An LO member has written in with a warning to other companies who may receive a request to ship products overseas. What seems like a straightforward business transaction is actually yet another Internet scam. The fraud was caught in time, and no harm was done, but companies need to be aware of a potentially dishonest transaction.
The member received an e-mail asking for information on one of the member’s products. Following several e-mails, a female confirmed the order for shipment to Morocco. She explained that she wanted it shipped by a specific company, and that the company would provide the quotation and do up the paperwork for shipping.
She chose the much more expensive air freight option (worth double what the product is worth) and asked what form of payment the company would accept. She was told VISA and Mastercard, and she provided the company with not one, but three credit card numbers, with the amount to be split into three equal amounts.
“The alarm bells went off then,” says the company spokesperson, “and if we had continued with the purchase, the freight company would have asked for the money to be wired to them immediately. The address for the freight company wasn’t on the Internet, so we sent them an e-mail asking for a physical address, phone number and received no response. The credit card company could have come back to us for payment.”
As a result, anyone selling products should be advised of the following:
1. The inquiry will come over the Internet. While there is interest in the product, it won’t be significant. There will only be enough to build credibility. They will likely ask for bulky or heavy products to build up the case for a large freight bill.
2. No address or phone number will accompany the message. If you ask for the phone number, the request will be ignored and diverted back to e-mail.
3. The destination will likely be overseas, with Africa the most common. While they will supply a shipping address, it is likely made up.
4. The purchaser will supply the freight company contact, via the Internet.
5. They will choose the most expensive option — air freight.
6. There will be no contact information on the e-mail from the freight company, other than the Internet contact person.
7. Amounts to be charged to the credit card will be small enough as to not likely exceed the limit.
8. The purchaser will ask you to verify them immediately when the amounts go through.
9. If it had gone through, the freight company would have asked for an immediate money order to be sent electronically.
10. No one would have come to pick up the product.
