Shipping Scam Targeting Businesses

In short: the customer will email regarding shipping internationally and requesting a shipping quote. The quote is given then the customer will respond that they want to use their freight forwarder instead. The information is sent to their forwarder for a shipping quote and then they come back with a quote and a response that they only accept wire transfers/western union payments. Then the 'customer' replies with a note that he/she will give a credit card number to cover the cost of wiring the money.

Customer=non-existent
Shipping Company=fake
Credit Card=probably phished or stolen
So basically, If you wire the funds, you're out the money.

We've been contacted twice over the last year about this, by someone using the shipping 'name' [email protected]; 'customer' is using the name Chris Kett; [email protected];
or, most recently, [email protected]; 'customer' using the name Raliana Showery; [email protected]

Dealing with this issue right now. Person contacted me last week interested in an order. I ordered supplies to get everything together and then received the email about not wanting to go through UPS, immediately made me suspect:

From: OLIVIA MCGREGOR

Hi,

Thanks for your reply back with the total quote of my order,I really appreciate you getting back to me.

We have experienced lots of difficulties when it comes to receiving shipment to our address here in The Netherlands, We're located in a very remote area of the city, which cause us a lot of hindrance in receiving shipment in the past. I want you to contact my shipper which i use every time i purchase order worldwide via the below e-mail address about my order [email protected] with the weight and dimension inclusive the value for insurance quoting my customer ID #AA357429522A. They will deliver the shipment to me door to door, their cost will include the custom clearance and handling cost with my order. They will come pick my order up at your location when the shipment is ready. 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 with the details from 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,
Olivia

This was my response,

Good morning Olivia,

I did a google search on the email address you provided and it stated that [email protected] was unfortunately not a reliable company to do shipping with. If you would like to still continue the order I can still do so through UPS, all packages come with tracking and insurance. With payment through Paypal. Please reply back at your earliest convenience.

She then responds with this.

Hello,

I have been having difficulties in the past. I'm in a very remote area of the city which make it hard for me to receive shipment in the past,not until i started using the shipping agent.They're reliable and their service are favourable. They have been helping me with shipment for my oversea order for the past 5 months or so,i want you to proceed and send an e-mail to my shipper and they'll get back to you with my shipping quote.

Await your reply back

Thanks
God bless you

*UPDATE* I sent this response back

Good morning Olivia,

Unfortunately I will not be able to ship with that business. I called some businesses within the area of the address that you quoted for shipment and they state that they use UPS just fine and do not have any issues. So if you still wish to do business via UPS that is still a possibility. If not, unfortunately I will not be able to fulfill your request. Take care.

I also sent a picture of the businesses around that was near the address they used for the shipment quote. It is definitely not in a remote area. It looks like a very well known area that does a lot of business. I have yet to receive a response.

So needless to say. I'm pissed that I fell for this and ordered way more supplies than I needed. But in the end I guess it works out for me because now I have enough to probably carry me into the next year. LOL. I'm thankful for this site, it sure did save me a huge headache and financial loss.

If you get one of these, don't tell him that you found his shipper to be unreliable, just don't answer. He may make up a new address for his fake shipper now that he knows it's listed on the web somewhere.

The writing tells me that the scammer is African, not Dutch. This kind of scammer orders arbitrary items from a catalog without knowing anything about them, including whether they exist. All he cares about is turning stolen credit cards into cash.

I just got this one too this week. Olivia McGregor, Netherlands. I don't anticipate I would have fallen for it, but I am glad this site was here so that I didn't waste any more time on it. Ignoring.

I am dealing with this right now, but fortunately I found this site before ordering any supplies or sending any money. However, I sent a PayPal invoice and this was the last communication I received:

"I'm having some technical problem making the payment via Paypal. I don't know what the problem is, I have contacted my bank and they don't know either. I want you to kindly charge my credit card manually,i will forward it to you and you'll charge it with your manual credit card charger and deduct my bill. If you don't have, you can talk to a friend or family that can help you run my credit card manually for the payment of my order.
It will be very pleasing to me if you can help me charge my credit card manually and we can finalized my order and we proceed further."

I have some international shipping experience, so I googled the name of the freight company (Speed and Good Freight and Container Services, Ltd.), but couldn't find anything. In some cases it's normal for a customer to have their own carrier, so when I was advised as such, I thought things were on the up and up. It wasn't until I received the information referenced above about having problems with PayPal, that my gut told me to do some more research and BOOM, here I am. Needless to say, if something doesn't seem right, it usually isn't!

Now off to alert PayPal!

I am so glad I found this site! I got the same email a few weeks ago and thankfully I did not order supplies! Checked out eh address with google earth and it is not an out-of-the-way place! Here is the email I got - the scammer has a new name and shipping company:

Hi,
Thanks for your reply back with the total quote of my order,I really appreciate you getting back to me.We have experienced lots of difficulties when it comes to receiving shipment to our
address here in The Netherlands, We're located in a very remote area of the city, which cause us a lot of hindrance in receiving shipment in the past. I want you to contact my shipper which i use every time i purchase order worldwide via the below e-mail address about my order [email protected] with the weight and dimension inclusive the value for
insurance quoting my customer ID #AA357429522A. They will deliver the shipment to me door to door,their cost will include the custom clearance and handling cost with my order. They will come pick my order up at your location when the shipment is ready. 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 with the details from 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,
Olivia

Thank you that you posted earlier, & I was able to find your post. Received the almost exact emails in regards to wanting me to ship my products to the netherlands person is using name of Olivia Hanneson stating they wanted me to use their shipping carrier [email protected] and that their id number is #AA357429522A.

Stated that their company is:
Olivee-sun Stores Ltd.
Haarlemmerdijk 180C,
Centrum,
1013 JJ Amsterdam,
The Netherlands


This is the last email that I sent back.

I did a google search on the email address you provided and it stated that [email protected] was unfortunately not a reliable company to do shipping with. If you would like to still continue the order I can still do so through UPS, all packages come with tracking and insurance. With payment through Paypal. Please reply back at your earliest convenience.

Unfortunately I will not be able to ship with that business. I called some businesses within the area of the address that you quoted for shipment and they state that they use UPS just fine and do not have any issues. So if you still wish to do business via UPS that is still a possibility. If not, unfortunately I will not be able to fulfill your request. Take care.

I'm glad you were able to avoid this scam.

One small request for the future though: when dealing with a scammer, we ask that you do not point out that their email address (or website) is listed on an anti-scam forum, or tell them that a google search leads to negative results.

When the scammer realizes that the information is out there preventing others from falling for his tricks, he very likely will simply open a new email address before he targets the next group of businesses. When those potential victims google the new email address, the new address won't be reported yet and won't show up on sites such as ours, and they will miss the warning that has helped you and many other potential victims.

Thank you for this site. There were things that made me cautious about her email.. And I was not going to order Any supplies without completed payment from her. Also, my quote was $75 for shipping, her shipper wanted $270. I think for $200, I'd wait the extra time for them to "locate me"

This is the last email I got from Olivia.

"Hello,
Thanks for the total quote of my order. The total cost of my order is okay with me and I'm ready to pay the bills and want you to send me an invoice via email and i will advise with my Credit Card for you to charge for the payment of my order. But, i just got a response from my shipping Agent that He cannot receive payment via credit or debit card from me at the moment due to some circumstance beyond their control. I want you to help me Charge another $790.08 USD to my shipping agent who is going to pick up my ordered items from you.

The $790.08 USD that will be sent to the shipping agent is for the shipping of my order plus other items i ordered from different countries which will be deducted from my credit card. Also, I'm compensating you with the sum of $80 USD for the transfer fee and for surcharge. Please note that i should have given the shipping agent my credit card for him to deduct the shipping funds but He told me that he doesn't have the facilities to charge or debit credit card at the moment,so that's why i bring my vote of confidence in you and i don't want you to betray the vote of confidence i put in you. I want you to transfer the funds to him after you have make the charges and the money charged from my credit card has cleared your account, then you can now make the transfer to the agent via western union. I will have love to do this my self but there no Western union here around me,So the charges you'll make on my credit card will be:

Order Fee $735 USD
Agent fee with shipping fare ($790.08 USD
Transfer Fee plus Your compensation ($80 USD)
Total:($1,605.08 USD)

Note: My credit card will be charged for the amounts above. Please do get back to me if you are in the office right now so that i can forward my credit card details to you, then you can charge full amount and transfer the agent shipping funds to Him via western union or money gram any that is closer to you.

Hope you understand?
Thanks for your co-operation & understanding. This is the beginning of a long time business relationship together.
Hope to read from you ASAP
Thanks and God Bless you"

The rest of the conversation, just so others can see. I am not corresponding to them/her anymore.

On Mar 16, 2015 11:50 AM, "Olivia Hanesson" <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello
Thanks for your reply back.I'm having some technical problem making the payment via Paypal. I don't know what the problem is, I have contacted my bank and they don't know either. I want you to kindly charge my credit card manually, i will forward it to you and you'll charge it with your manual credit card charger and deduct my bill. If you don't have, you can talk to a friend or family that can help you run my credit card manually for the payment of my order.
It will be very pleasing to me if you can help me charge my credit card manually and we can finalized my order and we proceed further.
Await your reply back


Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2015 11:51:53 -0500
Subject: Re: ISSUES CONCERNING PAYMENT, AWAIT YOUR REPLY BACK ASAP
To: [email protected]

We are unable to do that.
When you get the technical stuff worked out with PayPal, let us know & we will proceed from there.

On Mar 16, 2015 11:54 AM, "Olivia Hanesson" <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello,
Top of the day to you, You dont have to stress yourself to accept credit card and charge it manually via Paypal. You kindly click on https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/c ... der-how-to for more details.
Let me know as soon as you have it set-up on your phone, to finalize my order.
Thanks
Olivia

Looks like another scammer name is making the rounds, this one just popped up yesterday in my emails:

CAROLINE GAUTHIER <[email protected]>

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back . Its a pleasure receiving your reply back. I want to order for the below items for my customer's here, I want you to reply back with the total cost plus shipping quote. We're ready and can't wait to receive these wonderful products of yours here.
Your utmost reply back with the total quote will be highly appreciated.

INTERESTED ITEMS LISTED BELOW AND ADDRESS FOR SHIPPING QUOTE:

Whipped Shea Butter - Harvest Moon
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Sugar Cookie
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Chocolate Devil's Food Cake
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Blueberry Cobbler
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Brown Sugar and Fig
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Cranberries and Oranges
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Vanilla Buttercream
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Orange Dreamsickle
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Maple Pecan
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Frosted Pumpkin
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter- Cucumber Melon
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Eucalyptus Essential Oil
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Warm Vanilla Sugar
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Citrus & Sage
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Evening Sun
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Pear
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Coconut
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Lemongrass
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Gardenia
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Lavender Essential Oil
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Whipped Shea Butter - Unscented
4 oz
QTY...........................10

Sample Sizes of products - 2 oz
QTY...........................10

Scalp and Skin oil - Peppermint
4 oz
QTY...........................10



........ADDRESS FOR THE SHIPPING QUOTE........

23 LUITHAGEN-HAVEN
ANTWERPEN, VLAAMS GEWEST 2030
BELGIUM

Hope to read back from you with the total cost and shipping quote as soon as possible so we can proceed further and finalize my order.

Thanks.
CAROLINE GAUTHIER.

Needless to say I googled the address and its an intersecting road, not even a home or business. Ever since my first encounter last year with a scammer I've kept a folder with any type of suspicious emails so I can always go back to compare them. So be on the lookout and take care.

Just got the same as above; with the name CAROLINE GAUTHIER. Thank-you everyone for this site and your input. Saves people wasting time and losing money.

23 LUITHAGEN-HAVEN
ANTWERPEN, VLAAMS GEWEST 2030
BELGIUM

Hope to read back from you with the total cost and shipping quote as soon as possible so we can proceed further and finalize my order.

Thanks.
CAROLINE GAUTHIER.

Welcome to ScamWarners hbr, it is great when we have helped someone. I hope you will read around and see the types of scams that are out on the internet.

Caroline Gauthier and Olivia Hanesson are the same person. I got the exact same wording from Olivia a few weeks ago.

AWAIT YOUR KIND REPLY BACK AND WE PROCEED AND FINALIZE ASAP
From Olivia HanessonAdd contact
[b][/b]
Date Today 12:05
Message 1 of 6 < > change-formatchange-format
Hello,
Thanks for the total quote of my order.The total cost of my order is okay with me and I'm ready to pay the bills and want you to send me an invoice via email and i will advise with my Credit Card for you to charge for the payment of my order. But, i just got a response from my shipping Agent that He cannot receive payment via credit or debit card from me at the moment due to some circumstance beyond their control. I want you to help me Charge another $650.00 USD to my shipping agent who is going to pick up my ordered items from you.

The $650.00 that will be sent to the shipping agent is for the shipping of my order plus other items i ordered from different countries which will be deducted from my credit card. Also, I'm compensating you with the sum of $80 USD for the transfer fee and for surcharge. Please note that i should have given the shipping agent my credit card for him to deduct the shipping funds but He told me that he doesn't have the facilities to charge or debit credit card at the moment,so that's why i bring my vote of confidence in you and i don't want you to betray the vote of confidence i put in you. I want you to transfer the funds to him after you have make the charges and the money charged from my credit card has cleared your account, then you can now make the transfer to the agent via western union. I will have love to do this my self but there no Western union here around me,So the charges you'll make on my credit card will be:

Order Fee + Agent fee with shipping fare 1,800.00
Transfer Fee plus Your compensation ($80)
Total:($1,880.00 USD)

Note: My credit card will be charged for the amounts above. Please do get back to me if you are in the office right now so that i can forward my credit card details to you, then you can charge full amount and transfer the agent shipping funds to Him via western union or money gram any that is closer to you.

Hope you understand?
Thanks for your co-operation & understanding. This is the beginning of a long time business relationship together.
Hope to read from you ASAP
Thanks and God Bless youOn
2015-04-16 07:50, Olivia Hanesson wrote:
Hi,
Thanks for your reply back with the total quote of my order,I really appreciate you getting back to me.We have experienced lots of difficulties when it comes to receiving shipment to our address here in The Netherlands, We're located in a very remote area of the city, which cause us a lot of hindrance in receiving shipment in the past. I want you to contact my shipper which i use every time i purchase order worldwide via the below e-mail address about my order [email protected] with the weight and dimension inclusive the value for insurance quoting my customer ID #AA357429522A.They will deliver the shipment to me door to door,their cost will include the custom clearance and handling cost with my order. They will come pick my order up at your location when the shipment is ready. 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 with the details from 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,
Olivia