Post by librarylady on Apr 14, 2019 22:27:02 GMT
>> 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 likely targets for
>> robbery."
>>
>
>>
>> My husband, who by this time was
>> standing beside me, pulled out his credit card, and
>> 'John,' 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.
>>
>
>> To our horrible surprise,
>> betweenThursday
>> 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 $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit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!
