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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Scam Email: Paul

Here is a scammer reported today that doesn't even reference a last name. Perhaps as more reports come in, we'll be enlightened as to what fake last name this scammer is using, but for now, it's just "Paul".
From: Paul [paulpp77@yahoo.com]
Subject: Order Inquiry

Good day,

We browsed through your web page and we are interested in ordering some of your products,we are located in Norway,we will like to know if you have the items in stocks,so kindly get back to me with the right contact person email,phone # and confirmation of website so that we can place my order quickly, and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order.

Regards
Purchasing Manager
Paul

44 comments:

  1. I took this a little further, as I always like to follow these things up incase they turn out to be genuine.

    Thanks for getting back to me with the total quote of the order which is (£1254.00).I will have the items picked up from your facilities because i have made an arrangement with the shipping agent who will be coming to pickup the items right from your location so as to avoid the shipping responsibilities and difficulties that you might be experienced in shipping to Norway.The Shipping Agent have all the documents and permits required for the exportation of these order.And they will handle all the custom duties and insurance as well because all will be dully paid by me .They have got similar items shipped to me here successfully.So i have discussed with the shipping agent about the nature,quantity of these items and i was charged (£850.00) for the shipping cost,including some of my merchandise i ordered from different countries that is with them which they will be delivering to me here in Norway.I will need you to do me a favor as explained below:
    The shipping agent informed me that as for now they can only receive payment by western union.So i am asking for you to please help me to charge the shipping fee of the shipment which is (£850.00) on my credit card account and then send to the shipping agency's office via Western Union Money Transfer and their representative will come for the pick up.I know it's not your responsibility to do this,i just want you to try and understand me and be of assist to me and my next order will be ship by you.Also, I'm compensating you with the sum of (£150.00) for the transfer fee and for your efforts.Note that i would have loved to do this my self but they are no western union here around me here.So the charges that will be deducted on my credit card will be:

    TOTAL COST OF ITEMS BOUGHT: (£1254.00)
    SHIPPING FEE GRAND TOTAL : (£850)
    CREDIT CARD SURCHARGING FEE : (£80.00)(FOR THE SHIPPING FEE )
    TRANSFER FEE AND YOUR COMMISSION: (£150)
    THE GRAND TOTAL COST : (£2334)


    Note that 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 email you my credit card details,then you can charge the full amount and transfer the agent fee to them via western union so as to proceeding the shipment.And as soon as the shipping agency they received the shipping fund, they will schedule the time for the pick up and then come to your facility for the pick up.

    Warmest Regards
    Paul Peter

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got these same letters here:


    Good day,



    We browsed through your web page and we are interested in ordering some of your products,we are located in Norway,we will like to know if you have the items in stocks,so kindly get back to me with the right contact person email,phone # and confirmation of website so that we can place my order quickly, and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order.



    Regards

    Purchasing Manager

    Paul

    AND...

    Thanks for getting back to me with the total quote of the order which is ($1,200).I will have the items picked up from your facilities because i have made an arrangement with the shipping agent who will be coming to pickup the items right from your location so as to avoid the shipping responsibilities and difficulties that you might be experienced in shipping to Norway.The Shipping Agent have all the documents and permits required for the exportation of these order.And they will handle all the custom duties and insurance as well because all will be dully paid by me .They have got similar items shipped to me here successfully.So i have discussed with the shipping agent about the nature,quantity of these items and i was charged ($850) for the shipping cost,including some of my merchandise i ordered from different countries that is with them which they will be delivering to me here in Norway.I will need you to do me a favor as explained below:
    The shipping agent informed me that as for now they can only receive payment by western union.So i am asking for you to please help me to charge the shipping fee of the shipment which is ($850) on my credit card account and then send to the shipping agency's office via Western Union Money Transfer and their representative will come for the pick up.I know it's not your responsibility to do this,i just want you to try and understand me and be of assist to me and my next order will be ship by you.Also, I'm compensating you with the sum of ($150.00) for the transfer fee and for your efforts.Note that i would have loved to do this my self but they are no western union here around me here.So the charges that will be deducted on my credit card will be:

    TOTAL COST OF ITEMS BOUGHT: ($1,200)
    SHIPPING FEE GRAND TOTAL : ($850)
    CREDIT CARD SURCHARGING FEE : ($80.00)(FOR THE SHIPPING FEE )
    TRANSFER FEE AND YOUR COMMISSION: ($150)
    THE GRAND TOTAL COST : ($2,280)


    Note that 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 email you my credit card details,then you can charge the full amount and transfer the agent fee to them via western union so as to proceeding the shipment.And as soon as the shipping agency they received the shipping fund, they will schedule the time for the pick up and then come to your facility for the pick up.

    Warmest Regards
    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  3. We got this same email today with name "James". I responded (to see what his reply would be) He said: (These items make no sense ordered together.)

    Good day,

    Thanks for your response below here is the list and qty of items that our company needs let us know if you have this items available in stock at the moment or the ones you can supply us with at this time.


    Delica and Brass Cuff Bracelet
    Qty:50



    Bead Weaving Featuring The Mirrix Loom
    With Claudia Chase
    Qty:50

    Kindly calculate the total cost of our order so that we can provide our credit card account information for the payment of the order and the shipment.
    But about the shipment we will have our own shipper that will pick up our order directly from your location,we would have preferred to ship via DHL, but we don't have account with them anymore due to their high tariff,so you DON'T have to include the shipping fees,just give us the estimate of the order ONLY for now,So we will use our own shipping agent they will come and pick our order from your location directly.

    PLEASE NOTE: So as soon as we send our credit card account information to you,the payment of our order will be charged on our credit card account information and also for the payment of the shipping,So you will contact our own shipping agent,once you are able to get the shipping cost from,you can also include the 5% Processing fees if required for the charge of the shipping fees.

    We would have paid the shipping fees our self directly to the shipping agent,but at this time they dont accept credit card for payment,as they are not yet set up to take credit card for payment for now,they are upgrading their credit card machine at this time.


    so what we want you to do is to contact our shipping agent so that they can figure out how much pick up and shipping would be,because we already have some large merchandise with them already which after picking our order from you,they will then send them together to us here in Norway,so please note all this and get back to us with the estimate of the order so that we can give you the shipper's details for you to contact them and find out the cost for shipping,so as to get our order processed and completed.

    Thanks for your corporation.

    Company Name : Jamesp International Ltd.
    N5020 Dreggen 15, Bergen, Norway.
    Tel: 47 57 31 59 47.

    Best Regards
    Purchasing Manager
    James

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah, notice how they begin with mentioning a credit card (which either doesn't exist or is fraudulent) but slip in there a stupid story about their shipping agent so they can move the scam to the format that is best for them - sending you a cashier's check or money order (which is also fraudulent) for more than the amount and asking that the "difference" be sent back to them. Thus the scam.

    Good for you for not following this one any further.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello,
    I've just been starting to get the same e-mails. All different names but prob linked together in some way.
    Heres the one i just recieved today same as above but name was david.

    Email: David [davidj82@live.com]
    Good day,

    We browsed through your web page and we are interested in ordering some of your products,we are located in Norway,we will like to know if you have the items in stocks,so kindly get back to me with the right contact person email,phone # and confirmation of website so that we can place my order quickly, and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order.

    Regards
    Purchasing Manager


    the second is another one claiming they want a mass products from tiawan.


    email: Sandra Lingpao [sandralingpao@yahoo.com]

    Hello , i'll like to order this items listed from your store to my location in Taiwan . However i want you to provide me a total quote to this items including the shipping fees to the location provided.So i can effect payment and get them shipped to my address in the
    Address: 4FI, 156 Fu Hsing North Rd,
    Taipei City,
    Taiwan
    So i will place you my card info so you charge fees for the items including shipping fees.So get back to me as soon as possible.

    Thank you


    Hello , i'll like to order this items listed from your store to my location in Taiwan . However i want you to provide me a total quote to this items including the shipping fees to the location provided.So i can effect payment and get them shipped to my address in the
    Address: 4FI, 156 Fu Hsing North Rd,
    Taipei City,
    Taiwan
    So i will place you my card info so you charge fees for the items including shipping fees.So get back to me as soon as possible.

    Thank you


    I responded to this just to see what they would say.

    Thanks for the response to my mail, However the items needed are listed below in the mail.

    product 1..............15qty

    product 2....................15qty

    product 3 ......................20qty

    product 4.....................15qty

    So i want you to provide me the total quote to the items .And for the shipping i will prefer you to contact an agent who handles my shipping issues you can get them via , they have been handling my quite sometime now .All you need to do is provide them adequate information of the items or package and they will be able to quote you based on the information provided.So get back to me with the quote to the items and the shipping quote as well .And if these quote have been confirmed and suitable i will place you my card information so you can charge for the fees.I look forward to read from you soon.

    Thank you


    Anyone ordering mass products is always a concern. It hits hard with these stupid emails when your just trying to get a home shop off the ground. Hopefully we can be a bit smarter than these scammers. I hope this helps others to spot them out. If only we could get our hands on them haha.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi

    We receievd the same exact emails from "Paul" as posted above:

    The first email reads as follows:

    Good day,

    We browsed through your web page and we are interested in ordering some of your products,we are located in Norway,we will like to know if you have the items in stocks,so kindly get back to me with the right contact person email,phone # and confirmation of website so that we can place my order quickly, and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order.

    Regards
    Purchasing Manager

    We requested further information from the "Purchasing Manager", i.e. how he got our individual email addresses(only general email addresses are listed on our website), and additional corporate info, including a web site where we could learn more about his company.

    This is the second e-mail we receievd:


    Thanks for your corporation.

    Company Name : Paulp International Ltd.
    N5020 Dreggen 15, Bergen, Norway.
    Tel: 47 57 31 59 47.

    Best Regards
    Purchasing Manager
    Paul


    We then googled all "Paul's" info and found this blog...thanks to everyone for posting about their experiences with these scammers.....much appreciated!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Here's another email I got about a "James Paul". These two first names thing kills me...

    "Hello,

    thank you for your anti-scam website - I tried to communicate with this person - James Peter - who raised his order from originally 7 pieces of marionettes to 70 pieces (in about 3 days). It looked weird and I tried to find something about 'Jamesp International Ltd.' and found your page. I guess I should stop the conversation with him :-)

    Thanks again, interesting experience for my business..

    Best regards from the Czech Republic"

    ReplyDelete
  8. We just received the same exact emails, word for word from a Brown Jones. same address in Norway. I want to thank you for posting this to make us aware of this guy. Did anyone try to run the credit card to see if it was a good card or not? He did send me 2 card numbers but I am afraid to run them if they are not good cards.

    Thanks,

    ReplyDelete
  9. Patti,

    You can call the bank that issued the card and have them check to see if the card is stolen. In the emails I've been receiving lately, these cards the scammers are using are stolen.

    ReplyDelete
  10. FRAUD! FRAUD! FRAUD!
    This was horrible but I did not get taken for any money - but they hurt me!!

    Hello,
    How are you today,we are emailing you securely with 2 cards numbers so i hereby authorize you to split the charges $1435 twice billed on each card now and email me with the confirmation,so that we can then contact the shipping agent in meantime that the order will be ready for collection,so try to get the shipping fees sent to the shipping agent today,so that they can start preparing the paper works,so that once payment has been transferred to them,they can go ahead and schedule the time that the order will be picked.
    Card Holder: Brown Jones
    Card Type: Master Card
    Card#: 5458840022162742
    Address:N5020 Dreggen 15, Bergen, Norway
    Exp date: 02/2012
    CVV: 486

    Card Holder: Brown Jones
    Card Type: Master Card
    Card#: 5458840022167220
    Address:N5020 Dreggen 15, Bergen, Norway
    Exp date: 02/2012
    CVV: 474

    So as soon as the charge has been approved you should go ahead and transfer the shipping fees to the shipping agent via western union so below here is the shipping agent information on where the shipping fees will be transferred to through western union.
    Shipper details...
    Receivers name: John Shegog
    10 Jalan Juruanalisis Satu
    Hicom-Glenmarie Industrial Park,
    41050 Shah Alam, Selangor
    MALAYSIA
    So as soon as the shipping fees has been transferred email me with the confirmation and also the MTCN#,sender's full name and address and the exact amount that was transferred.
    Information needed
    MTCN#:
    Senders name:
    Address:
    Amount Sent:
    Regards
    Purchasing Managrer
    Brown Jones
    Thanks you can also make pay via western union if you dont mind here is the information below
    Address:22 Edificio A Bajo
    Centro de Negocios Albatros
    Arroyo de la Vega
    28108 Alcobendas
    MADRID Spain

    you can also make payment over there please get back to me as soon as you can

    ReplyDelete
  11. I did have the bank run the credit cards and there is nothing that can be done until you get taken.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I got an email from
    michael.sandler7@gmail.com
    wanted me to contact this email address for a shipping quote for an order
    swifterranddelivery@rocketmail.com
    He was using the same ship to address in Taiwan that was referenced in the post on Sept 19, 2010

    ReplyDelete
  13. I received the same e-mail from this Michael Sandler character.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have received emails from him as well. from Taiwan
    bastards

    ReplyDelete
  15. Apparently Mr James has moved to Finland. Thanks to this site, I can bin this email without a 4th thought. First thought: It's a scam. Second thought: Let's just check (found this page immediately). Third thought: It's binned!

    Thanks to whomever should be thanked.

    ---
    Good day,

    We browsed through your web page and we are interested in ordering some of your products,we are located in finland,we will like to know if you have the items in stocks,so kindly get back to me with the right contact person email,phone # and confirmation of website so that we can place my order quickly, and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order.

    Regards
    Purchasing Manager
    mr james

    ---

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yeah I got the same guy on to me, we asked for ID and it was ridiculous done in paint job.

    It's ridiculous MasterCard etc don't take this more seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I just got one too, from Sandra in Norway.

    I got the total quote of the order which is ($2,255.76).The shipping company will have the order picked up from your facilities because i have made an arrangement with the shipping agent who will be coming to pickup the items right from your location so as to avoid the shipping responsibilities and difficulties that you might be experienced in shipping to Norway.The Shipping Agent have all the documents and permits required for the exportation of these order.And they will handle all the custom duties and insurance as well because all will be dully paid by me .They have got similar items shipped to me here successfully.So i have discussed with the shipping agent about the nature,quantity of these items and i was charged ($2,350) for the shipping cost,including some of my merchandise i ordered from different countries that is with them which they will be delivering to me here in Norway.I will need you to do me a favor as explained below:
    The shipping agent informed me that as for now they can only receive payment by western union.So i am asking for you to please help me to charge the shipping fee of the shipment which is ($2,350) on my credit card account and then send to the shipping agency's office via Western Union Money Transfer and their representative will come for the pick up.I know it's not your responsibility to do this,i just want you to try and understand me and be of assist to me and my next order will be ship by you.Also, I'm compensating you with the sum of ($200) for the transfer fee and for your efforts.Note that i would have loved to do this my self but they are no western union here around me here.So the charges that will be deducted on my credit card will be:

    TOTAL COST OF ITEMS BOUGHT: ($2,255.76)
    SHIPPING FEE GRAND TOTAL : ($2,350)
    CREDIT CARD SURCHARGING FEE : ($80) (FOR THE SHIPPING FEE )
    TRANSFER FEE AND YOUR COMMISSION: ($200)
    THE GRAND TOTAL COST : ($4,885.76)

    Note that 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 email you my credit card details,then you can charge the full amount and transfer the agent fee to them via western union so as to proceeding the shipment.And as soon as the shipping agency they received the shipping fund, they will schedule the time for the pick up and then come to your facility for the pick up.


    Warmest Regards,
    Sandra Ray.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for highlighting this. We got the same email (from Joe in Norway this time) but because it read a bit funny (if they've browsed the webpage, why do they need confirmation of the website?) I put the first line into Google, which brought me here. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  19. FRAUD - FRAUD - FRAUD

    Yes, we also just got this same crap from a Norway Email addy. I followed back up just to see what would happen and they just kept going.

    Here is a copy of the last paragraphs received.

    "Good day,

    Thanks for your response below here is the list and qty of items that
    our company needs let us know if you have this items available in
    stock at the moment or the ones you can supply us with at this time.

    200' Custom Line...
    Qty:5

    Focus Recessed Light...
    Qty:5

    Kindly calculate the total cost of our order so that we can
    provide our credit card account information for the payment of the
    order and the shipment.
    But about the shipment we will have our own shipper that will pick up
    our order directly from your location,we would have preferred to ship
    via DHL, but we don't have account with them anymore due to their high
    tariff,so you DON'T have to include the shipping fees,just give us the
    estimate of the order ONLY for now,So we will use our own shipping
    agent they will come and pick our order from your location directly.

    PLEASE NOTE: So as soon as we send our credit card account information
    to you,the payment of our order will be charged on our credit card
    account information and also for the payment of the shipping,So you
    will contact our own shipping agent,once you are able to get the
    shipping cost from,you can also include the 5% Processing fees if
    required for the charge of the shipping fees. We would have paid the
    shipping fees our self directly to the shipping agent,but at this time
    they dont accept credit card for payment,as they are not yet set up to
    take credit card for payment for now,they are upgrading their credit
    card machine at this time. so what we want you to do is to contact our
    shipping agent so that they can figure out how much pick up and
    shipping would be,because we already have some large merchandise with
    them already which after picking our order from you,they will then
    send them together to us here in Norway,so please note all this and
    get back to us with the estimate of the order so that we can give you
    the shipper's details for you to contact them and find out the cost
    for shipping,so as to get our order processed and completed.

    Thanks for your corporation.

    Company Name : Dave Ventures.
    Address: Storgt. 30,
    N-0184 OSLO, Norway
    Telephone: + 47 22 13 99 48

    Best Regards
    Purchasing Manager"

    FRAUD - FRAUD - FRAUD

    ReplyDelete
  20. Quite the long story this scammer has!

    but he is setting up all the required components of the scam. Why he is using credit card, why his fake shipping company isn't accepting credit cards (thus creating a reason why you will get something like $3000 over the amount owed... and none of it matters because the credit card number is stolen), and why you'll need to send that huge difference - from your own GOOD money, to the shipper via Western Union... only there is no shipper - it's just them at the other end of Western Union.

    Sometimes we do run across overly wordy scammers, creating too much "backstory".

    Glad to see you will not be one of their victims.

    ReplyDelete
  21. what if you don't pay the shipper back and just keep the money charged on CC?

    and what if you ask them to wire the money instead?

    How about if you ask the shipper to pay you a company check first and you can send double back to them if it checks out. at least after a few days, you'd discover the CC is stolen and keep your money from the shipper.

    ReplyDelete
  22. These are all good questions but none of these scenarios fit the structure of their scam so the minute you insist on one of these, they will just move on and you won't hear from them again. It's a numbers game for them and they send out millions of emails.

    But yes, insisting on any of these things will make the scammer go away.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Another one!!!
    This crim is still in contact with us. Thank God for sites like yours! They are still using the SAME bogus address. I smelled a rat only after wasting quite a bit of time on the "customer - George from Taipei" The "Western Union" request was the final straw. Will contact the NZ Police to see if they are interested while this freak still believes I am going to send him money. Original e-mail follows:

    Hello , i'll like to order this items listed from your store to my location in Taiwan . However i want you to provide me a total quote to this items including the shipping fees to the location provided.So i can effect payment and get them shipped to my address in the Address: 4FI, 156 Fu Hsing North Rd, Taipei City, Taiwan So i will place you my card info so you charge fees for the items including shipping fees.So get back to me as soon as possible. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  24. I've been having a lengthy correspondence with Julie Smith from Thailand - same scam, same Western Union,etc, purporting to be from "Eastern Bees", using "Hilton Freight Delivery" based in Malaysia. I've been holding her off, it will be interesting to see what happens to the credit card payment (which hasn't yet reached our account, but I don't suppose it ever will)

    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  25. Mike,

    In many of these cases, scammers use credit cards that have been stolen but are not yet reported as such, so they often "clear" and DO end up in your account, but once the theft is discovered, you will definitely have yourself a chargeback and the scammers hope they already have your good money (usually for forwarding some kind of overpayment for a shipper that doesn't exist).

    Report the credit card to the issuing company and at least take that particular number out of circulation for the scammers.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I have a Valerie Hetrick from Eastern Bees Co Ltd, of Thailand with a question regarding credit cards and sending to Thailand. I said yes (to both) and am now the proud owner of an order valued at GBP 3,406.56.

    Katie, is it worth continuing with this, to get a card number and report it?

    Simon

    ReplyDelete
  27. Simon,

    Only if you want to. I have, in the past, taken a card number and said it was declined, do you have another one and they give another one and I report both numbers and at least taken those numbers out of circulation. Sometimes, I can play dumb and get them to give up three numbers. But it's really just for entertainment's sake and to take a few numbers out of the scam - it really doesn't make a dent in their activities (I supposed unless everyone collectively did that).

    Glad you didn't fall for this scam.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Valerie Hetrick of Valerie Het Store (Thailand) Ltd has contacted us for an order as follows:

    Hello,

    Included beneath is my current order:

    Cornish Clotted Cream
    453gram (1lb)
    Qty: 50

    My collector would be arranging the pick up of this order directly from your location, because their delivery is fast and effective, so kindly email me and confirm the total cost of the order ONLY excluding shipping charges, please include the weight and dimension if available, kindly notify me if this materials are available in stock, please provide the location where the merchandise will be collected and also a frame time that merchandise would be ready for collection.

    Your response is highly needed, so quote can be received, so i can securely forward you with my credit card information and you begin the process of my order.

    Valerie Het Store (Thailand) Ltd.
    55, Silom Center Building
    2 Silom Road
    Bangkok 10500
    Thailand
    Tel. (66) 2624 972
    Fax. (66) 2624 973

    Best Regards
    Valerie Hetrick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting, clotted cream? I have an email from Valerie Hetrick come through this morning. She is interested in my jewellery. I am also Cornwall based. Its very useful to be able to search and find a site like this. I wont be continuing with her enquiry.

      Delete
  29. Hi,

    Found this blog a little to late i'm afraid!

    Julie Smith & her daughter Valerie approached us in June with an email like those above. Could they buy goods, would we pay shippers direct etc etc. I did speak to the organisation that manages our credit card payments but as the cards appeared legitimate they saw no cause for concern.

    The payments, 4 in total, where all authorised via Worldpay and after waiting to ensure the credit card money hit our bank account we did tranfer the money i'm afraid, but only after checking with CTT/Worldpayonce again that the cards were legitimate.

    Sure I don't need to tell you that some 6 weeks later we get a call to say a chargeback has been applied and yes the cards are stolen/cloned.

    Reported them to Fraud Action in the UK, who told me they see an awful lot of this, for all the good it will do us, we are firmly out of pocket for the shipping money we transfered.

    As it took so long for the Credit Card transaction company to notify us does anyone know if we have any way of holding them to account?

    In short - if it looks to good to be true then it is to good to be true and no one needs to say what an arse I am for falling for it as I have called myself that and a lot worse!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi,

    Just thought I would comment as the name Valerie Hetrick is obviously the current scammers name of choice. I was emailed this morning by the lady, requesting a price for items available from my web shop and saying that she would pay by MasterCard and use her own shipping company. Alarm bells went off (more because she mentioned Thailand than anything else) and I googled her name. I immediately deleted the email.

    Glad that my suspicions proved correct, sad that so many people have been caught out.


    Thanks for the blog, very useful.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I just got one this morning from Valerie Hetrick. Googled her name and ended up here. Thanks for the informative post. Time for the Junk email transfer!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Me too - got one from Valerie this morning. Sent back an email with this as a link...

    ReplyDelete
  33. I found your site, Stop Art Scams, after suspecting something odd from a Valerie Hetrick who emailed from her shop in Thailand she wanted to buy my current paintings.

    There will be some who get taken in and get hurt financially and emotionally by these people, I will inform the UK police about her.

    I like your work, I take it you live by the coast ?

    Kind regards,

    Frank

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thanks, Frank!

    Yes, I live in San Francisco, California and have an art studio in Sausalito, CA. I have lived on this coast most of my adult life and love it, and love painting it as well.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I received two emails last night from someone called Brown Jones

    "My name is Brown Jones,I want to place an order in your store,I will like to know if you ship to Norway .Do you accept credit card and i want to know if you have your
    own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order. Get back to me with your
    website/price list.I will await your prompt response.

    Best Regard
    Sales Manager"

    The email address was brownjones4@gmail.com

    The funny thing is that I am a Chartered Accountant so he they is nothing for me to ship!

    ReplyDelete
  36. I just got this..

    My name is Brown Jones,I want to place an order in your store,I will like to know if you ship to Norway .Do you accept credit card and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order. Get back to me with your website/price list.I will await your prompt response.

    Best Regard
    Sales Manager


    I am guessing it is from the same guy!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. It is amazing to me sometimes how little their templates for their email "pitch" change over time. This one has been running for over 2 years, if not more, with the same basic first email approach.

    At least it makes it easier on us to recognize them.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi again,

    I just got this one from a Jack..

    Hello,
    I'm interested in making a purchase of some product from your Company.
    I will like you to provide me with your website so i can check what you have in stock, and then you provide me with the price list of the available products. Also i would be making arrangement for shipment of the order from my end with my shipping agent representative that i'm registered with, the shipping agent representative would come to you for the pick up of the order from your company and ship to my company.
    I want you to know that payment will be made with our company credit card, which will be our mode of payment, as soon as payment is been made, i will make arrangement for the order to be picked up from your Company. Let me know if we Can proceed to do business.
    Let us read from you whenever you get to read my order request.
    Regards,
    Jack.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi everyone - had the same scam! Same words etc - he is calling himself Donald Jones or Barry. From Norway and his buiness is call Donald Ventures

    His mobile is 00 6017378 6729 - call him, give him heaps

    Colin

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yup, we got one too. We're a woollen mill in Australia. The email came from donjones147@gmail.com. The phone number appears to be genuine; an individual in Oslo. Google doesn't know where his address is however - strange for such a large merchandiser, don't you think.

    thanks for this site!!

    ReplyDelete
  41. 'Donald Jones' from Norway- Yeah right!
    Hello,

    Thanks for getting back to me with the total quote of the order which is ($790.00).I will have the items picked up from your facilities because i have made an arrangement with the shipping agent who will be coming to pickup the items right from your location so as to avoid the shipping responsibilities and difficulties that you might be experienced in shipping to Norway.The Shipping Agent have all the documents and permits required for the exportation of these order.And they will handle all the custom duties and insurance as well because all will be dully paid by me .They have got similar items shipped to me here successfully.So i have discussed with the shipping agent about the nature,quantity of these items and i was charged ($865) for the shipping cost,including some of my merchandise i ordered from different
    countries that is with them which they will be delivering to me here in Norway.I will need you to do me a favor as explained below:
    The shipping agent informed me that as for now they can only receive payment by western union.So i am asking for you to please help me to charge the shipping fee of the shipment which is ($865) on my credit card account and then send to the shipping agency's office via Western Union Money Transfer and their representative will come for the pick up.I know it's not your responsibility to do this,i just want you to try and understand me and be of assist to me and my next order will be ship by you.Also, I'm compensating you with the sum of ($150.00) for the transfer fee and for your efforts.Note that i would have loved to do this my self but they are no western union here around me here.So the charges that will be deducted on my credit card will be:

    TOTAL COST OF ITEMS BOUGHT: ($790.00)
    SHIPPING FEE GRAND TOTAL : ($865.00)
    CREDIT CARD SURCHARGING FEE : ($80.00)(FOR THE SHIPPING FEE )
    TRANSFER FEE AND YOUR COMMISSION: ($150)
    THE GRAND TOTAL COST : ($1885.00)


    Note that 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 email you my credit card details,then you can charge the full amount and transfer the agent fee to them via western union so as to proceeding the shipment.And as soon as the shipping agency they received the shipping fund, they will schedule the time for the pick up and then come to your facility for the pick up.

    Warmest Regards

    ReplyDelete
  42. hey we got it too , be careful

    Good day,

    Thanks for your response below here is the list and qty of items that our company needs let us know if you have this items available in stock at the moment or the ones you can supply us with at this time.

    Kindly calculate the total cost of our order so that we can provide our credit card account information for the payment of the order and the shipment.
    But about the shipment we will have our own shipper that will pick up our order directly from your location,we would have preferred to ship via DHL, but we don't have account with them anymore due to their high tariff,so you DON'T have to include the shipping fees,just give us the estimate of the order ONLY for now,So we will use our own shipping agent they will come and pick our order from your location directly.

    PLEASE NOTE: So as soon as we send our credit card account information to you,the payment of our order will be charged on our credit card account information and also for the payment of the shipping,So you will contact our own shipping agent,once you are able to get the shipping cost from,you can also include the 5% Processing fees if required for the charge of the shipping fees. We would have paid the shipping fees our self directly to the shipping agent,but at this time they dont accept credit card for payment,as they are not yet set up to take credit card for payment for now,they are upgrading their credit card machine at this time. so what we want you to do is to contact our shipping agent so that they can figure out how much pick up and shipping would be,because we already have some large merchandise with them already which after picking our order from you,they will then send them together to us here in Norway,so please note all this and get back to us with the estimate of the order so that we can give you the shipper's details for you to contact them and find out the cost for shipping,so as to get our order processed and completed.

    Thanks for your corporation.

    Company Name : Donald Ventures
    Address 17 Vinderen, N-0319 Oslo.
    Telephone: + 47 23 33 47 84.
    Fax: + 47 23 33 47 12.

    Best Regards
    Sales Manager

    ReplyDelete
  43. Just so ya'll are aware: I was almost scammed by this before when I sold Avon and had a website. Because they sent me a check through the mail (high than what the order was for) and then wanted me to deposit the check and send the difference back--I took all correspondence, including the check and the envelope they mailed it in, to the police station--who turned it over to the USPS. As it *is* a crime to solicit money through the USPS in a scam like this--banks can't do anything about it but the police, together with the investigators as the USPS, can...

    And the emails--the reason they want you to send back information to another email account is because the first account has been hacked--a virus program is used to send out these emails from unsuspecting people who might have clicked on a random link somewhere and it was downloaded to their 'puter. The hacked computers/email accounts send the initial invites out and if you respond to the second email given, then there's a person working for either themselves or another person/company overseas... they might not even realize they're scamming, they're just doing what they're told to do by their bosses--some are smarter and realize what's going on... it's a real international thing... glad I found this website though--top 10 results on Google--keeps people informed -- :)

    ReplyDelete