Fraud, Scamming and those responsible. [UPDATE]

Many thanks to everyone who sent messages and comments to me regarding this matter. My goal is to educate everyone on the risks of fraud and scams through a first person account. I have found a great resource for those who think they may be victim of a scam. You should check out http://www.fightidentitytheft.com/ for a great database of first person fraud experiences and a list of the most popular forms of internet fraud.

We have all been scammed at some point in our lifetimes. Scams are usually performed by our closest friends, a corporation or an anonymous person on a street corner. Most scams can be avoided if the person being scammed opens their eyes to the situation or is more knowledgeable of the scam being performed. Fraud and scams have been taking place for years even before there was money. You can find a list of popular scams on Wikipedia and only one involves money. In today�s world, we can be scammed in many more ways. Having the entire world at your fingertips via telephone, television and the Internet makes scamming someone even more easier. When nearly everyone is buying things online, you must be careful to ensure your safety and make sure your cash, identity or other numbers don�t find themselves in the wrong hands.

Click "Full Story" or "Comments" for the full bit

Read More...

I have removed all personal information from the post identifying those frauding me or being frauded. I believe the article has ran its course. If you have similar stories regarding individuals with similar names, please let me know.

I was not the victim of identity theft but I was recently affected by an individual that did go through a simple form of scamming. Here is the story as I have pieced it together so far. Two guys by the name of Robert K**** and Jim L***** had their username and password stolen from phishing email sent to them. The email was asking that user to login to their email account to check an Amazon purchase or an issue with an order. They clicked the link in the email from Amazon and logged in to find a blank page. They closed the window and didn�t think anything about it and just went directly to Amazon.com to discover there was no issue. That was the end of it but behind he scenes, a person across the world was harvesting usernames and passwords for an attempt to make away with thousands of dollars worth of tech products that can be sold across the net for a huge profit.

I buy and sell a lot of items on eBay for a small profit. It is a side job and gives me an opportunity to try out a lot of cool tech product and turning around to sell them for a small profit after I�ve learned more about them. Anyway, this was my first try with Amazon marketplace and I listed my Canon A640 camera I had just bought brand new the week earlier on Amazon for just below the retail price.

I was immediately contacted by the normal set of buyers but one guy, Jason Nene, contacted me asking if I could ship the item to Indonesia if he payed the extra shipping. I agreed and he asked me to relist the item for the difference in shipping. I did so making the camera around 465 dollars which is 50 dollars above retail price and will also include the 80 dollar shipping charge to Indonesia. I have attached some emails below for reference�

Oct 18th
Hello,
I interested and would like to buy this item. could you arrange delivery to indonesia using DHL or UPS?I will pay all the shipping cost and be responsible for risks caused by it.
And all payment through Amazon's online system
I'll wait your attention ASAP Regards,

I told him he would have to pay more at checkout and replied with

Dear seller,
I will pay you by amazon online payment.
Here is my shipping area :
city : Bandung
state : jawa barat
zip : 40193
country : Indonesia
Please calculate me the shiping cost by DHL.

I adjusted the price and relisted the item and he immediately purchased the item following up with this.

I have purchased it with Robert_******@yahoo.com,I use any US address for the shipping address form, don't ship to that US address, I will give you my address after the payment complete.

I prepared the camera to be shipped and 4 hours later, Amazon contacted me with the following message.

Dear [email protected],
We're sorry. We have been unable to process robert_*******@yahoo.com's
credit card. This buyer had attempted to purchase:

1 of Canon PowerShot A640 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom [Camera]

This purchase cannot be completed. As a result, you will not be
charged any related transaction fees. If you need to request credit
for listing fees, please visit:

Obviously, Jason Nene (the gentlemen�s emailing me back and forth) used the login of an account he phished and the credit card on the account was declined so he quickly emailed me stating;

Dear seller,
I'm sorry, I put the wrong credit card number at the last payment, can you
list it again for me, I wil make sure the payment complete.
Reply me.
Thank you.

I relisted the item and in the meantime I received an email from [email protected] stating that they were Amazon and the camera sold for $549 and to ship it immediately to the following address.

Delivery Information Are As Follows Below
Name: GBENGA BOBADE
Address:11 ogundimu street olota captain agbelekale
City: Abule Egba
State:Lagos
Country:Nigeria
Zip Code:23401
Address Status: Confirmed

I immediately contacted Amazon�s spoofing department and took care of that little hiccup and the next day Jason Nene sent me an email following a �sold now� message from Amazon. This one is a little lengthy

Oct 19th
Amazon�s letter
Dear [email protected],

Your Amazon Marketplace sale is official! We've deposited your
earnings from the sale of this item into your Amazon Payments
account.

Please ship item immediately via standard shipping speed.

1 of Canon PowerShot A640 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom [Camera]


You have agreed to ship no later than two business days after the
buyer's purchase on 20-Oct-2006.

****************************************************************
Important--Prepare Your Packages With Care. See our guidelines:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/1161254
****************************************************************

Here is your buyer's shipping address (use your own address as the
return address, and enclose the packing slip in this e-mail for
your buyer's reference):

Shipping Label
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jim L******
104 ***** Drive
**, KY *****

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PACKING SLIP:
Amazon Marketplace Item: Canon PowerShot A640 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom [Camera]
Listing ID: 1018B250084
SKU:
Quantity: 1


Purchased on: 19-Oct-2006
Shipped by: [email protected]
Shipping address:

Ship to: Jim L******
Address Line 1: 104 **** Drive
Address Line 2:
City: Frankfort
State/Province/Region: KY
Zip/Postal Code: *****
Country: United States

Buyer Name: Jim L*****

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here are the details of your completed Amazon Marketplace sale:

Order #: 058-0783265-8384316
Listings: 1
Total Item Count: 1
Listing 1: Canon PowerShot A640 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom [Camera]
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-glance/Y02Y1014301Y5047427
Listing ID: 1018B250084
SKU:
Quantity: 1
Buyer's Price: $460.00



Buyer e-mail: ********@yahoo.com
Time of sale: 19-Oct-2006 11:21:33
Shipping speed: standard

(Please note Media Mail should only be used for standard shipping on Books, Music, Videos, DVDs, Computer Games, Video Games, and Computer Software.)

Amazon commission: ($38.39)
Additional shipping credit: $5.99
---------
Your earnings (in your Payments account): $427.60

Jason Nene�s Email:
Dear Sir,
Here the address where the camera dispatched to.
Name :Reno Wibowo
Address :JL.Abdul hamid no.8A cicaheum
City :Bandung
state :West Java
zip :40193
Country :Indonesia
Phone# :081572121355

About the shipment, please set the invoice for USD 102.00
Don't put other invoice or label indicating the real price in the package.
Please mark it as "used for a gift/no commercial value", I will take all
the risk caused by this instructions.
It is to avoid the big tax (almost 45%) from the total cost.
I don't want to spend more money to take it. I hope you can understand my
condition here and I will take all the risk caused by it. And don't forget to give the DHL tracking # after you ship it.
I hope you can send it today.
Reply me ASAP.


Sorry for the link folks but I just wanted to give you the complete story and not leave out any details. So, it appears that Jason has purchased this from Amazon using an account under the name of Jim Lonkard and is now asking me to send this camera to his real address. I looked up Jim Lonkard and here�s some info�
Jim Lonkard
104 Chapman Drive
Frankfort
KY
40601
United States
(502) 223-3003


I shipped the item out using UPS because it was slightly cheaper and claimed a value of nothing per Jason�s instructions (which I now realize screwed me because UPS will only give me what it was insured for if I do report a case of fraud). That was the end of the transaction until the 23rd of this month (November).

From Amazon:
s currently a dispute involving this transaction.
Please confirm the date and method of shipment for this merchandise.
Also, please do NOT ship the items from this order if you have not
already done so.


Transaction: 058-0783265-8384316
Item(s) Sold:
ASIN: B000HARTYI
Listing ID: 1018B250084
Item: Canon PowerShot A640 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom [Camera]



Transaction date: OCTOBER-19-2006

Shipping Address:

Jim L*****
104 ****** Drive
*****, KY *****
United States

Please provide us with information pertinent to this claim in
the box below:


I responded back with the tracing number information from UPS, 1Z4****************42 and even called Amazon where they stated that it was an internal investigation and they had nothing to report. Finally, today (November 27) Amazon contacted me via email and here�s the message.

This notice serves as confirmation that we have initiated a refund in
the amount of $465.99 to *****@yahoo.com for the following item:

Order# 058-0783265-8384316
1 Refund for Canon PowerShot A640 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom [Camera]


They quickly followed up with:

You have verified that you shipped ORDER 058-0783265-8384316 to an
address different from the one that we provided to you in the "Sold -
Ship Now" e-mail message. Since you shipped to an address other than
the one that we provided to you and we subsequently received a charge
dispute from the credit card issuer, we reclaimed the funds for this
transaction.
Best regards,

Clair K
Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com

That marks the end of the italicized messages, I promise. So, I have pieced together what may have happened and here is what I have. Jason (if this is his real name) has some Amazon credentials and goes to sellers buying items to see if he can get them shipped to him. When they agree, Jason buys them hoping the credit card approves that item. When it does, he immediately tells the sender, �that was me that just bought that item can you ship it here instead?� The seller complies because obviously it�s the same guy that just bought it despite everything being different on the transaction just for the sole example that this guy knows exactly what was just bought and such so its not like someone is emailing sellers saying, �I just bought this item as Jim and want it sent her instead� in hopes of getting lucky once. Looking back, I can see how simply stopping and thinking about the consequences would have helped me avoid the situation but at the same time, it seems to be a great deal from someone that was just trying to avoid some import taxes on electronics.

What�s my course of action? The first thing I did was call Amazon. I asked the guy, �am I screwed?� which he replied with, �well not per se� but yea you are.� I immediately tried contacting the two guys involved with the transaction Jim L***** and Robert K****** and those two have still not replied to my messages. I contacted Jason stating, �DHL said that they were trying to verify your account and were unable to do so, are you sure you used the correct country code? They're saying they went through Japan and I thought you lived in Indonesia. Thanks.� I sent him this because he just contacted me to get him another item here in the states and list it on Amazon so the question I posed to was legitimate. He has not replied yet and I doubt he will. I have sent emails to everyone involved and from Jim�s side (the guy that had his Amazon info stolen and had the camera charged to his card), he was just doing what he thought was right. He sees a charge on his card, he calls his credit card company and they contact Amazon to straighten this out. Amazon verifies the shipment and tracking number and when I state it was sent somewhere other than Jim�s default shipping address for that item and they immediately state that this is null and void and deduct the money from my account. To get back on track, I have contacted UPS and they were very eager to help. They initiated an investigation on the item and did state they would refund the insurance amount on the item until they noticed I had not insured it for very much and I had to explain how I shipped it to begin with. So I won�t get squat from UPS but they may be able to retrieve my camera. I called Visa�s fraud department and left a message, it seems after business hours, they don�t care if someone is off spending your money or using your camera.

I�m posting all of this info to display how fraud works in the most accurate way possible and that was to experience it myself. I�m looking for stories on your fraud experiences and how you got through it. Thousands of individuals experience fraud every day and my story is a first person example of how easy it is to be fooled into a trap.

[UPDATE]
Jason Nene has replied back to an email I sent him about sending him a pair of camera phones for wholesale price. He wants me to calculate shipping and list them on Amazon. I could do this just go get the money back from him but the problem is that it won't be his money but someone else's money so I don't feel right about that. That did not stop me from confirming his address though...
Here the address where the phone dispatched to:
Name :Reno Wibowo
Address :JL.Abdul hamid no.8A cicaheum
City :Bandung
state :West Java
zip :40193
Country :Indonesia
Phone# :+6281394075192

The number he gave me this time does match up to his country but does not match up to the City code. I used this to learn that little fact.

Oh Gawd so sorry Adam. Once bitten twice shy. At least you didn�t get your bank account drained dry, and have the FBI involved, like someone I know.

Lots of lessons to be learned from your posting.

That sucks, man. Good luck on getting it resolved.
This is why I only sell things to people that have a decent grasp of the English language.
I'm sticking to Craigslist...

bionde chiavate piscio caldo scopate maschili signore scopate amatoriali skaters insignificante dominazione autocoscienza nubile emotivo lesbiche azione ridiculous teen maledica agreeable segretaria pompino orge anale mistress infermiera culo eccellente fantastico cucina sesso manga attrici fotomontaggi siti voyeur artikel cinta sposine porcelle caldo cowgirl dildo desiderare americano scopata divertente bellerosse ubriache asian bayleesciero fantasticamente tedesco succhi favoloso cappella farsesco infermiera strip buono segretaria azione latine hardbook domina residence risibile amante azione

http://flirt-galerie.bumst.at/

flirt Galerie

href="http://www.powerleveling-wow.com/">wow power leveling</a>
wow power leveling
wow powerleveling
wow powerleveling
rolex replica