CARGO
TOTAL COST (ORDER + SHIPPING)
Once i have these details, i will get back to you with my credit card
details immediately. so you can charge and make the necessary shipping
arrangements.
Kind Regards
Haroild Willson
Thanks for this thread folks. I had already refused to use any other shipping company and passed our their bogus order. But of course they kept insisting and that’s when I looked up their fake shipping co. and shipping address and came across this.
The biggest give away that its a scam is the generic nature of the email. They don’t know your website address, yet they want to buy your items?!? All the scamming emails are like that. The ones from Paypal and the banks are always Dear Paypal Member etc. They never have your name, they never talk about what the ‘goods’ or ‘items’ actually are. They just sit waiting for us to tell them all the details they need.
Anyway, I’m off to Wetern Union now to send $3000 to a lil old lady who wants to buy my items for $2000 but can only do it by sending me a cheque for $5000.
