Here we go again...fraudulent cupcake orders
It's
been a while since we've gotten one of these emails and all of a
sudden, we've gotten two of them, two days in a row. I thought I'd post
them, just like Kari of Retro Bakery,
to warn others about scams like these. In the past, I
wasted time responding to these requests, but can now spot these a mile
away.
Here's an email we received on Friday:
Hello
My name is Jennifer Williams am hearing impaired i
cant use phone,You can only email or text me verify any information,
that is why i chose to email you,I want to make order for 30 Dozen
individual Cup Cakes Chocolate Flavor and strawberry for my Dad's
B-Party and This is a pick up order so it will be pick up by 4:pm by my
private courier services on 14Th of December so can you handle that for
me and let me have the total cost plus tax so i can make the prepay
payment with my credit card,and let me know the TYPE OF CREDIT CARD YOU
ACCEPT OVER THE EMAIL OR
TEXT ?
My Text Only number: 256 346 5498
Kind Regard
Jennifer Williams
A combination of some or all of these indicators set off an internal alarm that an order could be fraudulent:
- Large order
- To be picked up by courier service
- Payment by credit card over text or email
- Unable to communicate by phone
- Grammatical errors
5 comments:
Thank you for this post. I own a small cupcake shop in Danville, Indiana and I just today received THE EXACT SAME EMAIL from a "Jennifer Williams". I had been texting her back and forth for a few minutes and then she started asking me if she could pay me over $800 more to pay her courier in cash when he showed up. I got suspicious, googled the text number, and found your blog. Told "Jennifer" I couldn't help her out. Should have been suspicious from the start, I mean, who orders 30 dozen cupcakes and only wants two flavors! :)
Glad you posted this to confirm my suspicion. As soon as I read it I presumed it a fraud because of the poor grammar and courier comment... I decided to see if anyone else had seen it and there you were. Thanks!
I got a text message today saying this and went online to search the number, because it isn't local and I just make stuff for friends and family out of my home. Glad you posted this. Why would someone do this? What do they have to gain!
I got a similar one today
I got his ip address and he's in Nigeria!
Name: Jennifer Williams
Email: jenniferwillias992@gmail.com
Comment: Hello
My name is Jennifer Williams am hearing impaired i cant use phone,You can only email or text me verify any information that is why i chose to email you,I want to make order for 120 Grilled Chicken Sandwiches and Chicken Salad for my Dad's B-Party and This is a pick up order so it will be pick up by 4:pm by my private courier services on 21st of December so can you handle that for me and let me have the total cost plus tax so i can make the prepay payment with my credit card,,and let me know the TYPE OF CREDIT CARD YOU ACCEPT OVER THE EMAIL OR TEXT ?
My Text Only number: 256 346 5498
Kind Regard
Jennifer Williams
Subject: ATTENTION TO THE OWNER
Time: Sunday December 2, 2012 at 2:05 pm
IP Address: 197.255.175.183
Contact Form URL: http://dalevillealabamakitchens.com/contact-us/
Sent by an unverified visitor to your site.
Thanks for the post - we just got hit with very similar email (listing items off of our menu.)
Googled to verify that it was indeed fraudulent.
Appreciate your post.
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