Digicam Scam

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bill Kemler
  • Start date Start date
This is hardly a new scam. I heard about it back in summer 99. And looks to me that this scheme works because the store doesn't check the credit card's billing address. Not sure why they're not doing this check, maybe because of the complexity of the process?
If you haven't seen it yet, check out Steve's Digicam site for a
description of a new scam that almost nailed Steve.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews.html
 
I am beside myself with shock. I received the 770 from this guy couple days ago but haven't wired him the $$. No one from Onsale or otherwise has contacted me yet. What should I do? Keep the camera and keep quiet?
 
I was outbid for a Sony DKC-FP3 on Ebay. The seller subsequently contacted me and offered me another one for $1,350 under the EXACT terms Steve describes. Worried that it might be stolen, I passed and bought a D770 through PCWonders for the peice of mind. GLAD I DID!
If you haven't seen it yet, check out Steve's Digicam site for a
description of a new scam that almost nailed Steve.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews.html
 
I'm curious. Was there a shipping invoice enclosed or indication of who sent it?
I am beside myself with shock. I received the 770 from this guy couple
days ago but haven't wired him the $$. No one from Onsale or otherwise
has contacted me yet. What should I do? Keep the camera and keep quiet?
 
I am beside myself with shock. I received the 770 from this guy couple
days ago but haven't wired him the $$. No one from Onsale or otherwise
has contacted me yet. What should I do? Keep the camera and keep quiet?
I suggest you contact Onsale (or whoever shipped the camera), law enforcement authorities/postal inspectors, and your credit card company to report the fraudulant use of your credit card. You are limited to $50 liability if you report it right away. Maybe you can help nail this crook. You can probably return the camera to the vendor, but don't do anything until find out from those in charge.
 
This scam went around last year. In the previous version, some guy overseas was involved.

What I don't get about the scam is...

1) Why aren't big companies checking CC addresses, or at least the Zip codes? How do the scammers get the company to mail to another address? Most places will not do this, as I found out when I tried to order a christmas present for my sister. This is the part of the scam I don't get.

2) When the victim gets the camera, isnt' there a bill of sale/invoice from the company in/on the box that shows that they paid money for the camera? That should raise a red flag right there.

Bryan
I am beside myself with shock. I received the 770 from this guy couple
days ago but haven't wired him the $$. No one from Onsale or otherwise
has contacted me yet. What should I do? Keep the camera and keep quiet?
 
What I don't get about the scam is...
1) Why aren't big companies checking CC addresses, or at least the Zip
codes? How do the scammers get the company to mail to another address?
Most places will not do this, as I found out when I tried to order a
christmas present for my sister. This is the part of the scam I don't get.
Many vendors, if not most, will allow customers to ship mechandise to an address other than the billing address of the credit card. I have done this on a number of occasions.
2) When the victim gets the camera, isnt' there a bill of sale/invoice
from the company in/on the box that shows that they paid money for the
camera? That should raise a red flag right there.
The name on the invoice would be that of the owner of the stolen credit dard. If the con artist used that name when contacting you, you would think it came from him.

Bill
 
One suggestion...

Don't drop the soap! :)
I am beside myself with shock. I received the 770 from this guy couple
days ago but haven't wired him the $$. No one from Onsale or otherwise
has contacted me yet. What should I do? Keep the camera and keep quiet?
 
Huh ? This is the part I don't get either. If you ordered a camera from "John Smith" on Ebay and you get a box that came from Amazon.com with an invoice/bill-of-lading from Amazon.com wouldn't you wonder what is going on ? Even if it DID have the owner of the stolen cards name on the bill somewhere it would still have a "From" of Amazon, etc. It would also normally show the real amount paid for the merchandise. Why isn't this the tip-off ?
  • John
2) When the victim gets the camera, isnt' there a bill of sale/invoice
from the company in/on the box that shows that they paid money for the
camera? That should raise a red flag right there.
The name on the invoice would be that of the owner of the stolen credit
dard. If the con artist used that name when contacting you, you would
think it came from him.

Bill
 
The recipient would realize that the item did come from Amazon, but as you know most paperwork from buy.com, amazon, whatever rarely include dollar amounts. They only include The names of the items shipped.

ferrellcat
  • John
2) When the victim gets the camera, isnt' there a bill of sale/invoice
from the company in/on the box that shows that they paid money for the
camera? That should raise a red flag right there.
The name on the invoice would be that of the owner of the stolen credit
dard. If the con artist used that name when contacting you, you would
think it came from him.

Bill
 
Huh ? This is the part I don't get either. If you ordered a camera from
"John Smith" on Ebay and you get a box that came from Amazon.com with an
invoice/bill-of-lading from Amazon.com wouldn't you wonder what is going
on ? Even if it DID have the owner of the stolen cards name on the bill
somewhere it would still have a "From" of Amazon, etc. It would also
normally show the real amount paid for the merchandise. Why isn't this
the tip-off ?
No doubt if you examine every detail of the transaction carefully there are tip-offs and irregularities. But many people simply aren't very careful. Most people only look at the invoice that comes in a package to check if they have been charged the correct price. If they didn't pay for it, they don't even look at it, and throw it out with the box. (Talk to a few customer service reps and you'll find that even customers who do pay for the merchandize often don't look at the invoice.) The person has their camera, and they haven't sent any money. They think that they are in a no-lose situation because they don't realize that it is even possible to be sent a camera purchased with a stolen credit card. Their concern is whether the camera works, not what it says on the invoice. If a casual glance reveals the name of the person you knew was sending the camera to you, you might no look any farther. It is easy to miss what you are not looking for.

Bill
 
Steve just received the camera, and a letter from
the guy, asking him to send the money to the Paritate
Bank, in Latvia. Apparently, he uses stolen European
credit card numbers to open accounts at the retailers
using the buyers names - so the name on the invoice
should be the buyers' own. The retailers don't have information
on the European card numbers, and they apparently just
let the deal go through, even without address confirmation.
Why they accept a European card number with an American
address is beyond me.
 

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