It is soooo easy to be an Internet Fraudster
Posted by Bertie on Friday Jan 25, 2008 Under UncategorizedGrrrrrr, I'm in a bad mood.
Prezzybox, like loads of other websites, gets a large number of people trying to place fraudulent orders on the site.
These people really make me sick and angry and if I wasn't a peace loving hippy, I'd advocate beating them with a particularly big and sharp stick. With spikes on. Lots.
Basically it goes something like this....They tend to order gadget type products, the delivery address is different to the card holders address, the email address is something none-descript (yahoo, hotmail), and they tend to use a mobile phone number. It's pretty easy to spot a fraudster.
The way we combat this (sorry scumbags) is that initially we use CV2/AVS checks, which basically ensure that the card number matches the senders address. If an order manages to get through this system, we write to the card holder address with a reference number and will not process the order until the card holder phones up and quotes the reference number to a member of our team. It therefore works pretty well.
However, this doesn't stop chancers trying their luck. As you can guess, this has happened today. Normally we just delete the order (I'll tell you why shortly) but this time - as the scumbag had tried to place 3 orders using 3 different identities for the same item - I thought "no, I'll do the honourable and report it to the Police.
So why don't we report every fraud and just delete the order? I'll tell ya...
Basically, We are based in Warwickshire. The Fraudster, in this instance, lives in London and the card holder, lives in Aberdeen. So, I've reported the crime to our local police station and they tell me "the crime has been committed in London, as this is where the fraudster lives so you need to get a crime number from the London Met". I then phone up the London Police station and they say "no, you need to report, it to your local police station as you are based in Warwickshire to get a crime number".
Grrrr - it's at this point that I'm starting to get a tad miffed.
Historically in a different case, I've even been told that I needed to phone up the Aberdeen Police Station because the victim (the card holder) is in Aberdeen. Aaaaaaarrrrgggggghhhhh
So, it's no wonder that sooooo many fraudsters are turning to Internet fraud and identity theft. Basically, it's chuffin easy, and the Police either aren't bothered or don't have the infrastructure in place to deal with it. Either way, the crims seem to be getting away with it scott free.
Fear not though bretherin. The Bearded Warrior pledges to fight on in a 'Shaw Taylor-esq' - one man battle against Internet Fraud. I'm off to find the details of my local MP and see if he fancies a chin wag...
I'll keep you posted.
Ten ten. Over and out. Keep em peeled.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
The police just aren't interested.
The Christmas before last I got set two watches and some aftershave from the US. I thought rufus was telling me I'm always late and I spell crap - but it was a fraudulent order.
The guy had got my details (I only used that card once on the internet a few days before - from an un-named merchant).
The funny thing was, that the company sent the products to my address as the cardholder address and not the "deliver to" address. Even funnier was that I was given the guy's name, address and mobile number on the dispatch note.
I reported it to the police and basically they couldn't give a ....
But worse was that I got a bill from Fed Ex for the VAT of the products (about £30). I refused to pay, and it went on for months hagling.
In the end, good honest people like ourselves get stiched up all the time and the crooks get away with it!
And that also goes for this industry! "Stand well back!"
January 27th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Could not agree more Zak, fortunately most of the fraudsters are not very bright we had one a while ago who tried to order one of everything we had on the site.
We will normally send a letter to the registered address like yourself and this will hopefully root out any fraudsters.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Yes, it's a bloomin' shame.
I reported one to the police recently. Lucky for me the fraudster lives locally so the police were really proactive and have put in a lot of time taking statements etc.
Hopefully we may get an arrest.
Worryingly both card holder victims had not ever shopped online but had recently purchased by phone from a large cosmetics retailer in Northampton - could it be a dodgy phone operator there who is to blame?
January 29th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Hello folks. Thanks for the reply. We actually managed to have a fraudster arrested and charged once, but it did take AGES and loads of faffing around visiting the police, making statements. It appears that there is no dedicated internet fraud team whereas I really think there should be one...
Fingers crossed, one day...
January 29th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
At Sportzwear we go through all the same checks as prezzybox, and once upon a time we used to write to the cardholders address, which if it was a fraudulent order, at least would alert them to the fact. However, apart from the odd one that got back to us, we hardly ever even got a thanks, so as we also have the 3rd man facility with protx, if we're in any doubt, we just email them saying that we cannot process the order to the requested delivery address, and suggest they re-order to be delivered to the cardholder address. Would be interested to know what response PrezzyBox get to sending a letter with a reference order, as it may be something we could resurrect, if it means keeping orders, thanks
January 29th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
ah, great - I place big fat orders (amazon loves me), I always have different invoice from delivery address, use my hotmail account and list my mobile as I have no landline... that's it, I'm a fraudster!