# Scam - Beware of free gifts



## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

Saw this on another site:

*BEWARE! One of the most clever credit card scams yet!*

This is very clever. `I would probably fall for it if not warned. Give this wide distribution. This scam is actually very clever. Just when you thought you'd heard it all. Be very careful out there! Beware of people bearing gifts. The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim:

Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called: "Express Couriers," (The name could be any courier company). He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature.

The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour. Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. I was very surprised since there was no special occasion or holiday, and I certainly didn't expect anything like it. Intrigued, I inquired as to who the sender was.

The courier replied, "I don't know, I'm only delivering the package."

Apparently, a greeting card was being sent separately. (The card has never arrived!) There was also a consignment note with the gift. He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a $3.50 "delivery/ verification charge," providing proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking
age), and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor.

This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash. He then said that the delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would
help in keeping a legal record of the transaction.

He added, "Couriers don't carry cash to avoid loss or likely targets for robbery."

My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled out his credit card, and 'John,' the "delivery man," asked him to swipe the card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad. Frank, my husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was printed out. He was given a copy of the transaction.

The guy said everything was in order, and wished us good day.

To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at various ATM machines.

Apparently the "mobile credit card machine," which the deliveryman carried now had all the info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all our card details including the PIN number. Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card, we immediately notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our credit/debit account was closed.

We also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it is definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit.

*WARNING:* Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package," which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything If you do not personally know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is.

Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!


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## Longtimeago (Aug 8, 2018)

This highlights one problem with the internet and social media. Something can be picked up and repeated.

This scam surfaced in Australia in 2008. If you read the following link, you will see it is word for word what you have posted agent99.
https://www.hoax-slayer.net/flower-and-wine-delivery-credit-card-scam-warning/

There is nothing wrong with posting about an existing scam at all but look at this next link agent99.
https://abc11.com/shopping/new-scam-that-gives-you-flowers-and-wine/2702992/
It purports to be about the same thing happening in California last November. But look at the wording carefully. It is almost identical. It seems quite clear that someone simply picked up the story and re-posted it at another time while adding a 'California Police advising people to watch out'. Try and find a link to a California Police department link carrying the warning.

Do you really think that someone using the same scam in California in 2017 as was used in Australia in 2008, would also take the same $4000 over a same 4 day period? Use the same phrasing when at the door, etc.? It is simply a repeat of an old story, not a new story of a new incident. This means that wherever you got the 'new' warning from agent99 it is in fact a HOAX in that it is not about something happening now.

Again, try to find an actual Police warning about this happening somewhere NOW.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

wasnt there an old story about someone being hurt or killed in a motorcycle accident that kept circulating? about insurance or domething?


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

These apparently horrifying warnings should always be checked with SNOPES https://www.snopes.com or similar sites before spreading more rumours. There was lots of trouble with such chicken little stories in the early days of the internet. (May still be, but I have better filters now)


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

Sorry if I offended anyone. But it is an interesting story (to me) and snopes says: "The core information in the message is true."

Maybe consider it a heads-up to be careful about anything that seems even slightly off. The CRA scams have gone on for years and people still get sucked in. Apparently authorities in India are cracking down on the CRA scam. 

BTW, had a call today saying I had won a free night's stay in a Hilton hotel. Next one was from the duct cleaning guys. 

I did have my driveway sealed by a guy who knocked on door, saying he had sealed my neighbors driveways and xx gallon left in his tank-trailer and would give me a deal on my driveway. It was a very good price so we went with it and driveway looks better. Maybe if I had local contractor do it it would have been better, but maybe $1000 more! No doubt a scam, but we got something out of it. I liked that the guy was at least trying to make a living and employing several others.


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## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

agent99 said:


> I did have my driveway sealed by a guy who knocked on door, saying he had sealed my neighbors driveways and xx gallon left in his tank-trailer and would give me a deal on my driveway. It was a very good price so we went with it and driveway looks better. Maybe if I had local contractor do it it would have been better, but maybe $1000 more! No doubt a scam, but we got something out of it. I liked that the guy was at least trying to make a living and employing several others.


I had a similar experience with the driveway sealing. The guy told me he was doing driveways in my neighbourhood and would give me a good deal. He didn't say anything about having any excess sealant in his tank b/c my driveway would take more than a whole full barrel. I asked where he had worked, and he took me to see two of the driveways on my street. I asked 'how much?' and he asked me what I paid the last time. He didn't believe me that I had paid so little for such a large driveway until I showed him the receipt from the last time. We negotiated a price we could both live with and he started working right away. This guy worked like a mule. It was one of the hottest days in summer and he didn't take a break to drink the cold water I brought him, or even eat the pizza his guys dropped off. He was very careful not to over-spray onto the paving stones, or into my wife's flowers. When he finished mine, he just went on to do the next customer. 

He returned that evening to get paid. He told me he preferred cash because his employer would pay him right away, not have to wait for the cheque to clear. I didn't have that much cash on hand, so I had to give him a cheque; then I gave him a $50 tip. He thanked me, and said nobody had ever given him a tip before. We talked for a while - turns out he's about my age ( over 65 ) and had come here from S. Africa. 

So, I don't know if I'd call it a scam. Nobody was defrauded. I got my driveway sealed, and he got paid. I don't think it's fair that the ******* that employed him makes him wait for the cheque to clear. That's something CBC should investigate and do some public shaming.

Whether or not a driveway needs to be sealed is another matter; there are conflicting views on this. I just like that it looks cleaner.


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## nadinefaith (May 27, 2020)

I think you always need beware of free gifts. I don’t know if the scam from this topic still happens, but you need to be very careful in our days. I remember how after a very long day of shopping, I discovered that my credit card was withdrawn a sum of money and blocked. I was very scared because I thought that it was stolen. I called to the bank in the same moment and they figured it out. It turned out, that it was a mistake of the bank, so they were very sorry. They even sent me a crafted gift basket with fruits and cheeses. It was very nice to know that they appreciate every client. By the way, when I received the basket, no data was required from me.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

this same story was making the rounds bout 2-3 years ago...


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

It also shows the importance of paying for stuff by a credit card, like PC, MBNA, Costco CapitalOne etc.

NOT with a bank debit card that can be used to suck your account dry.


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

nadinefaith said:


> I think you always need beware of free gifts


Hmmmm. Interesting.

You just joined a half hour ago. On a Canadian forum, from the US with an avatar from the UK.

Welcome "Nadine" or "Rosie" or whoever you are.









Women with endometriosis 'finally being believed'


MPs will hear the experiences of women with endometriosis as part of an inquiry into the condition.



www.bbc.com


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## Retired Peasant (Apr 22, 2013)

dotnet_nerd said:


> Hmmmm. Interesting.
> 
> You just joined a half hour ago. On a Canadian forum, from the US with an avatar from the UK.
> 
> ...


and resurrected a 19 month old thread.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We cannot afford free. Hence we have given away countless vacations, cruises, trips to Disney, etc to the telemarketers that have called us. DW has even declined a substantial inheritance for a long lost relative in Nigeria even though it was bequethed to her because she is such a wonderful Christian lady.

Not certain how long we will be able to do this. We may have to accept the next free offer of a vacation and get out of town. The last caller said that if we did not act on a police matter by paying monies owed the state police would be at our door and we would be incarcerated. We did not pay. On pins and needles in fear of that knock on the door. Hopefully the free vacation offer will come before that knock on the door.


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## Joe Black (Aug 3, 2015)

Personally I don't find it "clever", rather it is dependent on naive people. As soon as someone wants a credit card, if you are not 110% who you are dealing with the answer is simply no, no matter how "reasonable" the explanation sounds. And in the case where it's for something coming out of the blue, you don't even bother to ask.

I've had "free" things offered at my door, that all by itself should be huge red flag. I don't bother to hear their pitch.


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## Joe Black (Aug 3, 2015)

Userkare said:


> I had a similar experience with the driveway sealing. The guy told me he was doing driveways in my neighbourhood and would give me a good deal. He didn't say anything about having any excess sealant in his tank b/c my driveway would take more than a whole full barrel. I asked where he had worked, and he took me to see two of the driveways on my street. I asked 'how much?' and he asked me what I paid the last time. He didn't believe me that I had paid so little for such a large driveway until I showed him the receipt from the last time. We negotiated a price we could both live with and he started working right away. This guy worked like a mule. It was one of the hottest days in summer and he didn't take a break to drink the cold water I brought him, or even eat the pizza his guys dropped off. He was very careful not to over-spray onto the paving stones, or into my wife's flowers. When he finished mine, he just went on to do the next customer.
> 
> He returned that evening to get paid. He told me he preferred cash because his employer would pay him right away, not have to wait for the cheque to clear. I didn't have that much cash on hand, so I had to give him a cheque; then I gave him a $50 tip. He thanked me, and said nobody had ever given him a tip before. We talked for a while - turns out he's about my age ( over 65 ) and had come here from S. Africa.
> 
> ...


Glad that worked out for you, but what if in a couple weeks you found this person had done something that caused expensive damage, or was using prohibited chemicals, etc., costing you a great deal of money to repair. What are the chances you would be able to find this company and sue them for damages?

I've got a rule of thumb, knocking on my door is a way of advertising that your business is shady and fly-by-night. I'm never going to let somebody like that do work for me.


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