ACR Trade (Purchasing Agent/Procurment) scam

Below is the IP address from origin to me on my "job offer". ACR Trade offered me a position with their company, we spoke through email and phone. My role was to purchase goods from the United States and ship them overseas. They would pay off my credit card balance which would allow me the available credit to purchase items; then ship those items overseas for a "commission". They gave me their bank name, routing number and account number to pay off my credit cards. (warning here about ACHC and how little a credit card company will protect you from bank accounts that don't exist)

Once item was purchased and shipped overseas via USPS International Priority Mail, my credit card balances returned and added to the amount I had charged for the item( essentially doubling my credit card balance). Listed as a ACHC return by my CC company. If anyone can help great. If not, please be on the lookout for these scammers!

IP Address 1.9.2.28
Location MALAYSIA, KEDAH, JITRA
Latitude, Longitude 6.26812, 100.42167 (6°16'5"E 100°25'18"N)
Connection through KEMENTERIAN PENGAJIAN TINGGI MALAYSIA
Local Time 22 Oct, 2013 03:11 AM (UTC +08:00)
Net Speed DSL
Area Code 04
IDD Code 60
ZIP Code 06009
Weather Station LANGKAWI (MYXX0032)
Mobile Country Code (MCC) -
Mobile Network Code (MNC) -
Carrier Name -




IP Address 71.167.166.215
Location UNITED STATES, NEW YORK, NEW YORK CITY
Latitude, Longitude 40.71427, -74.00597 (40°42'51"W -74°0'21"N)
Connection through VERIZON ONLINE LLC
Local Time 21 Oct, 2013 11:11 PM (UTC -04:00)
Net Speed DSL
Area Code 212
IDD Code 1
ZIP Code 10116
Weather Station NEW YORK (USNY0996)
Mobile Country Code (MCC) -
Mobile Network Code (MNC) -
Carrier Name -




IP Address 127.0.0.1
Location Unknown
Latitude, Longitude 0, 0
Connection through LOOPBACK
Local Time 21 Oct, 2013 07:11 PM (UTC -)
Net Speed -
Area Code -
IDD Code -
ZIP Code -
Weather Station -
Mobile Country Code (MCC) -
Mobile Network Code (MNC) -
Carrier Name -




IP Address 206.46.173.25
Location UNITED STATES, TEXAS, DALLAS
Latitude, Longitude 32.78306, -96.80667 (32°46'59"W -96°48'24"N)
Connection through VERIZON ONLINE LLC
Local Time 22 Oct, 2013 12:11 AM (UTC -05:00)
Net Speed DSL
Area Code 214/469/972
IDD Code 1
ZIP Code 75201
Weather Station DALLAS (USTX0327)
Mobile Country Code (MCC) -
Mobile Network Code (MNC) -
Carrier Name -




IP Address 72.30.239.238
Location UNITED STATES, CALIFORNIA, SUNNYVALE
Latitude, Longitude 37.401247, -122.007521 (37°24'4"W -122°0'27"N)
Connection through INKTOMI CORPORATION
Local Time 22 Oct, 2013 02:11 AM (UTC -07:00)
Net Speed COMP
Area Code 408/650
IDD Code 1
ZIP Code 94089
Weather Station SUNNYVALE (USCA1116)
Mobile Country Code (MCC) -
Mobile Network Code (MNC) -
Carrier Name

Unfortunately, the odds of getting any money back are basically zero.

Chances are, the bank account used to pay off your card was real, which is why your card company didn't flag it. But that account would have belonged to another victim, who was scammed, hacked, or phished. When it became clear that the transfer to your credit card was unauthorized (or the account was frozen for fraudulent transactions), the payment to your card was reversed. The scammer knows this is going to happen, which is why he pushes for you to perform your "tasks" as quickly as possible, and for you to send the items using a service that can't be recalled.

Please post any emails and phone numbers this scammer used with you, and some of his early emails to you when he was describing and/or offering the "job." This information will help others to avoid falling for the same scam.

I was also just recently got scammed by someone saying they were from ACR Trade. The bank account was a real account but it had been phished. The person who contacted me called herself Debbie Hoffman and her phone number is 718-473-0790 or 718-473-0711 which is in NY located on East 46th Street. Her email addresses are [email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected]. She uses different email addresses depending on where you are in the application process. I should have caught on to that but I didn't notice at the time. Luckily my credit card limit was only $1000. Yes I will have to pay back the money to my credit card but I should have called the bank and verified the account before I transferred the money. I checked out everything else but the bank account, silly me. The domain name is registered, the company is out of Switzerland and Germany, they have a New York address, etc. I'm wondering if there is any way to notify the NY police or someone about this scam going around. I have plenty of evidence. I printed some of the emails with info on them about the bank account, etc. The address on the paperwork for NY is 172 East 46th Street which if you look up the phone number is where the physical land line is located.
Does anyone out there know where we can turn them in?

I checked the first phone number. It is a VOIP number. That means it is not a landline, and the scammer can be located anywhere in the world, using a computer for calls.

The address itself looks like a dead end. It is in a business area, and there appears to be no legitimate business there. In other words, looks like a phony address.

I did all the right things with this so called organization. I checked out their web site and verified their information and even verified that the bank routing number and checking were "real" everything checked out great until the payments to my credit card were returned one 4 days after the payment was made another 10 days after the payment was posted. My biggest frustration is with Well Fargo and 5th 3rd Bank. Both verified that the checking accounts were good account but neither would verify if ACR Trade was the account holder. Shame on both of these banks! Had they have simply answered my question I would have not now be out over 8,000 dollars. My contact person with this organization was Debbie Hoffman and I stated to work with her on 10/15 before any of the prior post were made. I like them want to make sure no else has to go through the headache that we are all now experiencing. I verified their web site through WhoIS.com and even searched the organization on the web before ever accepting the purchasing agent job with them. Sad to say today has not been a good day. I have reported all this to my credit card company and disputed all the payments and charges that were made on behalf of ACR Trade. I know this will probably not bring me back any dollars but hopefully their security and fraud will investigate and find this person and lock them away for a very long time.

I have been trying to look up information on this same scam and could not find anything until now. If anyone has any information on how to stop these people, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to find them and make sure they get caught, I would go anywhere in the world to testify against these people, thank God it was caught early for me, but I have heard stories about these people.

Welcome to the club.I was also scammed by someone saying they were from ACR Trade. They went as far to sent a job offer, information from Moneyhouse (Basically a European BBB) in Europe to verify the company. The Officers in the company are Sandro Garasi and Michael C Huggler. The person who contacted me called herself Debbie Hoffman and her phone number is 718-473-0790 which is in NY located on East 46th Street. Her email addresses are Debbie Hoffman <[email protected]>. . I am very good at research I should have caught on to that but I didn't notice it till today . My credit card balance was 19k and she ask me to pay down the balance with a Fifth and Third back account she provided me, I then called my bank and pay down the card as instructed. Once it showed payment cleared I was instructed to purchase the items from a list she sent by email.I went and bought the items available at the store. Then the credit card company put a hold in the account because the original payment was recalled by Fifth and Third. Hoffman ask me to use a second account from Wells Fargo, this payment was recalled as well but I had already purchased the items. She email me shipping labels and ask me to mail the items to an address in Russia. I did not ship the items because have all the items purchased I get I am going to take them back to the store. I am supper upset.....

Interesting.

I also checked the Swiss company's credentials. I knew that if funds to my account cleared two major banks, I wouldn't be held liable for any improprieties. Fifth Third and Wells Fargo meet that standard, so I decided to go ahead.

I provided two cards in mid-October, one from Capital One and the other from Wells Fargo, giving their details so Debbie Hoffman could transfer funds to clear the balance. The CapOne payment cleared immediately, but Wells Fargo put a hold on our card for 15 days. Nothing occurred, so they finally cleared the payment. This was on Wed 30 Oct.

I sent Ms Hoffman two e-mails notifying her that the funds finally cleared the Wells Fargo account. I have yet to receive a response. She'd called me earlier in the proceedings, so I had her number archived in my log. I called her this morning and got a generic voicemail.

That's when I decided to research her number further, and that's how I found this forum.

I have purchased nothing. In fact, I haven't touched those cards since then because they had other people's money on them and I wanted to be certain I didn't commingle their funds/facilities with mine. I've now got an agency checking to see whose Fifth Third account that really is. If I'm able to find out, I'll certainly post it here.

To date, there has been no unusual activity on either card.

I knew that if funds to my account cleared two major banks, I wouldn't be held liable for any improprieties.

This is some pretty thin ice to be walking on. You may be able to escape accountability from the financial perspective. But that doesn't mean that you could not find yourself in the midst of a criminal conspiracy investigation, especially if they have reason to believe that you knew something was wrong with the arrangement.

It will be interesting to see whether you receive a response. These scammers often abandon identities and move to the next fake rather quickly, so it is possible that they have moved on and won't contact you again, but then again, if they believe you are still a viable victim, they may move to the next step.

You may be able to escape accountability from the financial perspective. But that doesn't mean that you could not find yourself in the midst of a criminal conspiracy investigation, especially if they have reason to believe that you knew something was wrong with the arrangement.

My concern at the time was not wanting to be a party to laundered funds.

If funds clear two major banks, they've been officially cleared from that possibility. Thus, the funds themselves were of legal origin. But that is not to say they have been transferred to my accounts by their rightful owners.

That's why I'm checking to see who the Fifth Third account holders are.

That's also one reason why Wells Fargo waited so long before they cleared the payment to that card. It allows them to check the transfer internally, which may involve notification to the Fifth Third account holder. We stayed in contact with our branch manager in this regard. He reported no undue alerts, which is why they finally cleared the payment.

One interesting part of that process was the branch manager telling me that if the Fifth Third account holder could provide a receipt of some sort that confirmed the transfer order, Wells Fargo would check it out and clear the payment immediately if all was in order. I dutifully posted that to Ms Hoffman.

Here is how she responded on Wed 16 Oct:

OK, thanks for update. Yes, it is better have been waiting the money
cleared. After that I will send you the order details
Deb

I haven't heard from her since.

I found a few more details on another board ...

In its English version, Debbie Hoffman either represented herself as Linda Williams or the two are involved in the same ring. The company involved was alleged as Earth Trade. One post stated that the IP address involved belonged to Andrew Medvedev of Prague in the Czech Republic.

And here's a telling comment from the first post dated 21 Oct 2011:

"Her main headquarters she claims is in Switzerland however if you contact the Switzerland company they have never heard of this woman and will tell you they have no business in USA."

http://www.scambook.com/report/view/286 ... ment-57474

In its Spanish version -- where the postings are in English -- the thread's first post is dated in 2011. The name cited here was Katrina Fahs and the alleged company being represented was again Earth Trade. A 2013 post in the thread stated that the name is now Debbie Hoffman and the alleged company being represented was Accessory Trading and Consulting, based at a very familiar address:

Linda is going by Debbie Hoffman the HR Manager
Email: ([email protected])
Phone: 718-473-0711
Fax:888-305-5083
Address: 172 East 46th Street NY NY or 172 East 4th Street NY NY

http://es.scambook.com/report/view/5724 ... ment-57475

OK, thanks for update. Yes, it is better have been waiting the money
cleared. After that I will send you the order details
Deb

Just another observation I noted at the time but didn't mention here:

I have a fundamental understanding of German. Looking at the first sentence's structure in Ms Hoffman's e-mail to me, its word sequence would be a literal translation of what the original German grammar would be.

The one time I spoke with her, the accent also seemed German, which seemed to align at the time with my assumption that she was either German or Swiss (the Zug canton is in the German-speaking region of Switzerland).

And, of course, Hoffman is a common German/Swiss German sort of surname.

They got me big time ! I consider myself a smart person, but not in this case. I started work with this company on 10/15/13. Made over 6600.00 in purchases. All purchases were paid so far, but I know this is going to come back to haunt me. I just got off the phone with my credit card company, the fraud division and explained the situation.

If anyone out there has any other information about these people, please post. I am very frustrated and want to find these people. If I have to drive into the city to find them I will. I do not like being taken advantage of and will do everything possible to bring these people to justice. I was simply trying to make extra money for me and my family and to take advantage of hard working people like us is unacceptable.

They got me as well. I made 3 purchases all over $5,000 with no problems then bam! Now my credit card is at -$14,000. Same person, Debbie Hoffman. I saved all emails and spoke with my credit card company because they flagged my account. I don't know if I'm more angry or embarrassed. Ohh and now I'm 14 grand in the hole. Worse part is, I found them off a legitimate job search site.