Watching Out For Fraud

Article written by Joyce, joyce@smalldog.com.

One of my duties here at Small Dog includes the investigation of the scams that plague our industry. I would like to be able to say that it is an internet problem, but it really isn’t. The people who are intent on purchasing merchandise fraudulently are brazen enough to even do it over the phone. As a merchant, we have to try and stay on top of the latest fraud scams and since some of our customers are also merchants, we thought you may want to read this as well.

The scam that is giving me headaches at the moment is the “reshipper” fraud. I’m passing it along because these guys are hiding behind people who have no idea they are participating in a scam and think they are doing legitimate work. It is dangerous because it can be self-perpetuating. They request personal information from you for ‘Payroll” reasons when actually they are going to use that information in the future to open fraudulent credit card accounts in your name.

Mr. G. (oh, how I wish I could use his name) calls himself a “Staff Manager”, he sets up phony ads in local papers and on internet job sites advertising for work at home “cargo managers” or “manager of the cargos”. You may notice that his English is a little off in these ads. He will sometimes use a real company name, but upon further investigation the real companies have never heard of him.

When someone answers his ad, he replies with an explanation of the process and asks for personal information. This information, he explains, “is for payroll purposes”. He explains the six steps that will help the prospective employee “work more better and avoid troubles”. What he wants done for his company is to “hire” someone who can receive packages via carriers like UPS or Federal Express and reship them using the Post Office. He explains the reasoning behind this as helping his “customers living outside the US” keep shipping costs lower and avoid problems with customs. He assures the prospective employee that this is absolutely legal and that his company has over 20 years of experience in this service.

The six steps he asks the prospective employee to follow are:
• You receive the information about the package in an email.
• You send an email back confirming that you received the information.
• You receive the package from his “partner” (The “partner” is actually a merchant he has fraudulently purchased from using stolen credit card accounts)
• Upon receipt of the package you email your “manager” for further instructions.
• You store the items while waiting for shipment instructions. When instructions are received, you ship the package to the address you are given (usually Russia, but always out of the country).
• You are told to ship USPS 2 day and send your manager the tracking number.

After you report that the package has been shipped, he says “our manager send to you indemnification for your work”. (I have no idea what that is – perhaps payment?)

The employee is also told that if the package is mailed the same day it is received – the payment is $30.00 as opposed to the $25.00 earned if shipment is delayed until the next business day.

This is a scam that preys upon people looking to add to their income by working from home. The people I have talked to had no idea they were involved in a scam and most were very upset. They were willing to work with me, some were even able to return the merchandise they received and hadn’t shipped.

Mr. G is able to get the issuing banks to change the information on the charge accounts he has. He keeps the card holder’s name on the account but changes the address to his reshipper’s address. This results in an information “match” in the verification process.

The thing to keep in mind and to pass on to others is: If someone is asking you to receive and ship packages out of the country, they are more than likely getting you involved with merchandise that has been purchased with stolen charge accounts. Further, they are asking you to commit a Federal Crime by shipping stolen merchandise through the US Postal Service.

I believe that as merchants and consumers, the more people we can educate about this scam the fewer people Mr. G and his type can con. So… pass it on!

Have you uncovered any credit card scams, or come across a good resource for fighting scams? Let us know and we can get them into our newsletters to spread the word.