Just Received this Scam Watch for it!

[Bill Cunningham]

This is almost certainly a scam so beware!!!
from a "Jim Terms" using a gmail address..


Them;
Good Morning,
Do you sell Nameplates.What would be the price of the Nameplate size 6" x 18" white color background with lettering saying Save the kids in black color bold letters.What types of payments do you accept?Please Advice.

Me:
Hello Jim; Yes, the prices would be on our 'sign' page
6" x 18" = 108 sq. inches..Cost would be $47.69 for indoor (white engraves black) laminates. or $65.20 for U.V. resistant (white engraves black) Outdoor Laminates..
We accept Visa via faxed P.O. or cash if your picking it up in the shop..
Prices do not include any S&H or applicable taxes , because we don't know where you are..
For a full quote, including S&H and any applicable taxes we have to know your city and postal code (if your in Canada,) or your State, if you are in the U.S.
If you need more information, please email me
Many thanks
Bill Cunningham

Them:
OK,I want to buy 56 pieces of the indoor Nameplates and When can you get all ready for pick up?What would be the Total Cost of them including taxes?Please Advice.

Me:
Are you in Canada?
Bill Cunningham

Them:
Yes.

Me;
Where in Canada... Company name, Address, phone number, Postal code..
Bill Cunningham

Them:
OK,I will be arranging for pick up as soon as it get ready and my billing address is 204 40 Avenue NE , Calgary , AB T2E 2M7.Waiting.

Me: (after googleng the address.. This is a fairly common scam..)
Total cost is $3017.82 including G.S.T./P.S.T. Seeing that you are in Calgary, (Bonnybrook Auto Sales 244 40 Avenue NE, Calgary, AB T2E 2M7) we can make this easy for you. You can order PRE-PAID by Certified Bank Draft, issued ONLY by The Toronto Dominion Bank 1216 Centre Street NE , Calgary , AB T2E 2R4 (your closest branch) Product would be ready for pickup 45 days after the Bank Draft Clears.. Unless prepayment is made by Couriered Cash, in which case the product will be ready for pickup within 15 days after the receipt of your cash payment..
Bill Cunningham

Them; S I L E N C E

Be careful it's weird out there

[Scott Shepherd]

Geez Bill, I try and send you a little work and this is the way you treat my customers?

Good catch, I can see how easy that would have gone through with so many of us.

[Heather Thompson]

Bill,

Shame on you for not wanting to be involved with a project to save the kids, actually congrats for kicking a scum bag to the curb. There used to be a group that would run kids through our neighborhood looking for donations for handicapped kids ( my husband has CP), we would always give 50/100 per visit, I followed them one time after they left the house! Let me just say that we will never give another penny like that, scams outnumber real causes by far, we care about politics to, never contribute over the phone (need paperwork sent always). Congrats on kicking a scammer where it counts!

Heather

[Ed Sallee]

I had a similar situation at our work where the "scammer" used the telephone for the hearing impaired. It goes through a third party service that is for the hearing impaired. That way they can not be traced to their originating number. Sick world out there!

[Dave Lyda]

I just received the same type of scam but wanted 15 cast bronze plaques 12x22 inches with no wording on them to send them to Africa from a Rev. Roy. He would pay by Credit card ... virtually the same wording as last post. After many questions from me, he hung up on me. My gut told me SCAM right from the beginning.

["Terry Pless"]

Hi Bill, I need some help here, I don’t quite understand where the scam part of this takes place. Maybe I missed something, I might need to know it in the future, it may save my arse one day. After reading your post it all looks fine, business as usual till your last response to him (that many demands would run me off, and implying that visa is no longer a option). He may not use the bank you requested or as many do depend on his credit card to buy (as I do on all larger orders so I can make payments). I looked up both addresses (googled) you posted as his (2 different ones ? I’m sure one is a typo) and didn’t find anything that said scam to me. One address (244) said Berry Brook auto sales and I found several cars for sale with pictures of the store for them as well as a owners full name address and ph. #’s in the AlbertaAuctioneersAss. with hundreds of others, easy enough to call them with web phone #’s to verify the order. The (204) address showed Two Square Auto Repair http://www.germancarspecialist.com/ really nice web page, #’s to call also nothing said scam their as well. We did all kinds of charity stuff at the company I worked for (before self employed) and the mailing address was almost never a charity name or the company’s name as well and in many cases might be a employees name and I've even used my personal credit card till I could be reimbursed. His last couple post as stated sounds like every customer I deal with requesting a total price, suppling a billing address and will pick up so no freight is involved. I’ve never been able to buy/sell over the internet with out payment and/or credit card confirmation of payment first, so how does his scam work ? Thanks Terry

[Bill Cunningham]

Hi Terry; this scam is fairly well known. The first flag is he wants to get them 'picked up' .. he says he's in Calgary, actually he got information on a random business address in Calgary, the same way you did.. This always involves a credit card (just because the bank gives you a authorization number, does not mean its good), or a counterfeit money order. almost always containing the 'error' of over payment, and could you please wire the difference to them.. Yours is good, but you won't find out theirs is bad for a few weeks, until the actual 'paper' hits the so-called issuing banks..
Here is a link to a previous discussion on the creek, that pretty well covered all the bases..
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=83841

I recognized it as a scam, thats why the tough terms.. Over my last 20 years in business, even 'before' the web, the scams were abundant, only over the phone.. Had one the other day, calling to 'update' my information on 401.ca (say it fast enough and it sounds like the legit website 411.ca) after several hesitant one word answers from me. they told me that 'last years' information had cost my company $426.00 and this years changes were going to be $475.00... I hope he enjoyed the 'self procreation' I encouraged him to partake in before I hung up!!

[Ben Levesque]

Talking about scam, here's a nice one repeating itself occasionally by email.

"Hello, I was going through the websites search when i came across your company i am interested in ordering for some items from your company to my place in Japan, i have a shipper which you'll contact in regards to the shipping of the good after payment have been paid and secured but first i need answers to the below questions: Will you be able to ship to Japan? Do you accept credit card as a mode of payment? Please get back to me with a price list of available items or with a link to your website address so that i can specify the items needed. Thanks Terry Carla"

No mention of what the items are or in question.
She came across my web site, but needs a link to my web site, wow!.

Gees! How stupid do they think we are!
The funny part is that I am selling only 2 items on my web site

Ben

["Terry Pless"]

Hey Bill, I want to say thanks for taking the time to explain what was going on here. One of the things I didn't know or think about was the length of time that can elapse between the time a card is ok'd and the exchange is final, same as pay-pal I always thought once it cleared (usually 24hrs or so) I'm good to go no matter what. I also took the time to read the earlier posts and found them to very useful as well. So thanks to all for the input, my arse is feeling a little wiser now. Terry

[Bill Cunningham]

Your very welcome Terry.. There is a wealth of info on this site regarding all kinds of 'suspect' business practices.. You are not alone. You would be amazed at the number of merchants that think the visa/mc authorization number is assurance that all is OK, when in fact , it's only OK for 'that' particular minute or maybe 'second'. ALL the risks of credit card transactions are the merchant's. Merchant services has access to your funds and will not hesitate to take them back if 'you' are scammed, just because 'they' authorized the transaction as legit at that time, means nothing..

[Joe Pelonio]

Here's another new one to watch out for. The attached file may be a bad virus or perhaps spam, I don't know because I dumped it without opening.
The UPS tracking number given in the subject line of the e-mail is not one that I have sent, in fact the only delivery I sent that day did arrive, I know because the customer has since paid for it. The e-mail was not from UPS


File: UPS_INVOICE_978172.mim (67203 bytes) DL Time (TCP/IP): < 1 minute Sent from the Internet (Details)

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent on July the 1st in time
because the recipient’s address is not correct.
Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office

Your UPS

[Skip Weiser]

Here's another new one to watch out for. The attached file may be a bad virus or perhaps spam, I don't know because I dumped it without opening.
The UPS tracking number given in the subject line of the e-mail is not one that I have sent, in fact the only delivery I sent that day did arrive, I know because the customer has since paid for it. The e-mail was not from UPS


File: UPS_INVOICE_978172.mim (67203 bytes) DL Time (TCP/IP): < 1 minute Sent from the Internet (Details)

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent on July the 1st in time
because the recipient’s address is not correct.
Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office

Your UPS

You are right, Joe. I received this notice from UPS recently.

Attention Virus Warning

We have become aware there is a fraudulent e-mail being sent that says it is coming from UPS and leads the reader to believe that a UPS shipment could not be delivered. The reader is advised to open an attachment reportedly containing a waybill for the shipment to be picked up.

This e-mail attachment contains a virus. We recommend that you do not open the attachment, but delete the e-mail immediately.

UPS may send official notification messages on occasion, but they rarely include attachments. If you receive a notification message that includes an attachment and are in doubt about its authenticity, please contact customerservice@ups.com.

Please note that UPS takes its customer relationships very seriously, but cannot take responsibility for the unauthorized actions of third parties.

Thank you for your attention.


UPS should send this notice to everyone with an account, but a friend of mine who does UPS internet shipping did not receive it. Just a heads up.

Skip

[Joe Pelonio]

Thanks, Skip, I didn't receive that warning either, but luckily recognized it as something bogus.

[Angus Hines]

Did yours come from hjotkkv@BoothElectric.com too. I forwarded this e-mail back to them so they would know someone is hi-jacking their server to do this. As they appear to be quite a reputable firm in the NY state area.

Here's another new one to watch out for. The attached file may be a bad virus or perhaps spam, I don't know because I dumped it without opening.
The UPS tracking number given in the subject line of the e-mail is not one that I have sent, in fact the only delivery I sent that day did arrive, I know because the customer has since paid for it. The e-mail was not from UPS


File: UPS_INVOICE_978172.mim (67203 bytes) DL Time (TCP/IP): < 1 minute Sent from the Internet (Details)

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent on July the 1st in time
because the recipient’s address is not correct.
Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office

Your UPS

[Joe Pelonio]

No, it came from a domain that had no website, and was "parked."