Oh man, banner scam again

[Letterbox Mike]

Geez.

I just walked back into the printer room and saw a bunch of banners printing on one of the machines, they read something to the affect of "feed the children."

My heart sank, I got that vommity taste in my mouth, immediately I knew what was going on, someone here sold this job and released it to production not knowing what it was (I've been on vacation for a few days so it got past me anyway).

Well, as it turns out, we didn't sell it, sort of. It's for a regular (and good) wholesale client we print a lot for. They just sent the art over ready to print and we started running it.

The salesperson who sold the job is calling the customer to break the bad news... I guess we'll just sell what's done to them at half off or something. I feel bad, even though it's not our fault, that's a rough situation to be stuck in...

Ugh.

 

[Circleville Signs]

Wow. I thought everyone knew about this....Ugh is right.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

I'm just happy we didn't sell it directly to the "customer". Still sucks for my customer though...

Ironically, my other sales person just said she thinks she started trying to quote this job a week or two ago (it was emailed to her) but realized fairly quickly what it was. These people get around.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Thankfully it wasn't too bad, surprisingly the order was only for 50 double-sided 3x5s, we had about 5 printed both sides and another 10 or so printed on one side.

 

[etsigns]

the scam lives on............. here is how it played out this time ( We did NOT fall for it ) Scammer gives me his phone # you could tell it was like a skype number real echoy


Hello Tom,
It was nice hearing from you.
As I indicated I would like to proceed with the order for three banners
I will need you to get me a cost for pick up and shipping them on my behalf to my firm in Finland with a
recommended freight company.
See below the details of the shipping company and the delivery address:

Freight Company: SGS Worldwide.
Contact Details : sgsworldwide@live.com
Contact Person : Mr. John Hung

Contact the shippers on the above email address with the weight of the banners,the pick up address(your address) and the delivery
address ; which is my branch address below :

Graham & Co.
Kermakuja 6,
19650 Joutsa, Finland

Please go ahead and email the shipping company now and get the shipping charges and send me an email back with the total cost for the shipping and banners altogether so that I can pay before you start printing.



On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 6:31 PM, Frank Lescot <lescoffice@gmail.com> wrote:

Three banners for now.





On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 6:19 PM, Jerry Johnson <etsigns@yahoo.com> wrote:

Please let me know how many banners your looking to get so I can give you the best price possable

ET Signs and Graphics
Conway SC

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Frank Lescot <lescoffice@gmail.com>

To: Jerry Johnson <etsigns@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wed, September 22, 2010 1:49:09 PM
Subject: Re: Quote Please


Hello,
Thank you for the reply.
The banners would be single sided and have grommets two feet apart on the sides(for hanging by ropes)
Have a look at the artwork.(pdf)
Quote pick up pricing.
What would be the lead time?

Frank Lescot
206 855 6808


On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 3:53 PM, Jerry Johnson <etsigns@yahoo.com> wrote:

Where are the banners going to go

ET Signs and Graphics
Conway SC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Frank Lescot <lescoffice@gmail.com>
Sent: Wed, September 22, 2010 11:38:55 AM
Subject: Quote Please


Hello,
I would like to place an order regarding printing of banners from your outfit.
Reply me with pricing for three banners of size 12ft x 18ft (3.7m x 5.5m) so I can send you my artwork,
Let me know if you accept credit card payments.
Looking forward to hear from you ASAP.

 

[petesign]

I hate these people. They are getting smarter and smarter too..

 

[etsigns]

2 scams this week

any one want to email this idiot a quote make him work hard and dump em?
he wanted 60 2x6 banners
here is my reply

You are not gonna belive this, My brother has a sign company in Port-au-Prince he will do your order there there and your gonna save a ton of money on shipping!! He said he will take cash or gold as payment due to the increased fraud in his contury. I will forward him your contact info!!

ET Signs and Graphics
Conway SC




From: Alfred Wayne <alfredway@gmail.com>
To:
Sent: Fri, September 24, 2010 3:18:12 PM
Subject: Re: banner order

Hello Jerry
Again thank you very much for the time and patient you had with me regarding this order and your patient is highly appreciated . However i will like to recommend you to a shippers whom i believe will be able to handle this shipment to the delivery address stated below,right now i will not be able to come for the pickup because i had an urgent call which i will need to attend a church meeting in Austria therefore i will not be available to handle the shipment,i will be happy if you could contact EastWard Freight Company LTD on my behalf and ask for the shipping charges to the ship the order. below is their address an also what you need to send to them before they can get you some price for the shipping.

Name : EastWard Freight Company LTD

Contact Person: Mr Dan Sanchez

Contact Email: eastwardfreightltd@live.com

Details they will require before the give the quote:

(1)sizes and quantity of the Order.
.
(2)Pickup Location: thus where it will be picked

(3)Delivery address: where the order will be shipped too is...

17, Rue Armand Holly, Débussy Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

As soon as you contact them, email me with a copy of what you sent to them.Waiting to hear from you soon.
Thank You.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Refer him to Pat Whatley. He enjoys these people. Maybe he can sell them a washing machine while he's at it.

 

[Chalie]

These guys just got us at the sign shop with the banner story for "AIDS"

 

[etsigns]

if it sounds too good 2 b true

than it probaly is! Dont fall for this scam.

 

[gabagoo]

so who in their right mind would consider doing these from a stranger with no deposit? I would also wonder how often you get people from Finland or Nigeria ordering signs......give me a break, I still cant figure it out.... I mean figure out how you can be lured into this to begin with

 

[kffernandez]

i don't get it. what's the point of this whole scam?
just to piss us off?

 

[Locals Find!]

i don't get it. what's the point of this whole scam?
just to piss us off?

They pay you with a stolen credit card. The shipping company that your then paying after charging the credit card for the invoice. Is owned by or in cahoots with them. So they have made you unknowingly launder there money.

You get the charge back in 2 months and your out your material, time and the money you paid the shipping company. They are then off the hook because, they don't exist. Not only do they have your product they also got the cash. The shipping company will have by that time mysteriously gone out of business, and your "customer's" phone will be disconnected.

Also, since its illegal in the United States to do business with a Foreign country like Nigeria your in the sights of Homeland Security for Money Laundering and the State Department for illegal foreign trade. All, you have managed to do was donate your time and money to fund terrorism.

That should about sum it up.

 

[kffernandez]

ahh.. thanks Adtechia LLC. the scams sure have improved a lot since the time of:

"you just won/have claims to $10,XXX,XXX.00 in order to process, please provide your identity details and send money to ____ in order to process the release."

it's like.. credit card fraud just leveled up a few times.

 

[gabagoo]

so what your saying is that when these crroks order 200 banners or whatever, they actually need them?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

so what your saying is that when these crroks order 200 banners or whatever, they actually need them?

No. The whole scam centers on the shipping company. Somebody posted "why would you do business with them without a deposit". You get a deposit, actually paid in full. If you don't know it's a scam it seems totally legit. The catch is, the credit card is stolen, but you won't normally figure that out until it's way too late, it takes time for that stuff to filter through the system and back to you. When they originally order, they even specify that they will pick up the product personally, no mention of shipping is ever made. They get you after the banners are ready for pickup, they'll say "that's great, but I've had a family emergency" or some other excuse why hey can't pick them up, but they'll have conveniently already have arranged for XYZ shipping company to deliver them. They'll ask you to charge whatever rate the shipping is to another credit card, and then you in turn pay the shipping company that money that is in your account. There it is. The shipping co. is the scammer. The credit cards are stolen. Eventually the money you charge on the "customer's" card is charged back and taken out of your account. You've let go of a couple hundred of what's now your money for the shipping. And you've got a pile of useless banners. They don't care about the banners. They don't care about going on a spending spree with the stolen credit card numbers. They just use the credit cards and fake banner orders to get you to spend a few hundred dollars with their fake shipping company, that's what they want in the end. Honestly, it's ingenious, it really is.

 

[gabagoo]

No. The whole scam centers on the shipping company. Somebody posted "why would you do business with them without a deposit". You get a deposit, actually paid in full. If you don't know it's a scam it seems totally legit. The catch is, the credit card is stolen, but you won't normally figure that out until it's way too late, it takes time for that stuff to filter through the system and back to you. When they originally order, they even specify that they will pick up the product personally, no mention of shipping is ever made. They get you after the banners are ready for pickup, they'll say "that's great, but I've had a family emergency" or some other excuse why hey can't pick them up, but they'll have conveniently already have arranged for XYZ shipping company to deliver them. They'll ask you to charge whatever rate the shipping is to another credit card, and then you in turn pay the shipping company that money that is in your account. There it is. The shipping co. is the scammer. The credit cards are stolen. Eventually the money you charge on the "customer's" card is charged back and taken out of your account. You've let go of a couple hundred of what's now your money for the shipping. And you've got a pile of useless banners. They don't care about the banners. They don't care about going on a spending spree with the stolen credit card numbers. They just use the credit cards and fake banner orders to get you to spend a few hundred dollars with their fake shipping company, that's what they want in the end. Honestly, it's ingenious, it really is.

OK take it a step farther... You pay for the shipping with a credit card? if that was true and you say the shipping company are the real crooks...How is it that they can get the money from the bank without it being taken away the same way the banner money was and why would they be so hard to find if they are a vendor withlkets say Visa.? Theres still something not right. On another note, what if you when taking the visa order require them to fax you a signed visa slip...could you not fax that to the visa headquarters or wherever and have the signature verified?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

OK take it a step farther... You pay for the shipping with a credit card? if that was true and you say the shipping company are the real crooks...How is it that they can get the money from the bank without it being taken away the same way the banner money was and why would they be so hard to find if they are a vendor withlkets say Visa.? Theres still something not right. On another note, what if you when taking the visa order require them to fax you a signed visa slip...could you not fax that to the visa headquarters or wherever and have the signature verified?

The shipping company and the dude buying the banners are the same guy.

Let me simplify with a timeline:

-150 "save the children" banners are ordered and paid for in full (let's say $10,000) with a stolen credit card. You are unaware card is stolen as it is approved and funds are placed in your bank account. You have no idea you are being scammed.

-you produce said banners and notify "customer" that they are ready for pickup.

-Customer says they can't pick it up but they want you to ship them to them using XYZ shipping. They give you their contact at XYZ shipping to make arrangements. They ask you to charge their credit card for the shipping/handling whatever the amount is, let's say $1000. You do so, transaction is approved, you still have no idea you're being scammed.

-You contact XYZ shipping to make arrangements for shipment. You pay the $1000 bill with your credit card assuming all is good because the $1000 you charged your "customer" from "their" credit card is in your bank account. XYS shipping takes your money and says a deliver driver will be there tomorrow (or whenever) to pick up the package. You have no idea the person at XYZ you are communicating with is sitting right next to your "customer" who originally ordered the banners, more than likely in some hut in Nigeria.

-XYZ shipping never shows to pick up package. You try calling, phone is disconnected. Your "customer" will not return calls or emails. You check your bank account statement and see that the original $10,000 plus the additional $1000 for shipping has been charged back because the card numbers you were given were stolen (remember, a chargeback can take weeks to filter through to your bank account). You're now out whatever it cost you to produce the banners, plus any of the remaining profit you may have already spent elsewhere. You try to reverse the shipping charges paid to the shipping company but you may or may not be successful as they are overseas and now unable to be found.

All they wanted was the $1000 you paid to them out of your account for the shipping. The rest is just an elaborate runaround to get you to send them $1000. It's impossible to track them or your money down because they are like ghosts, they set up the operation and their bank account just for your "scam" and then disappear the second they get the money. Being overseas in a country we have little if any "jurisdiction" in makes it impossible for your bank, credit card company or even the FBI to even figure out what village the scam originated in, let alone who did it or actually recover the funds.

The reason the money is charged back out of your account is because the stolen credit card numbers you are given were from within the country, meaning technically, the original purchase for the product and shipping were domestic transactions. You cannot chargeback the money you paid for the shipping because it's a purchase made to Nigeria to a company that doesn't exist and disappears instantly. Your bank/cc company cannot charge back a transaction if the company disappears or if the money is not there to take, hopefully the cc company will work with you but I doubt it.

 

[gabagoo]

I still dont understand the $1000 shipping charge that is put on YOUR Visa.
I would think if a company billed me on my Visa they cant be fly by night as the money from that account has to be deposited into their business account with a bank. maybe I am wrong but I would think that the Visa people would have no problem taking the money right back out of their account. i guess there is more to it.
maybe what needs to be done is to work like paypal, no work until the CASH is my account and never gonna be siphoned out

 

[gabagoo]

We have a customer that we ship to in Michigan...we pay for the shipping (in this case on our Fedex account) and we then invoice the customer for the products + the shipping charge. I'm sure they could just put the shipping on their account but for some reason they prefer to do it this way. Luckily they are a real company and not some douchebag scam artist.

So this approach isn't all that different....

yes but if FEDex never showed up to pick the stuff up are you telling me they (fedex) can keep the money for shippingsomething they didnt?

 

[btropical.com]

Greetings Customer Service

I'm Robert Williams with Continental Robert Shop,Am sending you an email in regards to order of Banners.Am looking for Size 32"x 60" with grommet on the banner.I want this Message on the banner is ( Church of Christ ) .I would like you to go ahead and calculate the cost for 50 Qty Plus Tax excluding shipping because this would be picked up at your Location.Would these order be ready within 14 days,I need them Urgently.What type of payment do your company accept.Kindly send method Quote and email me on Below Number.Hope to hear from you soon

Best Regards
Company Owner
Robert Williams
Continental Robert Williams
Email : robert_williams4555@yahoo.com

 

[sghobbies]

Here is the latest one we got. We normally get 1 every month or so via email.





Hello Owner/Manager ,
My name is Will Smith. I am emailing to request pricing on the banner size and quantity below.

30 x 60 banner(Vinyle
(Save the Children)
Background color-Red with White lettering.
Quote Needed On Quantity: 80pcs.
Without Grommet and ropes.

I will like you to kindly go ahead and email me back with the total pickup price of my request plus tax excluding Shipping .Would look forward for a Proof of the Art word I request for my Approval...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thank You
Will B. Smith
OneWay Donation.