Bloody Criminals...

[Raistlin]

Hi all,
A colleague (lecturer) wanted to purchase a Samsung Note 10 from a legitimate Samsung affiliate outlet.   
The machine not being available in SA - needed to be pre-ordered to secure the unit. Email correspondence
ensued after a site visit with the local sales person. Long story short, an initiating email specified the amount
and banking details for the transaction. Unfortunately - this email was fraudulent/forged. The monies paid
going into a credible bank account (at a reputable and well-known banking institute), conveniently with
branch code matching the local shopping center of the Samsung affiliate. When the colleague queried the
shop for an ETA of his long awaited Note 10, he got the unpleasant news together with an explanation that
his email delivery must have been compromised (..."email must have been intercepted"...).

He promptly opened a police docket, but has made peace with the fact he may never see his money. The police
in SA is notoriously unhelpful in these type of situations. Being a softy, I've volunteered to help track the perpetrator
- essentially I believe the poor man needs some closure.  For those interested I've attached the email header with
the forged credentials (in yellow). Hopefully this sad story increases awareness and helps someone avoid a similar fate
in the future.

Raistlin

[hutch--]

Sad to say its more common than you may think. Recently I tried to buy a pair of desert boots from a site that advertised on Facebook. I usually pay by PayPal but they did not have it so I was stupid enough to pay for it with my credit card. I find out shortly after that it was fraudulent so I contacted my bank that issues the Visa card and after a lot of pissing around, got the AUD $50.00 back into my account.

Lesson = Pay by PayPal unless you know the vendor.

[jj2007]

I got tricked once on my rare trips to the U.S. with MasterCard, and got my money back, no problems. Years later somebody booked a flight with the details of my Visa card, it took about 50 emails to get it solved, and I have no idea whether the guy got jailed or not.

[aw27]

I purchase lots of things online through Paypal and don't remember any incident, even when purchasing from eBay where lots of people complain about. Just luck.
As a seller, I am occasionally a victim of fraud although it was much more frequent a few years ago. Things are definitely improving.

[felipe]

I was once unemployed and desperate so i was looking for a job. then i saw a very suspiciuos job offer that promises a lot but you firts have to put some money. i knew it was some kind of a fraud but i decided to give it a try anyway, because i was desperate and it wasn't so much money. of course i lost it...what really upsetted me was feeling like a fool. after a while i forgot it and learned the lesson (hopefully!)