Credit Card Scam

[AnnieV]

I wanted to reach out to put you on alert. There is someone out there calling cleaners and identifying themselves as a Pro's Choice sales rep and announcing the release of a new product that will replace several others.

THIS IS A SCAM. This man is trying to get credit card information from unsuspecting and hard working businesses. I have received several phone calls from cleaners who have figured out that something was wrong and when they tried to get a call back number (caller ID is blocked) they were hung up on.

Anyone who can get us information to turn over to the police would be appreciated. Obviously what this person is doing is highly illegal and we will be aggressively pursuing leads to turn over to the authorities. You can contact Anne Vittum or Todd Hinde at CTI/Pro's Choice at (800) 368-1247 if you have any information.

 

[Dolly Llama]

thanks Annie

if i knew how, I'd make this a sticky for a week or two
... bet one of my fellow mods will help me out !gotcha!

welp, i figured it out
it's now stuck at the top


.l.T.A.

 

[SMRBAP]

There is another that has been happening in our area where you will be asked to clean many area rugs for someone who does not live in the area at this time, or is moving to or from it, or is in the hospital and needs service completed - always some sob story attached, the game is they'll send you a money order ahead of the rugs, it arrives "accidentally" made out for too much, ask for you to refund the difference by check or money order, and let you know the rugs will be there a bit later than they had expected, a few weeks down the road, but they are OK with you depositing the money order and refunding their overpayment now.... because they trust you.

It ends up, you mail them the refund money, because the MO is bogus, it bounces weeks later, and the rugs never arrive, or they tell you the rugs were damaged in shipment or lost and they no longer need the services, please refund all of it.

It's another play on the Nigerian scam, wasn't burned, but let this play out as far as my getting the money order, happened 2x in the last year.

I mailed them their refund both times on a check we drew in crayon

 

[Mike H.]

For a long time our company was receiving several phone calls each week from people trying to pull the same scam Anthony mentioned. They used the relay system for the hearing impaired, so the voice we heard was the relay operator reading the same exact script each time, which was probably being typed into the system online, by someone in another country.

It went something like "Are you the owner and do you take credit cards ... I have 15 9x12 rugs and I am moving to your city ... I have been in the hospital with cancer ..." At this point we would tell the operator that we knew for a fact this was a scam and would hang up. The criminals were not only trying to pull a scam but were wasting thousands of dollars worth of relay operators' salary, all while clogging up the system for legitimate hard-of-hearing people trying to place phone calls.

 

[Ross Buettner]

I'm sorry..

If anyone calls me from a hospital with cancer, has cancer and has a DIRE need to get things cleaned, or gives me a sob story about having to get anything done by me... I am hanging up.

We provide a luxury service to most. Why on earth would you take a call from someone who's whining about thier life and wanting thier carpet cleaned?

 

[sam miller]

Thanks for the warning Anne. Hopefully this person gets caught but I think thats would be really hard to track.

 

[PTMatt]

 

[HertsCarpetCleaning]

So nasty people out there...scammers like this should really go to hide

 

[Steve in Omaha]

Anybody else have an "helter-skelter" moment after reading this.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20111228/MONEY/712289944#hackers-targeting-data-victims-again

 

[Dolly Llama]

Anybody else have an "helter-skelter" moment after reading this.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20111228/MONEY/712289944#hackers-targeting-data-victims-again

Some of the files appear to be alphabetical listings of Stratfor clients with related credit card information. The amount posted suggests that information about more than 100,000 individuals and thousands of companies was exposed.

The hackers initially claimed their goal was to use stolen the credit information to donate to charities at Christmas, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions were made from their credit accounts in recent days. The messages also said the hackers are targeting companies "that play fast and loose with their customers' private and sensitive information."

Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce cybersecurity risks, according to a description on its YouTube page.





dayum...doesn't lead one to have much confidence in their service
Wonder who's scrambling more in that outfit, the IT gEEks or the PR dept !gotcha!


..L.T.A.