This sounds fishy -

seems this scam is still happening see email post below. So how do you nail someone like this?

Hi,
Thanks for your email,i really appreciate you getting back to me with the cost of my order plus shipping.
I have experienced lots of difficulties when it comes to getting my items to my address here in Australia, I will want you to contact my shipper which i uses every time i purchased order worldwide via the below e-mail about my order [[email protected]),with the weight and dimension inclusive the value for insurance quoting my customer ID# QP34572955J. They will come pick my order up at your location. I will need you to obtain a quote and tell them that i want to Insure the package and I will like you to get back to me with overall cost of the items including the shipping cost via my shipper.

Once I have these details, I will get back to you with my credit card details immediately for payment .
God Bless you (Amen).
Kind Regards
Marta


--- On Fri, 8/26/11, Removed - Michelle> wrote:


From: Removed - Michelle
Subject: Re: MY ORDER/READ AND REPLY BACK TODAY
To: "Marta Smith" <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, August 26, 2011, 1:57 AM
- Hide quoted text -


Attached is the quote for the product you outlined. It includes the shipping with a local freight forwarder. If this is acceptable to you I will need your cc info as follows

Type of Card
Name on Card
CC #
Expiration Date
Billing Address for card
Security code

Thanks
Frank

On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 11:11 PM, Marta Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back.I'm more than comfortable placing my order thru this medium and will want you to get back to me with the total cost plus adjusting the shipping to know if it is favourable using via UPS,FEDEX and DHL 2-3 days express shipping or my personal freight forwarder and you can charge my credit card manually and everything can be sorted out asap.
I will wait to read back from you and we can proceed further to the payment of my order.
God bless you
Thanks

--- On Wed, 8/24/11, Removed - Michelle wrote:


From: Removed - Michelle
Subject: Re: MY ORDER/READ AND REPLY BACK TODAY

To: "Marta Smith" <[email protected]>
Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 10:51 PM


Marta
Please go to my website http://www.purbliss.com and place the order there, it will include the shipping. Use coupon code "mamamistr" for your wholesale discount.

By the way do you have a store website?

On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 7:40 AM, Marta Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back.I can't wait to have your lovely products in our store for my customers.
below is the items i want to order for and will want you to get back to me with total cost +shipping cost and i can provide you my credit card for you to charge and have my order ready and i can carry your product in our new inventory for our numerous customers.
MY ORDER....

Cinnamon Spice Bliss - Large 12oz Jar Candle
citrus herb sceneted soy candles lareg 12oz
baby powder bliss scented soy candles 8oz
baby powder scented candles 12oz
banana bread bliss 12oz candle
black cherry scented soy candle 12oz
blueberry bliss 12oz
20 in quantites for each items

MY ADDRESS FOR THE SHIPPING QUOTE..
450 Anzac Parade ,Kingsford,
Sydney
NSW 2032,
Australia
Hope to read back from you with the total cost and we can proceed and finalized my order.
God bless you
Marta Smith


--- On Wed, 8/17/11, Removed - Michelle wrote:


From: Removed - Michelle
Subject: Re: WEBSITE NEEDED BACK FROM YOU
To: "Marta Smith" <[email protected]>
Date: Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 12:32 AM

purbliss.com

On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 5:10 PM, Marta Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back.Kindly get back to me with your website.
Thanks

--- On Mon, 8/15/11, Removed - Michelle


From: Removed - Michelle
Subject: Re: INTERNATIONAL ORDER ENQUIRY
To: "Marta Smith" <[email protected]>
Date: Monday, August 15, 2011, 6:53 PM

I have shipped internationally on a small scale and yes I do accept CC transactions. Let's discuss the order you want to place and I will advise. Can I get some information on the store you are refrring to? Also
how did you come about finding Purbliss?

On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 11:01 AM, Marta Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello,
How're you?I want to place an international order from your company to our store in Australia.I want to know if you can ship internationally and accept credit card as a form of payment?I'd love you to reply me back and we can proceed further.
Eagerly await to read back from you and we can proceed.
Thank you and God bless you.
Yours
Marta Smith

Thank you for this report!
Unfortunately, the only way of thwarting scammers is raising public awareness by posts like yours. These criminals operate anonymously from an internet café; even if we can trace this café there are dozens of scammers using it.

Welcome to Scamwarners Candleman.

So how do you nail someone like this?

You don't, I'm afraid. Not when he's an anonymous scammer probably in a Nigerian Internet cafe.The scam involves you sending money by Western Union or Moneygram, which is effectively untraceable.
I'm glad you didn't fall for it.

Hi Candleman,

Thank you for sharing this!!!!

I have exactly the same emails except for the mailing address, company name used and addresses.

On the first email: I was suspicious ( I am from Australia but living in America )
#1 because the address wasn't typed right. We don't place a comma after a street number.
#2 Checked on google maps. Nothing was in there and kind of odd to order a particular number of products for that town.

On the second email: I was sus.
#3 because of the time the person responds to his / her email.
#4 How can someone in business have so many typos? A few is OK.
#5 They are not answering my questions ie What is your company name, ABN, and phone number?

Despite of all this suspicion. I still took the time to count the order, weight and pick the right package.

I wonder how can people get away with this. Thanks to this site. I am at least affirmed of the suspicion.

On mine they used:
[email protected]

MY ADDRESS FOR THE SHIPPING QUOTE..
340,Graham St, Wonthaggi,
Victoria 3995,
Australia.
Mrs Church
Await your reply.

Hi,
Thanks for your email,i really appreciate you getting back to me with the cost of my order plus shipping.
I have experienced lots of difficulties when it comes to getting my items to my address here in Australia, I will want you to contact my shipper which i uses every time i purchased order worldwide via the below e-mail about my order [[email protected]),with the weight and dimension inclusive the value for insurance quoting my customer ID# QP34572955J They will come pick my order up at your location I will need you to obtain a quote and tell them that i want to Insure the package and I will like you to get back to me with overall cost of the items.
including the shipping cost via my shipper.

Once I have these details, I will get back to you with my credit card details immediately for payment.
God Bless you (Amen),
Kind Regards,
Constance

Hello scamreporter,

Thanks for posting the details! I'm glad you got out before loosing money. Because of where these scammers operate our best defense is education of these types of scams. So make sure you tell the story to others.

Justin

Thank you for this board! I received just such an online inquiry last week. My first suspicion was that the writer didn't sound Australian....even the writing was a little weird...not at all professional sounding. My first reply was to tell them that we would accept a credit card payment but I needed specific information on exactly what they wanted to order. (We sell clothing.)

Here is the content of the email I received...very similar to those of you posting before me:

From: Mary Mcgowen [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2011 3:25 PM
Subject: INTERNATIONAL ORDER ENQUIRY

Hello,
How're you?I want to place an international order from your company to our store in Australia.I want to know if you can ship internationally and accept credit card as a form of payment?I'd love you to reply me back and we can proceed further.
Eagerly await to read back from you and we can proceed.
Thank you and God bless you.
Yours

Mary Mcgowen

I became even more suspicious when the person replied that they wanted to order 5 of this and 5 of that...etc....and everything was in size 8! Anyone who is ordering for a store orders multiple sizes.

Hello,
Thanks for your reply backI can't wait to have your lovely products in our store for my customers
below is the items i want to order for and will want you to get back to me with total cost +shipping cost and i can provide you my credit card for you to charge and have my order ready and i can carry your product in our new inventory for our numerous customers
MY ORDER
Here the buyer indicated about 8 different products...most of which they wanted a quantity of 5 pieces each (to meet our minimum for an international shipment) The order also included some women's dressy leather jackets...for Australia??? Thought it's kinda hot down under?!

MY ADDRESS FOR THE SHIPPING QUOTE
450 Anzac Parade ,Kingsford,
Sydney
NSW 2032,
Australia
Hope to read back from you with the total cost and we can proceed and finalized my order.
God bless you,
Mary Mcgowen

In my last reply, I asked the person the name of their store and how they found us...I haven't received a reply from that email...and I don't expect one.

When I googled the person's name I really didn't find much. But then I googled the address and found this board...and voila! we have a winner!

Here is the full email header:

X-MSK: CML=0.201000
Received: (qmail 16308 invoked from network); 2 Sep 2011 20:03:41 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO m1pismtp01-014.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net) ([216.69.186.14])
(envelope-sender <[email protected]>)
by p3plsmtp17-05.prod.phx3.secureserver.net (qmail-1.03) with SMTP
for <REMOVED FOR PRIVACY>; 2 Sep 2011 20:03:41 -0000
X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Result: AicCADU0YU5BN1pflGdsb2JhbAAsEwOCTYQjkSZfD4Ipgi+BHIh2CXIUAQEBAQkLCQkUAxMQWwFdAQEEAQIEAQEBAQMFIAkDFx8DHxIKAwEBAQYBAQEKAQISBwIFEA0CIAkIBhIBhUcBASqBeQqnF4EgFIFzhFCJLYM2HAeCLGAEh2eGOwFRiVCBH4NFgUAGhVs
Received: from snt0-omc2-s20.snt0.hotmail.com ([65.55.90.95])
by m1pismtp01-014.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net with ESMTP; 02 Sep 2011 13:03:41 -0700
Received: from SNT140-W6 ([65.55.90.73]) by snt0-omc2-s20.snt0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.4675);
Fri, 2 Sep 2011 13:03:40 -0700
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Return-Path: [email protected]
Content-Type: multipart/related;
boundary="_c3b223b2-1f15-444e-9ee8-bdf9c920ef7c_"
X-Originating-IP: [41.155.104.4]YEP...Nigeria!!!
From: Mary Mcgowen <[email protected]>
To: <REMOVED FOR PRIVACY>
Subject: MY ORDER/READ AND REPLY BACK TODAY
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 05:33:39 +0930
Importance: Normal
In-Reply-To: <77CB3780502B4304A3CBB51DCC62616B@REMOVED>
References:
<20110828122513.08853bc2cac61bd6ecd2ed6f90955e3e.334103248e.wbe@email16.secureserver.net>,<77CB3780502B4304A3CBB51DCC62616B@REMOVED>
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 02 Sep 2011 20:03:40.0671 (UTC) FILETIME=[68DF98F0:01CC69AB]
X-Nonspam: Statistical 50%

Thank you so much for this board....it helped to confirm my suspicion that this was not legit. I had already decided that I would contact our credit card merchant provider prior to actually processing a charge to any card to find out if the card number had been reported as stolen. Also, we never actually got to the point of the "buyer" requesting shipment by a different carrier. Had they done so, I would have refused to sell the merchandise. One final note...I noticed on the 2nd email that it appears there is an attachment on the email...although I don't see any attachment and my antivirus has not caught anything that I know of...very weird.

I hope that anyone else who receives a similar email will take the steps that all of us have taken to ensure that fraudulent transactions are nipped in the bud! Best wishes to all of you!

Welcome apostolic_lady!
Thank you for this detailed report. This will help a lot, other persons targeted by this scam will find your warning and be safe.

I have been emailed by the same person requesting a huge order. Also, "she" wanted one size or wanted me to pick the sizes. That's not normal. I am not going to fall for this one. Let me know if you did ship your order and it was legit. I am guessing it's not.

450 Anzac Parade ,Kingsford,
Sydney
NSW 2032,
Australia
Hope to read back from you with the total cost and we can proceed and finalized my order.
God bless you,
Mary Mcgowen

Welcome!

I'm glad you've found the forum and the info has been helpful to you. The above email is certainly not legitimate - definitely a scam. Please let us know if you have any questions.

We have recently created a forum for scams targeting businesses, which is here: viewforum.php?f=43
Within that forum we have an informational topic specifically on this type of fake order scam. The topic is here: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=23020

To anyone reading this: Please continue to report these scams here! The information helps others learn about the scam and saves them from becoming victim. Feel free to post any of this type of email you receive in the forum linked to above, starting a new topic for each scammer.

Recently got the EXACT emails (mine were from the fictitious Mary McGowen). Suspected from the start it might be a scam but didn't want to lose the order if it wasn't. When I received the shipping address I googled it and it was for an apartment in Sydney. Found it strange that someone ordering for "their store" would have 13 good size boxes shipped to an apartment and also their order was for 20 each of numerous products and they left all the choices up to me. My confirmation of this being a scam came from this very website (thank you, thank you Scam Warners!). I googled the "shipping companies" email address and it brought me here to this site. Thank you again!

Hello and welcome!

Glad the site helped you avoid loosing any money! If the email address is differant than the ones previously posted please post that so others can find the site.

Justin

I got the same email today. Thought it sounded funny too. Googled address and it's a rental unit. Glad I researched it before I acted!

I love research, and have time on my hands

http://applications.randwick.nsw.gov.au/modules/applicationmaster/default.aspx?page=wrapper&key=502102

Dated 2nd June 2011

Planning application: Strata subdivide existing mixed use development into 34 lots

450-458 Anzac Parade Kingsford NSW 2032

Strata subdivide existing mixed use development into 34 lots

We found this application for you on the planning authority's website 2 months ago. It was received by them 1 day earlier.

... and here's a photo of the building site.



and there's a picture here before they demolished the building.



I've also found that address being used in a number of other very dubious activities.

I feel the urge to scratch a little deeper.

Hello, we just received the same emails from "Mary McGove" today. I also suspected from the beginning that this is a scam and i googled the email address and found my way here. Here are the emails:

Hi,
Thanks for your email,i really appreciate you getting back to me with the cost of my order plus shipping.
I have experienced lots of difficulties when it .comes to getting my items to my address here in Australia, I will want you to contact my shipper which i uses every time i purchased order worldwide via the below about my order [[email protected]),with the weight and dimension inclusive the value for insurance quoting my customer ID# QP34572955J They will .come pick my order up at your location I will need you to obtain a quote and tell them that i want to Insure the package and I will like you to get back to me with overall cost of the items.
including the shipping cost via my shipper.

Once I have these details, I will get back to you with my credit card details immediately for payment.
God Bless you (Amen),
Kind Regards,
Mary

From: Mary Mcgowe [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 21. syyskuuta 2011 11:44
To: Info - snipped - Michael
Cc: info@ snipped - Michael
Subject: MY ORDER/READ AND REPLY BACK TODAY

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back.I can't wait to have your lovely products in our store for my customers.
below listed is the items i want to order for and will want you to get back to me with total cost +shipping cost and i can provide you my credit card for you to charge and have my order ready and i can carry your product in our new inventory for our numerous customers.

MY ORDER...............


RUOKO TERRY TOWEL BLACK/BLUE, 70 X 150 CM
qty..10
RUOKO TERRY TOWEL BLUE, 70 X 150 CM
qty..10
LOVE MOOMIN TOWEL, 50 x 70 CM
qty..10
MOOMIN TOWEL SNORKMAIDEN 70 x 140 CM
qty..10
MOOMIN TOWEL 70 x 140 CM
qty..10
AJATUS BLANKET
qty..10
KEHRÄ WOOL BLANKET, GREY
qty..5

MY ADDRESS FOR THE SHIPPING QUOTE.........
450 Anzac Parade ,Kingsford,
Sydney
NSW 2032,
Australia
Hope to read back from you with the total cost and we can proceed and finalized my order.
God bless you,
Mary Mcgowen


From: Info <info@> snipped - Michael
To: 'Mary Mcgowen' <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 1:59 AM
Subject: RE: INTERNATIONAL ORDER


Hello Mary and thank you for contacting us.
We do ship to Australia and accept credit cards as a form of payment. You will find all the information here:
Company link removed - Michael

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind Regards




From: Mary Mcgowen [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 21. syyskuuta 2011 10:20
Subject: INTERNATIONAL ORDER



Hello,
How're you?I want to place an international order from your company to our store in Australia.I want to know if you can ship internationally and accept credit card as a form of payment?I'd love you to reply me back and we can proceed further
Eagerly await to read back from you and we can proceed
Thank you and God bless you
Yours

Mary Mcgowen

Hello Mari!
Thanks for posting the info! This will help others avoind the scammer.

Justin