Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Fake Domains!
Hey Merchants:
Watch out for e-commerce scammers making on-line orders appear more legitimate by re-directing domains to real business websites that have an email user name that matches the customer name:
Example:
John Frank
56 Mark Freeman Road
Hendersonville NC 28792
Scammer email address on order: jfrank@floridalchemical.com
Then if you go to that domain, it redirects here:
www.floridachemical.com
If you're not paying close enough attention, you might not notice the extra letter in the scammer's email address. It's just a sneaky way to fool a merchant into thinking the order is from a legitimate customer. Even worse, it's a stolen credit card that the scammer has modified the shipping address to be the intercept location. Therefore, when doing a name & address verification at a bank, you'll get a complete match. Use those reverse search engines to match names with addresses, like 411.com and pipl.com!
Be diligent!
Fingolfin
Watch out for e-commerce scammers making on-line orders appear more legitimate by re-directing domains to real business websites that have an email user name that matches the customer name:
Example:
John Frank
56 Mark Freeman Road
Hendersonville NC 28792
Scammer email address on order: jfrank@floridalchemical.com
Then if you go to that domain, it redirects here:
www.floridachemical.com
If you're not paying close enough attention, you might not notice the extra letter in the scammer's email address. It's just a sneaky way to fool a merchant into thinking the order is from a legitimate customer. Even worse, it's a stolen credit card that the scammer has modified the shipping address to be the intercept location. Therefore, when doing a name & address verification at a bank, you'll get a complete match. Use those reverse search engines to match names with addresses, like 411.com and pipl.com!
Be diligent!
Fingolfin
Sunday, July 25, 2010
la.financial
Do not buy high-end binoculars from la.financial on eBay. He doesn't have the serial numbers and never actually handles the actual product. He's likely fulfilling orders via a Credit Card Triangulation Scam.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Warning to eBay Sellers!
eBay Sellers & Trading Assistants,
If you receive this solicitation, ignore it. It's a Credit Card Triangulation Scam!
"Hello, I am looking for a serious trading assistant who will help me sell products on eBay. I work for the company which supplies optics stores and I can get some products at discount price as employee. The products will be all kind of optics with an average price $700-$1000. I am ready to pay 15% commission from each sale and plan to run 2-3 sales per month. Let me know if you are interested and we can discuss the details. Best wishes Antony Guts Antony Phone: 661-399-7392 Email: aguts@operamail.com"
Is Antony 'Max Merr'? Very likely, I suspect.
Fingolfin
If you receive this solicitation, ignore it. It's a Credit Card Triangulation Scam!
"Hello, I am looking for a serious trading assistant who will help me sell products on eBay. I work for the company which supplies optics stores and I can get some products at discount price as employee. The products will be all kind of optics with an average price $700-$1000. I am ready to pay 15% commission from each sale and plan to run 2-3 sales per month. Let me know if you are interested and we can discuss the details. Best wishes Antony Guts Antony Phone: 661-399-7392 Email: aguts@operamail.com"
Is Antony 'Max Merr'? Very likely, I suspect.
Fingolfin
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Montreal back in it!
OPTICS DEALERS:
Do not ship high-end binoculars to Montreal! 100% Guaranteed Fraud!
Fingolfin
Do not ship high-end binoculars to Montreal! 100% Guaranteed Fraud!
Fingolfin
Friday, April 18, 2008
Max Merr Scam Continues
Max Merr continues to rope eBay trading assistants into stealing for him. At some point, Max Merr will probably change his alias, but in order to help identify the scam, here's the bank account he's asking eBay sellers to wire money to:
Bank Name: AS SEB Unibanka
Bank Address: Kekavas pagasts, LV-1076, Riga LV
SWIFT code: UNLALV2X
Account Name: Sotnikovs Vjaceslavs
Account Number: LV04UNLA0050010427988
Address: Metru iela 1-3 Ventspils, LV-3601
eBay sellers: if this banking information comes your way under another name, it's a credit card triangulation scam.
Fingolfin
Bank Name: AS SEB Unibanka
Bank Address: Kekavas pagasts, LV-1076, Riga LV
SWIFT code: UNLALV2X
Account Name: Sotnikovs Vjaceslavs
Account Number: LV04UNLA0050010427988
Address: Metru iela 1-3 Ventspils, LV-3601
eBay sellers: if this banking information comes your way under another name, it's a credit card triangulation scam.
Fingolfin
Friday, March 14, 2008
braun865@yahoo.com
Receive an email from braun865@yahoo.com? Prepare to be scammed.
Also, check out this post from an eBay Trading Assistant thread:
"Well I got the email from max merr.... Well stupid me went along with it after two packages showed up to my house with other peoples Credit card information on it, I got really suspicious. Well I called the company's he sent the packages from and they told me he was using my name and someone else's credit card to order the products.. I did sell one on ebay before I found out what was going on, luckily I have sent him no money. And the second package that arrived today is being sent back...I am so pissed they someone would do this to me... I mean I could get into some serious trouble for this. I should have known it was too good to be true. I have contacted both company's the packages have come from and explained to them what was going on. All I can do is sit here and wait and hope nothing happens.... Its a terrible feeling I can tell you that. "
Also, check out this post from an eBay Trading Assistant thread:
"Well I got the email from max merr.... Well stupid me went along with it after two packages showed up to my house with other peoples Credit card information on it, I got really suspicious. Well I called the company's he sent the packages from and they told me he was using my name and someone else's credit card to order the products.. I did sell one on ebay before I found out what was going on, luckily I have sent him no money. And the second package that arrived today is being sent back...I am so pissed they someone would do this to me... I mean I could get into some serious trouble for this. I should have known it was too good to be true. I have contacted both company's the packages have come from and explained to them what was going on. All I can do is sit here and wait and hope nothing happens.... Its a terrible feeling I can tell you that. "
Friday, March 7, 2008
eBay - A Haven for Crooks
You have to admire eBay's "Community Values" policies on their message forums. Earlier this morning I posted a response to an eBay seller to beware of the Max Merr scam and eBay moderator promptly deleted my warning:
"In order for the community forums, which are based on the eBay Community Values, to be a place where all members can feel comfortable interacting with each other, there are certain types of posts that we have to remove if reported to us. The guidelines for posting in the forums are defined in the Board Usage Policy."
Lovely. I guess those values extend to their habit of protecting of crooks and thieves. Criminals feel comfortable and right at home on eBay.
Meanwhile, a new triangulation scam has hit another optics dealer. This one is even more elaborate than superstore8407 and it may involve Max Merr. I hope to have more on this in the near future. Also, I would be very leery of buying binoculars from eBay seller "im_eilis." You know what? You just can't legitimately obtain these binoculars for what these eBay stores are selling them at.
As of late February, Max Merr is still soliciting eBay traders to participate in his criminal activity:
wecansellwhatever (103 ) View Listings Report Feb-20-08
Anyone ever hear of a Max Merr out of CA? I received the following email today...
"I am looking for a trading assistant to sell about dozen items per month. I work at the warehouse in CA and can buy some of high demand electronics at very reasonable price. Just want to ask if you could take care of the sales. If you are interested email me back how much do you charge for your service and any other necessary information."
Is this a scam??
Yeah. You can bet your ass it's a scam.Fingolfin
"In order for the community forums, which are based on the eBay Community Values, to be a place where all members can feel comfortable interacting with each other, there are certain types of posts that we have to remove if reported to us. The guidelines for posting in the forums are defined in the Board Usage Policy."
Lovely. I guess those values extend to their habit of protecting of crooks and thieves. Criminals feel comfortable and right at home on eBay.
Meanwhile, a new triangulation scam has hit another optics dealer. This one is even more elaborate than superstore8407 and it may involve Max Merr. I hope to have more on this in the near future. Also, I would be very leery of buying binoculars from eBay seller "im_eilis." You know what? You just can't legitimately obtain these binoculars for what these eBay stores are selling them at.
As of late February, Max Merr is still soliciting eBay traders to participate in his criminal activity:
wecansellwhatever (103 ) View Listings Report Feb-20-08
Anyone ever hear of a Max Merr out of CA? I received the following email today...
"I am looking for a trading assistant to sell about dozen items per month. I work at the warehouse in CA and can buy some of high demand electronics at very reasonable price. Just want to ask if you could take care of the sales. If you are interested email me back how much do you charge for your service and any other necessary information."
Is this a scam??
Yeah. You can bet your ass it's a scam.Fingolfin
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Song Nguyen
Despite being warned multiple times, Song Nguyen of Brandon Florida, eBay seller superstore8407, continues to auction high-end binoculars, telescopes and spotting scopes for Max Merr. Song has been made aware of the scam and how the products he auctions are being purchased using stolen credit cards.
Song Nguyen is a crook.
Song Nguyen
4503 River Close Blvd
Valrico (Brandon) FL 33594
If you buy optics from Song Nguyen, you'll receive stolen merchandise.
Song Nguyen is a crook.
Song Nguyen
4503 River Close Blvd
Valrico (Brandon) FL 33594
If you buy optics from Song Nguyen, you'll receive stolen merchandise.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Max Merr is merr@easy.com
Diagram of a Scam
- Max Merr tells eBay seller which products to advertise (below MAP dealer pricing).
- eBay buyer sees advertised product and purchases "great deal" via credit card or PayPal.
- eBay seller informs Max of order.
- Max steals third-party credit card.
- Max changes billing address at third-party's bank to eBay buyer's so it AVS matches.
- Max places order at authorized optics dealer to ship to eBay customer. Max uses free email services like juno.com, yahoo.com, etc.
- Authorized optics dealer emails order confirmation email with UPS Tracking number (to Max).
- Max emails orders confirmation information and UPS Tracking number to eBay seller.
- eBay seller emails confirmation information and UPS Tracking number to eBay buyer.
- Authorized optics dealer charges third-party's credit card.
- Authorized optics dealer ships product to eBay buyer.
- Third-party sees charge on credit card statement and contacts bank.
- Third-party's bank issues chargeback against authorized optics dealer.
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