The client who almost got away with it!
We got a call on our phone from a client who said he is "Roy Mers", with some promotional product company located in Beaumont, TX. He stated he needed to order 1,000 blank t-shirts that he claimed he needed the next day. He gave us his address that was located in the same state, so no flags were raised yet. The strange thing is when we asked for a phone number to call him back with a quote he told us that his phone number is hooked up to his fax machine so he could't give it to us. So he emailed us the specs on the shirts and we replied with a quote. His email was and still being used is: rmers2@gmail.com
After he agreed to the price and gave us a credit card number, we charged the amount of $4,578.98 on it, and it cleared. He even emailed us his business address that was located in TX, so we were still didn't have any red flags raised. The next day we had the shirts all boxed up and waiting for pickup from the client. We sent an email saying the order is ready for pickup. He called a little later and said change of plans, he stated it would be best for us to ship them directly to his customer and make sure we use his company info on the re-turn address.
His address was:
Boateng Osei
101 Russia Drive
Accra-Ghana-00233
ph: 0245154009
He even gave us his Fedex # for shipping International Priority Express. Once we received this info he called us back five minutes later and told us that he contacted Fedex for a pickup at our location for his products. We still had no clue this was a scam.
Fedex came, they told us the paper work would take to long for us to fill out, so we asked them to come in the mooring the next day. The next morning we got another order for 2,000 more shirts. Now we had the red flag raised. Why would this client be buying more shirts before he received the ones he just ordered, we asked ourselves.
I decided to call Visa, after spending time with Visa, we found that the card number was not his nor did the billing adds match. After Visa, I called Fedex and same story.
If it wasn't for the paperwork taking to much time to fill out or the client getting greedy, we would had shipped the product out. The shipping on 14 boxes of T-shirts was $7,498.79
Then we also called the company who said he is with, and they told us he does own that business but it isn't him that we had been talking to and the last four digits on the CC isn't matching his. So the name he is using as well isn't his.
Today that customer thinks we shipped out his product. (we didn't, we told him we did), he thinks he placed another order with us and using another three stolen credit cards, that I reported to Visa again.
I am the owner of a glass company and this guy Roy mers wanted us to send glass to Hungary from the US. A small order at that and wanted us to jump through all these hoops to have it shipped internationally...... We declined the project after reading this blog.....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feed back, Glad you didn't fall for this scam. I bet there are companies that have fallen victim over this. Glad this Blog helped you, I wished I did some research as well before spending hours on this job. Glad you read it, I am sure this saved your time and money.
ReplyDeleteWe also received the same email from the same name and a slightly different email address... here is the original email:
ReplyDelete"Hello,
I'm interested in purchasing some blank t shirts to be picked-up at
your store location when it's ready.Below is the types and
specification's needed:
Brand:Gildan
Size:Adult small size
Fabric Type:50/50% cotton
Color:Purple
Quantity:500pcs
Brand:Gildan
Size:Adult small size
Fabric Type:50/50% cotton
Color:Dark Heather
Quantity:500pcs
Please email me with the grand total price plus sales tax and let me know
if you accept master or visa card and also let me know if you can get the
order ready for pick-up next day or how soon can you get them ready
Regards"
Roy Mers rmers08@gmail.com
I thought it was suspicious right off the bat, but did send a few emails back and forth to feel it out. He then asked if he can send an address for shipping (even though it was originally a local pick-up in the email), and then offered a cc number before we did anything. On the off chance I did a quick google and found this blog. It confirmed what I thought all along. Thank you for posting this.
I hope other companies see this as well and do not fall for the scam. I have another company as well that gets emails like this all the time which is why I was automatically skeptical. Glad we didn't act on this one.
Calgary, Alberta. Jan 10, 2013