Beware Credit Card Scams

There are criminals who use other people’s credit cards fraudulently. We are at risk anytime we make a sale without holding both the customer’s credit card and I.D. in hand. If a criminal buys with someone else’s card, we can be back-charged by the credit card bank for the entire amount of the sale.

Alarm bells should go off if you encounter any of these signs that this may be a fraudulent transaction:

1. He always orders over the phone so you can’t check his ID.
2. He often has a local address but claim for any number of reasons (e.g. too old, too sick) that he can’t come in to the store in person to make the purchase so you can’t check his ID.
3. He’s a “too easy” sale – no bargaining, he doesn’t seem to care whether or not he can examine the item or have return rights (because if he isn’t really paying for it, why would he care?).
4. His address often contains a “suite number” which means it’s a mail box rental so he can close the box after stealing things with it and not be traced.
5. He has to have it immediately and doesn’t want us to use registered mail, restricted delivery. He pushes for overnight delivery so he won’t have to sign for the package and show ID.
6. There’s always a story that he will use to explain why he needs it sent overnight. It’s Dad’s 60 birthday tomorrow, it’s his 25th anniversary tomorrow, he has to propose tomorrow, he’s leaving the country tomorrow.

American Express or other credit card banks are even often able to verify his billing address for you, because after he stole the card from someone else’s mailbox, he changed the billing address to his own mailbox rental address.

How to avoid being ripped off?

1. If he is local, insist that the package be mailed registered restricted delivery, or offer to deliver it in person (and don’t go alone!).
2. If he isn’t local, follow the phone order procedures. Be certain that you mail registered restricted delivery to the American Express billing address only, and only after verifying that address with American Express. Write the name of the American Express employee who verified the address for you, directly onto the sales slip for the sale.
3. Ask for an alternative method of payment, e.g. a bank wire directly into our account. It only takes one or two days to reach us and then we can ship overnight.
4. When Christmas is only days away, or stats are down, or it’s a big sale, do NOT buckle under the pressure to make the sale by violating any of these rules. We have done so before and we were ripped off!

Make sure that the last four digits of the card match the four digits that print out on the credit card receipt. Always check the customer’s ID, preferably a driver’s license with his name on it, and make sure it’s the same name as on the credit card.

If we are careful and aware, we can avoid being ripped off and back-charged by credit card merchant services for a fraudulent transaction.