[jacksonbrown]

I'm re-posting from another source, 'cause the author ASKED ME TO.

Public service message.Crooks are too clever.

Scammers- Scammers package delivery

This is very clever. I would, probably, fall for it if not warned. Give this wide distribution. This scam is, actually, very, clever. Just when you thought you'd heard it all. Be, very, careful out there! Beware of people bearing gifts!

The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim:

Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called: "Express Couriers," (The name could be any courier company). He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature.

The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in, roughly, an hour. Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. I was, very, surprised since there was no special occasion or holiday, and I, certainly, didn't expect anything like it. Intrigued, I inquired as to who the sender was.

The courier replied, "I don't know, I'm only delivering the package."

Apparently, a greeting card was being sent separately. (The card has never arrived!) There was also a consignment note with the gift.

He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a $3.50 "delivery/ verification charge," providing proof that he had, actually, delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking age), and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor

This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash. He then said that the delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is, properly, accounted for, and this would help in keeping a legal record of the transaction.

He added, "Couriers don't carry cash to avoid loss or being, likely, targets for robbery."

My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled out his credit card, and the "delivery man," asked him to swipe the card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad. Frank, my husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was printed out. He was given a copy of the transaction.

The guy said everything was in order, and wished us good day, and left.

To our, horrible, surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at various ATM machines.

Apparently, the "mobile credit card machine," which the deliveryman carried, now, had all the info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all our card details including the PIN number.

Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card, we, immediately, notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our credit/debit account was closed.

We, also, personally, went to the police, where it was confirmed that it is, definitely, a scam because several households had been, similarly, hit.

WARNING: Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package," which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything if you do not, personally, know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is.

Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!

PLEASE, pass this on, it may just prevent someone else from being swindled.

THIS IS A MUST READ AND… PLEASE LET FAMILY AND FRIENDS KNOW, TOO!

[Topspinmo]

Cash is king! It always will be.

[BS Beef]

Thanks for the informative heads up!!!

[Chatbrat]

The key is the word "PIN"--if you have a credit card , use it never give out any PIN #, and get rid rid of all debit cards

One of my credit cards was hacked last week, after I made a purchase on EBay, no damage was done--the only hassle is, the card was my primary card which I use for auto-pay for all my recurring accounts, when the replacement arrives its phone time again

[CoachKandSportsguy]

I have two credit cards, one with a $500 limit, and use that everywhere, no worries about being hacked. The other is the big one, which I seldom use, only when necessary. I have an auto payment every week from my checking account to my $500 credit card so that I don't have to pay interest or check my card all the time. It was also because I was getting gas and items every week. Pays to have a cheap card to foil the fraudsters. . . but also agree to be suspicious about free items. . . free is never really free from strangers. I don't even talk to strangers who approach me as there is no reason to talk with me in public. Been mugged overseas and here in the states.

sportsguy

[blueash]

Originally Posted by jacksonbrown

I'm re-posting from another source, 'cause the author ASKED ME TO.

Public service message.Crooks are too clever.

Scammers- Scammers package delivery

This is very clever. I would, probably, fall for it if not warned. Give this wide distribution. This scam is, actually, very, clever. Just when you thought you'd heard it all. Be, very, careful out there! Beware of people bearing gifts!

The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim:

Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called: "Express Couriers," (The name could be any courier company). He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature.

...
THIS IS A MUST READ AND… PLEASE LET FAMILY AND FRIENDS KNOW, TOO!

I can't tell from your post if you are saying this actually just happened a week ago to a friend of yours, or perhaps your friend just heard about it a week ago and wrote this detailed story about it for your reading, which you are now passing on.

A simple google search finds exactly this story beginning almost word for word on the North Alabama Better Business Bureau's website. It begins:

December 08, 2017
A North Alabama resident has reported a new scam that could target anyone during this holiday season. Scammers are calling consumers disguising themselves as a courier service, in this instance they claimed to be with "Express Couriers”. The caller asked the consumer if they were home because there was a package that required a signature.
Source: BBB of North Alabama

Seems strange that we now know it was Frank who got fooled, and his wife just happened to use the exact same language as this BBB report saying the scam was reported in North Alabama. Now I'm not saying that you should not be alert for scams. I'm just pointing out that this is a circulating story,

Here it is with the same wording as having been reported by the Broomfield Michigan Police

Here it is from 2017 on a blog warning the seniors only club.

In Nov 2015 the Apex NC police posted a warning, same language but noted it hadn't happened there

And the beauty of the internet is sometimes you actually dig down to what may be the truth. This actually happened in Sydney Australia in 2008. And they caught the criminal.

Sydney Morning Herald

November 23, 2008 — 11.00am

A MAN charged with stealing more than $30,000 by posing as a delivery man bearing wine and flowers was refused bail in court yesterday.
David John Hennessey, 50, was stopped by police on the F3 freeway at Wahroonga, in northern Sydney, on Friday. He was arrested after a police search of his car allegedly found a number of card skimming devices.
Police allege that Hennessey had defrauded 10 residents of the Eastwood-Gladesville and Ku-ring-gai areas of $32,000 by posing as a delivery man bearing wine and flowers.

Before the victims received the package they were told they needed to swipe their credit cards to pay a delivery fee of $3.50. Police allege that in all cases those involved swiped their credit card into a hand-held machine and were given a receipt for their payment.
In each case no card was ever received indicating who the parcel was from, police said.

Police allege Hennessey used details gathered from a scanning device to access the accounts of 10 victims and make unauthorised withdrawals totalling between $2000 and $15,000.
Hennessey was charged with 10 counts of obtaining benefit by deception and one count of having stolen goods in his possession.
He was refused bail in Parramatta Bail Court yesterday and will face Hornsby Local Court on Thursday.

[retiredguy123]

I would never have fallen for that scam. But, even if I did, I would have used a credit card, which offers protection under Federal law. You just dispute the charge with the bank and they must immediately remove the charge. You lose no money. It is a very bad idea to use a debit card for any purchases.

[jebartle]

Sad to say, I'm "Sally suspicious", I'd never fall for that!

[JGVillages]

Use Pay Pal at EBay checkout

[J1ceasar]

Amex is getting hard on disputes

I Googled this scam and I found several results that fit this story word for word going back 12 years. Very ironic that this just happened and the poster apparently wrote his/her story verbatim of what I found on Google.

The scam is a legitimate scam but this person's account of a recent event...

Go to hoax slayer dot com and read this story and see that it matches up word for word and dollar amounts too.

It's actually hoax-slayer dot net. "Frank" was the husband's name in that story too.

I'm not say that the poster has done anything wrong by the way. I just wanted to point out where the story came from.

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

The key is the word "PIN"--if you have a credit card , use it never give out any PIN #, and get rid rid of all debit cards

One of my credit cards was hacked last week, after I made a purchase on EBay, no damage was done--the only hassle is, the card was my primary card which I use for auto-pay for all my recurring accounts, when the replacement arrives its phone time again

We haven’t gotten rid of our debit card, but never carry it or use it to pay for anything, only to get cash out when necessary.

[davem4616]

nice to know...thanks for sharing

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Agreed with the fact-checkers in this thread.

While yes, the scam really is a scam and it really does happen, the OP does a disservice by claiming he's posting it because the author asked him to send it.

Unless the author is someone he knows from Australia, who this happened to IN Australia between October 1 and 3 2008, the OP is not being truthful.

Delivery Courier Scam