7 replies to this topic

[rezdwan]

Hello

I received an order today and I am not sure if I should process it.

Received an order from one Jane living in Thousand Oaks, California. Shipping address said it is to be sent to Viet Nam. I felt uneasy, so I tried to give a call to the customer. I was expecting a female voice but the one answering sounds like a male. When I ask "May I speak to Jane?", he said that he is Jane. Okay then. So I verify that he wants his order to be sent to Viet Nam. He said no, he wanted it to be sent to the US. Okay then. So I verify that he wants it to be sent to the billing address in Thousand Oaks, California. He said no, he got a new address. He wants me to send it to San Jose, California. Okay then. I said I will process the order then.

Still feeling uneasy, I did a lookup for a Jane living in Thousand Oaks, California using WhitePages.com. I know that the person I am going to get might not be the one that I am looking for. Nonetheless, I gave a call. This time, it is a lady. I explained that her credit card might have been used. I tried to verify the billing address. She wouldn't say. I understand that she would like to maintain her privacy. Okay then. So I left my name, company name and phone number with her. I assured her that if she did in fact have a charge of $420.39USD to her credit card with my company name on it, she can call me and I will cancel the order and return the money.

Sorry, but I am really lost. I did what I think is best. Please help me with this problem.

Thanks

Names had been changed to protect the identity of the customer.

[meteorstrike]

I'd suggest calling your merchant account provider; ask them for name & phone number of issuing bank on that transaction. Call the issuing bank (security & fraud dept.) and discuss with them. In the meantime, I wouldn't process the order.

Good luck.

[GraphicsGuy]

meteorstrike, on Sep 7 2005, 01:05 PM, said:

I'd suggest calling your merchant account provider; ask them for name & phone number of issuing bank on that transaction. Call the issuing bank (security & fraud dept.) and discuss with them.  In the meantime, I wouldn't process the order.

Good luck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with this recommendation completely. The situation definitely has a lot of red flags. And here is one more possibility to consider. The phone number entered on the order could have had transposed numbers and the man you spoke with had nothing to do with the original transaction but rather saw an opportunity to redirect somebody elses order (unless you got him to restate the credit card information to you). So after contacting the issueing bank for confirmation of the card (assuming they confirm it to be valid), I would suggest calling the man again, apologize for the inconvenience and state that since the shipping address was changing that you need to get him to reaffirm the credit card number. If he can't give the same number to you as was submitted with the order (you should have the first and last four digits on file with the order), then I wouldn't ship it to the San Jose address.

I used to live in Simi Valley which borders Thousand Oaks on one side (they are both suberbs of Los Angeles). It is noteworthy that Thousand Oaks had a population of 105,000 ten years ago and I'm sure it has gone up. So finding the right person searching on their first name makes it very possible that the woman was not the right one either.

[rezdwan]

I had a bad feeling about this. I have since cancelled the order and refunded the money in full. Sad to say, I can't tell what card and/or the card number being used. I received the money from PayPal. Not a bad thing though. My take on this issue is, I'd rather lose a customer than deal with even one fraud case for my business.

Thanks

[gpsp900]

rezdwan, on Sep 8 2005, 05:35 AM, said:

I had a bad feeling about this. I have since cancelled the order and refunded the money in full. Sad to say, I can't tell what card and/or the card number being used. I received the money from PayPal. Not a bad thing though. My take on this issue is, I'd rather lose a customer than deal with even one fraud case for my business.

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Rezdwan

We have the almost the same problem, I guess this person is doing it here in the UK too.
We received a payment from paypal for an order through our site. there was two addresses, UK address with a phone number (stupid enough) as the billing address and a shipping address in VietNam.

This person wanted to know when he will receive his goods asap. I checked paypal payment and the money was there but there was no confirmed address.
I then suspected he'd probably used a stolen credit card, because he used a fake UK address.

The next day I rang the number gived with the UK address, asking for Mrs X, then a lady answered the phone. I asked her politely if she can confirm her order for goods she purched from our website, giving her our business name and site info. She said that she never made any orders online apart from a holiday she booked a while ago.

We managed to verify her address and number on the bill but she was shocked as we did that someone in Vietnam had used her details to order some goods in the UK.
We then sent an email to Mr VN (Vietnam) telling him that we cannot ship the goods without a proper confirmed address. He replied to cancel the order and give him his money back.

Now, we are confused. Shall we give this fraudster the money back or shall we give it to charity? he is a fraud and his aim is to cheat other people of their money including our business. We are holding this for further advice.

Any reply would be apreciated. thanks

[GraphicsGuy]

gpsp900, on Sep 14 2005, 03:39 PM, said:

Now, we are confused. Shall we give this fraudster the money back or shall we give it to charity? he is a fraud and his aim is to cheat other people of their money including our business. We are holding this for further advice.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If it is a stolen credit card, you are not returning the money to him, just returning it to its rightful owner. And on the VERY unlikely chance that it was his card, he has a right to his money back.

Either way, if you don't refund it, you will get a charge back sooner or later.

[Beer Monster]

The money is not yours to give, it belongs to someone and they'll want it back. Report it to paypal and any other relevant party to prevent the chap making further frauds!

[gpsp900]

Beer Monster, on Sep 14 2005, 09:02 PM, said:

The money is not yours to give, it belongs to someone and they'll want it back. Report it to paypal and any other relevant party to prevent the chap making further frauds!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We informed paypal with the details of this payment. Still no action has been taken so far.. on their part.. we still waiting for a reply.

You are right we shouldn't touch that money as it's not ours.

regards and thanks for your support