Anytime someone is insisting on using their own odd ball freight company and wants you to contact and pay the shipping company direct, it is a scam. I like to ask them for a credit card number, never run it of course and then tell them the number is bad can I get another one and then just keep doing that until they go away. Also tell them they qualify for free shipping and then just laugh at how they insist on using their freight company and won't let you ship for free. Sad so many people feel the need to fleece small businesses.
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Scam-Harlan Hales is back
- Thread starter snow55
- Start date
binki
New Member
We get these from time to time. Since we only sell local we know when someone from somewhere else is asking us to ship thousands of miles away it is a scam.
Here are the tells:
1) They have a rediculous item they want, something never seen before
2) They use a shipping company that you need to pay and they will overpay you for your 'trouble'
3) They will not use wire transfers or other secure forms of payment
4) They insist on knowing details about your payment methods such as your merchant processor
5) The have multiple email addresses and phone numbers
6) Grammer sucks
7) The bill to and ship to don't match and are thousands of miles away
8) No matter how hard you try to give them payment options that will work and be secure they insist on something else
9) Any more?
Here are the tells:
1) They have a rediculous item they want, something never seen before
2) They use a shipping company that you need to pay and they will overpay you for your 'trouble'
3) They will not use wire transfers or other secure forms of payment
4) They insist on knowing details about your payment methods such as your merchant processor
5) The have multiple email addresses and phone numbers
6) Grammer sucks
7) The bill to and ship to don't match and are thousands of miles away
8) No matter how hard you try to give them payment options that will work and be secure they insist on something else
9) Any more?
binki
New Member
Several years ago I put my mothers house up for sale. Within a few days I got a call from a neighbor saying someone was on the roof. I had the neighbor get the roofer down and and after talking with him found this out.
He was contacted by the 'new owner' of the house and asked if he took credit card payments. He was also going to be paid extra because the 'new owner' owed the 'seller' money and he was supposed to pay the 'seller' the balance on the house. I told him this was a scam and I just saved him $10,000. He gave me the phone number and I called the 'new owner'. I let her know the phone number was reported to the local police and to the FBI.
Now, if I hadn't caught this guy, he would have started taking the old roof off and putting a new one on until the CC charged back and then he would lein the house. I am not sure how this would play out but I supposed I would have to take it to court to unwind the lein.
The best part is a few days later a painter showed up to estimate painting the outside of the house. Same scam, different sucker.
He was contacted by the 'new owner' of the house and asked if he took credit card payments. He was also going to be paid extra because the 'new owner' owed the 'seller' money and he was supposed to pay the 'seller' the balance on the house. I told him this was a scam and I just saved him $10,000. He gave me the phone number and I called the 'new owner'. I let her know the phone number was reported to the local police and to the FBI.
Now, if I hadn't caught this guy, he would have started taking the old roof off and putting a new one on until the CC charged back and then he would lein the house. I am not sure how this would play out but I supposed I would have to take it to court to unwind the lein.
The best part is a few days later a painter showed up to estimate painting the outside of the house. Same scam, different sucker.