Stolen Credit Card Fraud!

[ComputerRepairTech]

I've had my ID checked before when purchasing at local stores. I even asked one what they would do if I was unable to provide proper ID with the card to show who I say I was. One store said they'd hold the card and refuse service. One place said they would just refuse service and give the card back. I can refuse business to whoever I want.

*shrug* i'm just letting you know.


Mastercard: Q: A merchant required me to provide identification to use my MasterCard card

A: A merchant must not refuse to complete a transaction solely because a cardholder refuses to provide additional identification information. However, there are certain situations where a merchant may require some personal information, such as a shipping address for online purchases. Additionally, if your MasterCard card is unsigned, a merchant should request personal identification to confirm your identify and ask the cardholder to sign the card before completing the transaction.

If you believe that a merchant has violated the above standard or their actions requesting identification are questionable, you may report it by clicking the following URL and completing a brief online form
Report a problem

Visa: "Therefore, merchants cannot as part of their regular
card acceptance procedures refuse to complete a purchase transaction because
a cardholder refuses to provide ID."

 

[PC Ops]

Good post and good job checking those numbers! The more experiences like these are posted, the easier it will be recognizing those fraudulent jackasses for all others here.

+1 rep.

 

[MikeLierman]

A computer repair business owner in California just called me and thanked me for posting this thread. He Googled the information and this thread came up. Saved him going through fraud and loosing thousands of dollars. Will update the OP with additional information that was sent to me.

 

[peachypc]

A similar situation happened to me about 10 years ago.
A guy called and ordered 4 laptops at about $4400. 2 weeks later I get a call from the CC owner who asked who I was and why I charged her card $4400. I explained. She called Amex and disputed the charges.
FORTUNATELY I shipped them UPS INSURED, for the FULL amount. They could not produce a signature as proof of delivery and had to reimburse me the $4400.
I have not done any business with CC over the phone since, except to established customers. Life's too short.

 

[mkeathley]

A similar situation happened to me about 10 years ago.
A guy called and ordered 4 laptops at about $4400. 2 weeks later I get a call from the CC owner who asked who I was and why I charged her card $4400. I explained. She called Amex and disputed the charges.
FORTUNATELY I shipped them UPS INSURED, for the FULL amount. They could not produce a signature as proof of delivery and had to reimburse me the $4400.
I have not done any business with CC over the phone since, except to established customers. Life's too short.

Wait, do I understand this right? You got scammed. But instead of you being out the money, UPS lost the money instead?

 

[frederick]

Wait, do I understand this right? You got scammed. But instead of you being out the money, UPS lost the money instead?

That's how I read it as well. Has me curious all of a sudden.

But more importantly back on topic here. I really like this thread, and tons of good points and advice has been made.

Might I add something though, more of a question on this...Letting the wife or husband of the card owner use the card owners card? I've yet to have it happen, but I've got some customers where both husband and wife are regulars with us. You know these people, you know they are married, blah blah blah, but would you let the wife pay with her husbands card or vice versa when that said person whose name is on the card is not present? Keep in mind, they are both regular customers. Again, hasn't happened to me yet, but I've seen my friends and family do this?

Personally I just don't know if its right or wrong to accept it.

 

[homebase]

I'm currently working with a detective to capture this ring of criminals. This is organized crime.

You're lucky. Every time I've been approached by these scammers and I attempt to turn over their complete contact details to various federal and local law enforcement agencies, I'm told that there's nothing that they will do unless fraud has already happened and a loss has occurred. I assume from that response than if a loss HAS occurred, what they will actually do wouldn't amount to much more than filing a report somewhere. Very frustrating.

 

[tom11011]

You're lucky. Every time I've been approached by these scammers and I attempt to turn over their complete contact details to various federal and local law enforcement agencies, I'm told that there's nothing that they will do unless fraud has already happened and a loss has occurred. I assume from that response than if a loss HAS occurred, what they will actually do wouldn't amount to much more than filing a report somewhere. Very frustrating.

I imagine that so long as business gets stuck with the bill, everyone else is happy including customers, scammers, and credit card companies.

 

[MikeLierman]

You're lucky. Every time I've been approached by these scammers and I attempt to turn over their complete contact details to various federal and local law enforcement agencies, I'm told that there's nothing that they will do unless fraud has already happened and a loss has occurred. I assume from that response than if a loss HAS occurred, what they will actually do wouldn't amount to much more than filing a report somewhere. Very frustrating.

My business currently resides in a smaller city of only 10,000 people. We have 18 police officers including detectives, the Chief, and PD staff. However, my city borders a larger city with a population of 90,000. Because I'm in a smaller city, the police are nicer and have more time to help businesses. I've taken to them, 2 bad checks, $400 in counterfeit 20's, business identity theft (someone opened up an Intuit & ADP online payroll account under my business name), and now this credit card fraud.

The other way I could see other businesses avoid fraud like this is determine if your business model includes shipping computer parts across the nation (like an eBay or Amazon store). If you don't have an online store, and a new "customer" calls you out of the blue and asks you to ship laptops to New York, that's a big RED flag right there.

 

[Markverhyden]

Having the CC present when doing a charge does not keep the merchant in the clear. The account holder can still do a charge back and the merchant may loose on any number of things. Including the signature.

Back when I was at CompUSA there was a mother/son team making the rounds. The mother would present her CC for payment and then tell her son to sign the slip since she was busy on the phone. Instant loose. Complained to police but they said they could not do much unless they had a long track record.

 

[MikeLierman]

Having the CC present when doing a charge does not keep the merchant in the clear. The account holder can still do a charge back and the merchant may loose on any number of things. Including the signature.

Back when I was at CompUSA there was a mother/son team making the rounds. The mother would present her CC for payment and then tell her son to sign the slip since she was busy on the phone. Instant loose. Complained to police but they said they could not do much unless they had a long track record.

We have each customer sign a work order before any service work that says they agree we are servicing the machine and agree to pay for the work when it's complete. At time of payment they sign the invoice. If they present a credit card, that's two signatures at time of payment. I don't care what they sign for their credit card / bank; they can sign a smiley face or draw a tree. However, the invoice has specific terms stating they are happy with the service and agree to pay the full amount due. In the event that I get a chargeback, I submit the signed invoice and work order as proof. I've only had to do this twice, for bad checks, I've never had a chargeback on a credit card.

Btw, I'm loving this discussion. Many many GREAT ideas here. Let's keep up the discussion. Anyone who has a story to tell about getting scammed with bad cards, please do tell. I'll continue to update the OP with additional information as it comes available. I just went down to the police station today and had my report printed out so I can give it to Capital One.

 

[MikeLierman]

Made contact with another business owner who was contacted by this criminal. Michael, owner of Simply Technical, is actually a Technibble member and had read this post prior to being contacted. That's awesome!

The count is now up to 7 people who have been contacted by this criminal. I definitely encourage anyone else who has been contacted by this criminal to please post a reply on this thread.

 

[tom11011]

I wonder if these 7 of you are from different states, if you have enough to go to the FBI.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I wonder if these 7 of you are from different states, if you have enough to go to the FBI.

If the guy is doing this across state lines then it is the FBIs jurisdiction.

I think this may constitute postal fraud too if you are using USPS for deliveries.

 

[MikeLierman]

If the guy is doing this across state lines then it is the FBIs jurisdiction.

I think this may constitute postal fraud too if you are using USPS for deliveries.

Number is now up to 8. Spoke to another Michael, onwer of Respectable PC Services in Florida.

At this point, I'm having everyone forward me the email this guy sends along with full headers which include the IP address. That's the best way to keep track and know it's the same criminal. The drop location is the only place to start. The packages are probably being sent out of the U.S. by whoever is stationed at the drop location.

The business owner that is out over $4,400 used USPS so that's at least 1 count of Postal Fraud.

 

[MikeLierman]

He's taken it another step further! A business owner in Florida contacted me this morning and forwarded me an email where "Mike Barr" had attached scanned front and back of a credit card and passport. Both are Photoshopped. The passport is very inconsistent, especially the MRZ (machine readable zone). Very poorly done Photoshop job. The scanned CC shows Barclay, but I looked up the number and it came back with Citibank as the issuer. At that point, I called the Citibank fraud department and was able to verify that it was a Citibank card, and they have reported it as fraud. Updated the OP.

 

[MikeLierman]

I wonder if these 7 of you are from different states, if you have enough to go to the FBI.

I want to keep this thread alive!! But yes actually have been instructed by Agent Petersen of our local branch of the FBI for all of us to file an IC3 complaint. They said the more people who file the complaint, the quicker the process is for this case. BTW, it's now up to 10 business owners that have been contacted by this criminal. The OP was updated, but the total loss I've discovered so far is over $15,000 and over 16 stolen credit card numbers. But there is probably tons more I haven't found yet.

 

[Markverhyden]

I want to keep this thread alive!! But yes actually have been instructed by Agent Petersen of our local branch of the FBI for all of us to file an IC3 complaint. They said the more people who file the complaint, the quicker the process is for this case. BTW, it's now up to 10 business owners that have been contacted by this criminal. The OP was updated, but the total loss I've discovered so far is over $15,000 and over 16 stolen credit card numbers. But there is probably tons more I haven't found yet.

You are doing a great job!! My business model does not put me into the situation where I would run into that. But if I did I'd be all over the perp like flies on ****. You can bet what you have found is only the tip of the iceberg. There are usually many people involved.

 

[Computech1]

Mike: Congratulations, excellent topic. Hope you keep up the good work & they catch the scum.



Andy

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I've recommended that someone sticky this.