Beware Vendors Bearing Gifts

[Bear Paw Jack]

Saw this somewhere else and thought I'd pass it on. You can NEVER be too suspicious:

"A very clever scam just when you thought you'd heard it all. Beware of people bearing gifts! The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim about a week ago:

I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called "Express Couriers," (the name could be any courier company). He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature. The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour. Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. I was very surprised since there was no special occasion or holiday, and I certainly didn't expect anything like it. Intrigued, I inquired as to who the sender was. The courier replied, "I don't know, I'm only delivering the package."

Apparently, a card was being sent separately, which 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 such as 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 help in keeping a legal record of the transaction. He also added that couriers don't carry cash to avoid loss or become likely targets for robbery.

My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled out his credit card, and the delivery man asked him to swipe the card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad. My husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was printed out. He was given a copy of the transaction. The guy 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To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at various ATM machines. Apparently 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 including the PIN 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 item. If you do not personally know the sender or there is no proper identification of who the sender is, do not accept it.

 

[dbhunter]

A suggestion: Always keep a point-and-shoot camera near your door, and when someone suspicious appears, take several pictures of the person, packages, card readers, etc.

 

[Pat-inCO]

A suggestion: Always keep a point-and-shoot camera near your door,
and when someone suspicious appears, take several pictures of the
person, packages, card readers, etc.

Unless you have one of these . . .

(AND, for those without a cell . . . WE DON'T CARE)
then you have a good camera with you. I agree with taking the pictures
but would have insisted on the $3.50 in cash being sufficient . . . AFTER
I had taken several pictures.

Should the "delivery" person become aggressive, I'll bet that many/most
of us have an accessory to "calm" the situation, until L.E. arrived. :D

 

[pisgah]

A security system 100% guaranteed to prevent this sort of ripoff:

"Sorry, I don't pay delivery fees of any kind or amount on things I did not order" (Sound of door slamming, followed by sound of 911 being dialed to alert police)

 

[gasbag]

We have caller ID.
If we don't know the person calling we don't answer the phone.
We have an active call blocker that blocks all known scamming phone numbers
and we can add any others that somehow sneak through.
There are no reasons for anyone who doesn't know us to call us.
I've never called anyone I don't know just for the heck of it.

 

[graygun]

IDK why one would accept a pkg from an unknown sender...even if "free".

 

[Don Lovel]

I got a $5875.00 Cashiers Check in the mail kind of mysteriously when I ran my consulting firm, drawn on what ended up being a really close match Bank of America cashier's check paperstock.
Now I hate BOA, would not cross the street to pee on them if they were on fire, but I went into the bank and at the teller window I said to the cashier, "I would like to speak with your bank's transaction security officer. She blundered about on the phone for a few and finally a lady came out and I asked her to verify if this check was indeed valid. She took the check and after a bit came back and said, that some hidden watermarks do not appear on it, so no, it is not real. I said, "so you won't cash this?" she came back and said, "why didn't you just deposit this in your own account at your bank?" to which I said "I don't trust anything from Bank of America, they are run by crooks and if it bounced I would have to pay fees at my bank"
She got offended at me suggesting BOA might be crooked.
I asked her if we needed to give the check to the police? She said, no, they don't care.

 

[daveg.inkc]

Story sounds like a scam. We all are too smart for that, here on this site. But a bottle of free bottle of Ripple sounds tempting!

 

[daveg.inkc]

Or maybe Mad Dog 20-20

 

[Fox Mike]

That is one way we won't be taken. Anyone who would send us anything knows that no one in this house drinks. I would 'suggest' the individual leave immediately, if not sooner.

 

[Rancher Will]

There is another scam that is prevalent today. A few of my employees have been victimized and I am sure that perhaps thousands of Americans are victims.

I long go learned never to order a "Free" sample, or a sample that is "free with only shipping charges", that is sold as an item that you "must have or will like to buy for some reason". The sales pitch tends to make it a sample that you will like and when you like it you will continue to re-order more.

The scam is that when you order the Free sample you are actually agreeing to a continuing automatic subscription or periodic re-order until you notify the supplier that you do not want more than the sample. When you learn that the Free Sample is not what you want to buy more of, you have a difficult time reaching the seller to cancel the order for additional items.

Two of my employees were actually never able contact the seller at all to cancel the continuing charges for the items that they did not want. When they ordered the "Free" sample they did not know that they were placing a permanent order. They had to go through the hassle of having their credit card bank stop the continuing charges.

 

[Rancher Will]

SCAMS can come from anywhere. Recently I noticed on my American Express Statement a charge from Microsoft in amount over $300. Since I don't have any Microsoft equipment, I use Epson computers and printers operating with VALDOCS Systems, not Microsoft, and I have nothing that has any connection in any way with Microsoft, I contacted AMEX and questioned the charge.

In a couple of days my AMEX account Rep called me and said that Microsoft had charged me for a purchase of a "Microsoft Student Software Package". I informed AMEX that I had not ordered anything from Microsoft, and fact had never received anything, and I had nothing of any kind that could even use a Microsoft product.

The AMEX Account Rep told me that the charge would be immediately removed from my account. The Rep then confided to tell me that AMEX had received "many" complaints from AMEX customers about Microsoft charging for software that had not been ordered.

 

[blackhawknj]

As a Life Member of SNM-Sons of Neanderthal Man-I use my credit cards perhaps 2x a year-enough to keep them active-and my debit card NEVER. And as a lifetime teetotaler-alcohol ? I had my bank account hacked through Paypal a few years ago, I avoid them like the plague.

 

[Cholo]

As far as the OP: As soon as he asked for a CC for $3.50, with a PIN, that would have been the only red flag I'd have to see. Seriously?

 

[daveg.inkc]

That's why this story is made up. Who gives that info out? "Here, have my extra house key!"

 

[exavid]

It's hard for me to believe there are so many people out there that are so dumb. Just plain stupid. Getting anything for nothing is too high a price for most things. Mainly because they aren't.

 

[Pat-inCO]

We have caller ID.
If we don't know the person calling we don't answer the phone.
We have an active call blocker that blocks all known scamming phone numbers
and we can add any others that somehow sneak through.
There are no reasons for anyone who doesn't know us to call us.
I've never called anyone I don't know just for the heck of it.

What has that got to do with someone at the door?

 

[blume357]

Local police dept sent out a notice this past week about a phone scam where one gets a call from someone claiming to be from the sheriffs dept with a warrant for your arrest for not showing up for jury duty and you need to get some kind of walmart credit/gift card or such for $1500 to post bond.... really?

 

[Pat-inCO]

... and you need to get some kind of walmart credit/gift card or such
for $1500 to post bond.... really?

HEY! NO PROBLEM! Just make sure you get here when I'm home,
and, oh by the way, disregard the 12ga pointed out the front door. :shock: :roll:
- - - -

I just got an E-mail telling me I'm a millionaire. I won a Spanish Lotto,
from microsoft, administered from spain, that will also give me an Apple
laptop computer with an hp printer. All I have to do is reply with my
credit card number, PIN number and my savings account number. :roll: :roll:

Just loved the way those idiots tried using all of the US manufacturer
names they could remember. It even had this coming Friday's date
for the "drawing" that I "won". (need a smilie for shake head)

 

[Garth69]

It's hard for me to believe there are so many people out there that are so dumb. Just plain stupid. Getting anything for nothing is too high a price for most things. Mainly because they aren't.

and you just described the democrat party since 1964

 

[blume357]

I spent a good bit of time writing a contrasting statement to the above about the Republican Party but decided to delete it...

So I will say this about how stupid the average American is... just look at our current president...the only one worse was his predecessor.

 

[arfmel]

Speaking of scams, watch out for this one.
Two nice-looking, college-aged girls will come over to your car or truck as you are packing your purchases into your vehicle. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. (It's impossible not to look). When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' but instead ask for a ride to McDonald's.

You agree and they climb into the vehicle. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.

I had my wallet stolen June 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th, & 29th. Also July 1st & 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, and very likely again this upcoming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful. What a horrible way to take advantage of us older men. Warn your friends to be vigilant.

Wal-Mart has wallets on closeout for $2.99 each. I found even cheaper ones for $.99 at the dollar store and bought them out in three of their stores.

Also, you never get to eat at McDonald's. I've already lost 11 pounds just running back and forth from Lowe's, to Home Depot, to Costco, to Walmart.

So please, send this on to all the older men that you know and warn them to be on the lookout for this scam. (The best times are just before lunch and around 4:30 in the afternoon.)

 

[Fox Mike]

Why must some individuals turn everything into something political? Scams have noting to do with what political party runs the country.

 

[Woodtroll]

What has that got to do with someone at the door?

Reading the original post, the whole thing started with a phone call...

 

[hittman]

Took 6 1/2 years for this one to go off the rails but ….. here we are.