Post by goodgrief on Nov 20, 2013 11:00:47 GMT -5
Very new, very clever credit card scam
Just when you thought you'd heard it all.
This scam is actually very clever. Be very careful out there!
This one could easily slip by most anyone - beware of people bearing
gifts. The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim:
Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he
was from some outfit called: "Express Couriers,"(The name could
have been anything) he asked if I was going to be home because there
was a package delivery for me that required a signature . The caller
said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour, and
sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up
with a beautiful basket of flowers and wine.
I was very surprised since it did not involve any special occasion
or holiday, and I certainly didn't expect anything like it.
Intrigued about who had sent me such a gift,
I inquired as to who the sender was.
The deliveryman's reply was, he was only delivering the gift package,
but allegedly a card was being sent separately...
(the card has never arrived!)
There was also a consignment note with the gift.
He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol,
there was a $3.50 "delivery/ verification charge," providing proof that
he had actually delivered the package to an adult of legal drinking
age, and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or
taken by anyone, especially a minor.
This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash.
He then said that the delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would keep help in keeping a legal record of the transaction.
He added couriers not needing to carry a bunch of cash,
would make them less likely targets for robbery.
My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled his wallet
out of his pocket with the credit/debit card, and 'John,' the "delivery
man," asked my husband to swipe his card on a small mobile card
machine. It had a small screen and keypad where Frank was also asked to
enter the card's PIN and security number. A receipt was printed out and
given to us as our copy of the transaction. He then said everything was
in order, and wished us good day.
To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday,
$4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at
various ATM machines.
It appeared that somehow the "mobile credit card machine," which the
deliveryman carried now had all the info necessary to create a "dummy"
card with all our card details after my husband swiped our card and
entered the requested PIN and security number.
Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card,
we immediately notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our
credit/debit account was closed.
We also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it
is definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit.
WARNING:
Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package,"
which you neither expected nor personally ordered,
especially if it involves any kind of payment as a
condition of receiving the gift or package.
Also, never accept anything if you do not
personally know or there is no
proper identification of who the sender is.
Above all,
the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit
card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!
Just when you thought you'd heard it all.
This scam is actually very clever. Be very careful out there!
This one could easily slip by most anyone - beware of people bearing
gifts. The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim:
Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he
was from some outfit called: "Express Couriers,"(The name could
have been anything) he asked if I was going to be home because there
was a package delivery for me that required a signature . The caller
said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour, and
sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up
with a beautiful basket of flowers and wine.
I was very surprised since it did not involve any special occasion
or holiday, and I certainly didn't expect anything like it.
Intrigued about who had sent me such a gift,
I inquired as to who the sender was.
The deliveryman's reply was, he was only delivering the gift package,
but allegedly a card was being sent separately...
(the card has never arrived!)
There was also a consignment note with the gift.
He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol,
there was a $3.50 "delivery/ verification charge," providing proof that
he had actually delivered the package to an adult of legal drinking
age, and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or
taken by anyone, especially a minor.
This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash.
He then said that the delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would keep help in keeping a legal record of the transaction.
He added couriers not needing to carry a bunch of cash,
would make them less likely targets for robbery.
My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled his wallet
out of his pocket with the credit/debit card, and 'John,' the "delivery
man," asked my husband to swipe his card on a small mobile card
machine. It had a small screen and keypad where Frank was also asked to
enter the card's PIN and security number. A receipt was printed out and
given to us as our copy of the transaction. He then said everything was
in order, and wished us good day.
To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday,
$4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at
various ATM machines.
It appeared that somehow the "mobile credit card machine," which the
deliveryman carried now had all the info necessary to create a "dummy"
card with all our card details after my husband swiped our card and
entered the requested PIN and security number.
Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card,
we immediately notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our
credit/debit account was closed.
We also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it
is definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit.
WARNING:
Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package,"
which you neither expected nor personally ordered,
especially if it involves any kind of payment as a
condition of receiving the gift or package.
Also, never accept anything if you do not
personally know or there is no
proper identification of who the sender is.
Above all,
the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit
card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!