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Thread: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Oct 2004
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    Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Greetings all.

    I was recently contacted, via email, with a ( on face value ) flattering request to purchase several prints. This individual ( from a very small European country ) wanted the prints for their library.

    Price information was exchanged. The purchaser has agreed to give me a mastercard number to charge to ( prior to shipping ) and has given me their address.

    When I asked about shipping, they insist that the best way is through something called Hush Delivery Service ( hushdelivery@hush.com ). Hush is one of the many anonymous email account operations out there.

    I can find no information about this delivery service, nor can I find any listings or reference to this alleged library. Doing a googlemap or bing map search, the given address is apparently right next door to a national library location.

    So, my question is, if they give me a valid mastercard # ( which I can run at my
    office ), what is my risk?

    I hate looking at this in this way - but scammers are everywhere and I'd rather not be a victim if I can help it.

    Regards,
    Terry
    www.terryhayden.com

  2. #2

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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    This doesn't sound legitimate. My guess is that you'll get a stolen credit card # to charge the value of the prints and some extortionate "special delivery" charge. The money will be scammed from you via your fronted fees for the fictitious delivery service. Some time after you've paid, you'll get a charge back on the credit card fee.

  3. #3
    Format Omnivore Brian C. Miller's Avatar
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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Terry, there's a similar scam, but the destination is Asia, like Taiwan, Hong Kong, or China. It fits the same description as you've given. I don't remember the exact "gotcha," but you'll be eating the bill for something.

    If anything in a transaction looks like it might be a scam, it very probably is. When I went answering a local ad for a vehicle, the guy tried to lead me to believe that the vehicle was in England, but it would be shipped to me. Right. The vehicle in question had actually been previously sold in California, and the information was copied from an online ad.
    "It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans

  4. #4
    Greg Greg Blank's Avatar
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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Like all those Russian Girl friends I thought I had, Damn Russians!

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian C. Miller View Post
    If anything in a transaction looks like it might be a scam, it very probably is.
    "Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will
    accomplish them."
    Warren G. Bennis

    www.gbphotoworks.com

  5. #5

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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Blank View Post
    Like all those Russian Girl friends I thought I had, Damn Russians!
    What, you mean Svetlana and Ivana were lying to me as well???<G>.

    Yes, my ego would say yes, but my common sense says no way. I may push this a bit further and see what happens when I both insist on Fed-x and seeing scans of their ID and both sides of the Mastercard.

    Turns out I have a friend who's sister lives 20 minutes away from this address as well. She has volunteered to check out the location. Once I mention that she may drop by it should get a reaction.

  6. #6

    Join Date
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    Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Quote Originally Posted by Terry Hayden View Post
    Turns out I have a friend who's sister lives 20 minutes away from this address as well. She has volunteered to check out the location. Once I mention that she may drop by it should get a reaction.
    And you might mention that the friend's sister will drop by after she has finished her shift at the local police station...

  7. #7

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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    So, now I have the final scam revealed.

    After some back and forth it turns out that the real money source for these
    dipsticks is in a false shipping front.

    Supposedly the purchaser would only accept shipments through this phantom
    shipping outfit.

    They ( really same person I'm sure ) insisted that the only way to pay for shipping
    was with a Western Union Moneygram.

    Tah Dah! That's where the money gets to them. They give a phoney Mastercard
    # to cover the prints and shipping. You fork out a couple hundred for shipping to
    a moneygram drop location. Then the card bounces and you are out the shipping
    charge.

    When I asked the buyer to provide a scan of the front & back of their card as well
    as a scan of their photo ID - they responded indignantly that they would never do this.

    I checked the alleged addresses given for the shipping companies H.Q. in England
    using google streetview. One was a noodle shop and the other was a womens dress shop.

    I also got an email from a graphic artist in New York that apparently got the same scam request - he saw my note here and contacted me.

    So, if anyone gets a note from Shan Oakes, allegedly in Lichtenstein, this is what it's
    really about.

    The initial ego rush was nice, but like so much of life - not real.

  8. #8
    Mike Anderson's Avatar
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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Hush Delivery Service: "When it Absolutely, Positively must be a scam."

    ...Mike

  9. #9

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    Baraboo, Wisconsin
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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Quote Originally Posted by Terry Hayden View Post
    . . . They ( really same person I'm sure ) insisted that the only way to pay for shipping
    was with a Western Union Moneygram. . . .
    Thanks for checking this out so thoroughly and posting the results here. One of the first rules I was taught about doing business on the internet was that as soon as someone mentions paying by Western Union run away as fast as you can.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  10. #10

    Join Date
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    Re: Possible Scam - shipping to Europe

    Sounds likely, yes. Scammers will hardly be after your photos, being too ignorant (up until last month they would probably have trashed a Gursky if it should have happened to trundle their way over a scam), but the "order from some overseas seller of some arbitrary product and purloin the fictitious advance shipping costs" scam is widespread.

    But international telephone calls are cheaper than calls to a local mobile, and someone at the national library next door is bound to speak fluent English, so why don't you give them a call and ask about their supposed neighbour?

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