Stolen Credit Card Fraud!

[MikeLierman]

I'm here telling my story, feel free to comment, especially if you have any information. I don't want other people to fall into the same trap this criminal sets, so hopefully a lot of people will see this. If someone calls you out of the norm, asks to have laptops or other computer equipment delivered, and you don't know them, it would be a wise idea to write down the CC number and call the CC issuer and verify it's a legitimate order request. They can answer yes/no questions such as if the name you were given is on the account, if the address matches, etc.

Suspicious customer calls in and requests to order 5 computers, he asked for my email so that he could send me the specs. After reading his email with the specs, I got this gut feeling that this would be fraud, but I wanted to play along. In his next email he asked if I could ship the laptops to an address in Bronx, New York; he claimed that he has some clients of his consulting business there. He requested I send him an invoice for him to look over. He looked it over, called back, and gave me a credit card # to place the order. I told him he would expect to receive them in 7-10 days. After getting off the phone with him, I called Visa, and asked them if they could verify that the order request is legit, they told me I needed to call Capital One. Called Capital One, got to their fraud department, explained everything, and asked if they could confirm with the card holder if this was a valid order request. They called back and said no it's fraud and they closed the card and issued the card holder a new credit card #.

At this point, I called this guy back and lied to him, told him that the card declined. So he gave me a different card. Again, I called the card issuer and had them check if this was a valid order request. They contacted their card holder, and it was, again, confirmed fraudulent. The card holder was extremely grateful that I had called Capital One to verify this suspicious order. Pretty much a slam dunk for law enforcement.

So far I have discovered 10 other computer repair businesses, and 1 misc. company, that have been contacted by this very same criminal. This includes one in New Jersey who is out $4,451.71 after he fell for the scam (and days later the card holder reported fraud), a sign company in New Jersey who is out $5,789.71, a computer business owner in South Dakota who is out roughly $1,500, and a computer business in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, they're out $3,848.36, computer business in Dallas, Texas who is out roughly $3,000. Totaling loss of over $18,589.78; and over 18 stolen credit card numbers.

I'm currently working with a detective and an agent from my local branch of the FBI to capture this ring of criminals. This is organized crime. As of 11/13/2013, he has changed his number again. If anyone has any information, emails, etc from this person, please contact me. He has seen THIS topic here on TechNibble, so any information is very much needed.



The three drop points I know of, that the guy has been asking these laptops be shipped to are:

618 Mead St, Apt #1, Bronx, NY 10460

1475 Sheridan Ave, Apt 4C, Bronx, NY 10457

215 E 164th St, Apt 4J, Bronx, NY 10456

210 Miller Ave, Englewood, NJ 07631

This guy has used the following alias names to conduct transactions:
Mark Sage (MarSage)
Mike Barr (MikBarr Inc) / Michael Barr / Michael Baarr — Appears that he doesn't know how to spell his own fake name.
Larry Moore (and sometimes includes the fake company name Larrmore Inc)
Jack Drew
Penny G.
Bonnie

Phone numbers used:
He is now using a new number, with likely new name. Please contact me if you have information.
973-551-77** - Used from approx. Oct. 28 2013 to CURRENTLY BEING USED
239-400-1383 - Recycled MagicJack number. Seems to be outgoing only.
947-517-86** - Used from approx. January 2013 (possibly even before) through Oct. 25 2013.

Emails Used
e-mail: marsage@m***.com
e-mail: mikbarr@m***.com
e-mail: larrmore@m***.com
e-mail: jdrwinc@m***.com
e-mail: jackdrewinc@m***.com

Email Patterns
"We would like to make a purchase order for new or refurbished notebook computers equipment and supplies, for a very good client of our Consultancy Agency. Let me know the price quote for the following specs of products in demand:"

"Let me know your price quote excluding freight charges and do alert me about the brand and your payment method? Keep me posted asap."

"Thanks for the reply and we will like to place an order for 5 units of the Notebook Computer (Lenovo with a 12.5” screen, i7-2640m, 8gb ddr3, 320gb hdd),what will be the total order amount plus shipping to Bronx, NY 10460. What type of credit cards do you accept for further order procedure."

"Thanks for the reply and I will be looking forward to your price quote."

http://pastebin.com/tdJM8Vd1
http://pastebin.com/UtLkxyru
http://pastebin.com/GPAScYYQ
http://pastebin.com/nstaJwUn



Other information
He may agree to "scan" and email a copy of his passport, which is very poorly Photoshopped.
Passport Number: 565432897
He may tell you he has a charity organization abroad with the address of: Mr Kwame Dade, 22 Oxford Street, Accra Ghana, West Africa.

Follow the discussion on Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/112617999853513039739/posts/3YY7ZJko7LE

 

[Kitten Kong]

Well done for posting this mike. Seriously if you hadn't, then other techs on here may have fallen for the same scam. And congratulations on stopping the scammers. Many chance the police et al will do anything over this, seeing as you have a heap of evidence to back you up?

+rep added.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I have discovered two other computer repair business owners that have been scammed by this very same guy, one in New Jersey who is out $4,451.71 after he fell for the scam (and days later the card holder reported fraud), and a business owner in South Dakota.

I've never personally been in this situation but i thought cc transactions were insured. Arent they? Wouldnt the guy thats out 4451.71 be able to get paid?

 

[MikeLierman]

Once I tell the detective that took on the case, that I found two other business owners who were scammed by this guy (and they have evidence as well), then he's gonna want to take the case to the FBI. We'll see. If we can get NYPD on-board, maybe we can continue investigating.

 

[OCWI]

Thanks for posting, I hope as many people as possible see this. It sucks when honest people loose THEIR money THEY worked for by someone running a scam.

 

[MikeLierman]

I've never personally been in this situation but i thought cc transactions were insured. Arent they? Wouldnt the guy thats out 4451.71 be able to get paid?

Depends on the card company. Some credit card companies have "zero liability" for both the merchant and the card holder in case of fraud. It also depends on how it was disputed. If the card company didn't catch it and the card holder just "disputed" the charge as unauthorized, then it would charge back to the merchant.

I spoke with the business owner in South Dakota, he said this scammer had done a total of 4 transactions over the phone with his employees (he didn't know his employees were still welcoming this guy's business). The first two transactions were on one card and they cleared, meaning the card holder wasn't checking their charges or didn't care. The other two were on different cards with different billing addresses. One in the amount of roughly $750 was charged back to this business owner in South Dakota. All purchased items were shipped to apartments in Bronx, New York. I updated the OP with a third address.

 

[coffee]

I've never personally been in this situation but i thought cc transactions were insured. Arent they? Wouldnt the guy thats out 4451.71 be able to get paid?

I think you might have read it wrong - The guy out the money is the computer sales company. The cc company will do a charge back to his account and reimburse the cc holder. However the computer company is left with the problem.

coffee

 

[14049752]

Good job, I hate thieves so much. I hope this guy is busted quickly.

I spoke with the business owner in South Dakota, he said this scammer had done a total of 4 transactions over the phone with his employees (he didn't know his employees were still welcoming this guy's business)......... All purchased items were shipped to apartments in Bronx, New York.

These employees really didn't use common sense here. I would never agree to build or sell a computer to someone over the phone and then send it to an out of state address. Unless you're a big chain store, you should really be thinking "Why is this guy calling ME?"

 

[Paul Rodgers]

Good job, I hate thieves so much. I hope this guy is busted quickly.




These employees really didn't use common sense here. I would never agree to build or sell a computer to someone over the phone and then send it to an out of state address. Unless you're a big chain store, you should really be thinking "Why is this guy calling ME?"

Exactly. When people were doing the 10 laptops with XP and AVG free email scam I thought the same thing.

 

[MikeLierman]

The big plus about this thread now, is that before when I Googled this information when he first called me, nothing showed up which made it all the more believable to some people. But now Googling any of the information including addresses or names of this guy, brings up this thread at the top of Google results which should help other business owners and law enforcement in other states that don't know what's going on.

 

[tom11011]

Yep, when it comes to "card not present" sales, the merchant bears the burden of the loss unfortunately. If the card was present at the time of purchase you are protected.

The other downside is your merchant account company will charge you a higher rate because they view you as a risk.

http://support.authorize.net/authkb/index?page=content&id=A676

 

[brandonkick]

As someone who has had people break into their bank account, I can say thank you for acting on your suspicions. You saved two people a lot of time and headaches at the very least and if not a lot of money.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Yep, when it comes to "card not present" sales, the merchant bears the burden of the loss unfortunately. If the card was present at the time of purchase you are protected.

The other downside is your merchant account company will charge you a higher rate because they view you as a risk.

http://support.authorize.net/authkb/index?page=content&id=A676

I had no idea, now I feel really guilty..though I never participated in that activity I could have done more to stop it. I sure interacted with many that did that kind of thing when i was young. They also didnt know that.

Thats really a messed up system. So basically if the system you have doesnt tell you if the billing address doesnt match your pretty much screwed? I mean thats the only way I can think to curve CC fraud is to ship to only the billing address the card is associated to? Sure you can do additional checks, phone verification etc but that isnt as reliable.

 

[tom11011]

I had no idea, now I feel really guilty..though I never participated in that activity I could have done more to stop it. I sure interacted with many that did that kind of thing when i was young. They also didnt know that.

Thats really a messed up system. So basically if the system you have doesnt tell you if the billing address doesnt match your pretty much screwed? I mean thats the only way I can think to curve CC fraud is to ship to only the billing address the card is associated to? Sure you can do additional checks, phone verification etc but that isnt as reliable.

I believe modern PCI compliance requires a matching address, if you have a shopping cart setup without this, I think it is outdated. I'm not even sure the merchant gateway will accept a transaction without address input for card not present sales.

 

[MikeLierman]

What would I suggest people do? If you take cards over the phone and ship orders, and you don't know the person, then I suggest you require their driver's license #. In person, I request to see ID with every new customer, if they want to write a check or use a card. If you ask for driver's license # after you get the card number, and say for example the card# is stolen, the person isn't going to give it to you, but they are going to make up some sort of story, like "I don't have it with me, it's out in the car, can I call you back." If you want to be proactive, and the shipping address isn't the same as the billing, and the person never gave you a driver's license #, you could call the card company and ask them to verify.

 

[Kitten Kong]

I had no idea, now I feel really guilty..though I never participated in that activity I could have done more to stop it. I sure interacted with many that did that kind of thing when i was young. They also didnt know that.

Thats really a messed up system. So basically if the system you have doesnt tell you if the billing address doesnt match your pretty much screwed? I mean thats the only way I can think to curve CC fraud is to ship to only the billing address the card is associated to? Sure you can do additional checks, phone verification etc but that isnt as reliable.

Over here, not sure if it applies to other card merchants, but when I do a card not present auth, I have to input the card details address (house no), and postcode (numbers), of where the card is registered to. I can only presume a check is done somewhere, and if the 2 don't tally, it doesn't go through. I haven't checked it to be honest.

 

[gikstar]

Over here, not sure if it applies to other card merchants, but when I do a card not present auth, I have to input the card details address (house no), and postcode (numbers), of where the card is registered to. I can only presume a check is done somewhere, and if the 2 don't tally, it doesn't go through. I haven't checked it to be honest.

That is the way our system works... the system we use requires us to input the card billing location and if it doesn't match it won't accept the payment.

Another thing, we do not ship or have dropped shipped to anyone who is not a current customer in good standing.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

What would I suggest people do? If you take cards over the phone and ship orders, and you don't know the person, then I suggest you require their driver's license #. In person, I request to see ID with every new customer, if they want to write a check or use a card. If you ask for driver's license # after you get the card number, and say for example the card# is stolen, the person isn't going to give it to you, but they are going to make up some sort of story, like "I don't have it with me, it's out in the car, can I call you back." If you want to be proactive, and the shipping address isn't the same as the billing, and the person never gave you a driver's license #, you could call the card company and ask them to verify.

You aren't allowed to deny a transaction because the user does not show you ID. (yes I see the irony that i know these rules but not who takes the hit on a tangible chargeback)

 

[Kitten Kong]

That is the way our system works... the system we use requires us to input the card billing location and if it doesn't match it won't accept the payment.

Another thing, we do not ship or have dropped shipped to anyone who is not a current customer in good standing.

Thanks for that. I'm pretty much the same re drop shipping. Only for clients who I have done business with for a number of years will I ever drop ship.

Everyone else, its the card holders address goods get shipped to.

Even had a laptop screen repair come through from a client in London, (a lawyers firm), who wanted the laptop shipped to the worker. I mentioned, it would only go to the lawyers office, as I don't drop ship. When they questioned me over my rules, I mentioned about the possibility of credit card fraud. From then they agreed, and also agreed once they received the laptop back, they would courier it direct to their worker.

Since then, I have done a number of screen replacements for them, and again ship direct to the office. They have never questioned it since.

 

[MikeLierman]

You aren't allowed to deny a transaction because the user does not show you ID. (yes I see the irony that i know these rules but not who takes the hit on a tangible chargeback)

I've had my ID checked before when purchasing at local stores. I even asked one what they would do if I was unable to provide proper ID with the card to show who I say I was. One store said they'd hold the card and refuse service. One place said they would just refuse service and give the card back. I can refuse business to whoever I want.