scam? or Legit?

[Sarlon]

As many of you know I run a small business, and a few weeks ago I was sent an email asking if I shipped overseas? Since I'd never shipped to that part of the world I immediately emailed my distributor and confirmed that they will ship to that part of the world.

We go back and forth since some items they wanted were out of stock and some were discontinued...

I finally reach a total for her for the items I do have on hand....and with shipping and an additional discount (without her asking for one), the total still reaches over $1500, not exactly small change.

I send her an invoice with exact price break down...and happily sit back and await payment (NOTHING has been shipped yet, I refuse to until payment is received, even if you lived across the street from me).

This morning I wake up to a reply email that reads thus...

Hi,
Thanks for your reply back with the total quote of my order,I really appreciate you getting back to me.
We have experienced lots of difficulties when it comes to receiving shipment to our address here in The Netherlands, We're located in a very remote area of the city, which cause us a lot of hindrance in receiving shipment in the past. I want you to contact my shipper which i use every time i purchase order worldwide via the below e-mail address about my order RAPIDANDSPEEDFREIGHTLLC @ GMAIL . COM with the weight and dimension inclusive the value for insurance quoting my customer ID #Redacted. They will deliver the shipment to me door to door,their cost will include the custom clearance and handlin7g cost with my order. They will come pick my order up at your location when the shipment is ready. I will need you to obtain a quote and tell them that i want to Insure the package and I will like you to get back to me with overall cost of the items with the details from my shipper.
Once I have these details, I will get back to you with my credit card details immediately for payment.
God Bless you (Amen),
(Customer Name).

I don't want to outright call her a scammer JUST in case shes legit, but wanted a second opinion.

[TheSHAD0W]

I can see several ways this sort of thing could be exploited; for instance, your sending payment to this "shipper" could expose your financial information. Depending on how the customer makes their payment, they could claim the order was never received and attempt to reverse the charge. I'd be wary if I were you.

[Sarlon]

I was thinking of responding along the lines of...

I thank you for your order, but do not feel comfortable using a shipping service beyond the normal ones I use. I'll be glad to make sure it is fully insured, and always provide a tracking number.

And I only accept credit cards through paypal, less its face to face then I have a card runner.

[Dreamstalker]

Shipping service with a Gmail email (that is used as the only method of contact)? Somehow that doesn't exactly inspire confidence...how do you know that the 'buyer' doesn't have access to it (and could get your financials)?

What Sarlon said. A legit buyer would be understanding and figure out something that works. Even a 'remote' area of a city would have ways of getting mail...what do the other businesses in said area (assuming there are others) do?

[Geek King]

A quick Google came up with this on top:

http://glassmagazine.com/glassblog/w...g-company-scam

And a bunch more sites about a preferred shipper scam. I'd research this one real careful.

[Sheldonrs]

For me, alarm bells always go off whenever someone ends an e-mail with "God Bless".

[cleorose]

this is a common scam. Works two ways.

1st way What they do is have someone pick up said items with a check, money order etc at your location. The check or money order is fake. You are then out the items AND the money.

2nd way some poor sap is sent a fake check and told to withdraw th money from their account to pay you for your items. they get the items, send them. When they find out the check is fraudulent you are forced to give them back their money.



Email them back you are under contract with your shipping and distribution company to use them in these cases. Its non negotiable.

These people are obvious scammers. Watch out for fake paypal notices and the use of stolen credit cards as well.

[Crossbow]

For the heck of it, I tried entering the email mentioned into a new gmail message, and it did come up as legit, with a single individual's name as the contact. I'm not going to give the name (heck, this thread has already been crawled and indexed on Google search), but I'd be leery since it doesn't actually refer to a company...

[Sarlon]

I'm truely sorry I just do not feel comfortable using an unknown shipping company on my end. If this is a serious enough problem then I would ask you to look elsewhere for your order, if not I have a very good track record with packages being shipped and not getting lost or damaged.

All packages come with tracking and insurance.

My email to the person, this way I don't sound like I'm accusing them. Not to strangely....haven't heard back from them.

[KiaKat]

I've used independent courier services for shipping. However, that was for thousands of dollars worth of high-end Burgundy, and the customer wanted it couriered to his climate-controlled storage, in a climate-controlled vehicle. Also, the customer is one we've had on the books for years, and he's legit.

[NorthernZel]

For me, alarm bells always go off whenever someone ends an e-mail with "God Bless".

And the following "amen" REALLY sets off my scam radar. Somehow, many people who send this kind of emails tend to believe that religious quotes automatically will add more credibility to their scheme.

As others suggested, research thouroghly (eventually go to ScamWarners.com or the good folks at the Eater for advice) and go "it's my way or the highway" on them. If they insist and even try to suggest alternative payment options, just reply "sorry, deal is off" and then block them.

But if they don't reply to the mail you just sent, just let it be. They've probably already moved on to the next "target".

[MoonCat]

SCAM SCAM SCAM

"I will like you to..." = BIG RED FLAG.

[Greenday]

What kind of stuff do you sell and what country are you selling to?

[Jester]

Total scam. A few months ago, when I was selling a scooter, I received similar messages from people who claimed to be interested in purchasing said scooter. And by scooter I mean motorized moped type scooter, so when they started talking about using a shipping company for a piece of shit $400 scooter, I knew something was up. When they continued doing so after making no request for a test ride or even a PICTURE of the scooter, it was clear they were trying some sort of scam.

How does this relate to the OP's situation? The messages I received were almost identical to the ones quoted by the OP. Utter bullshit. Don't even try to do business with these people, because they will waste your time, keep your product, and not give you any money. Fuck them sideways with a rusty chainsaw.

[Seshat]

(Australia-centric) There IS no remote area of the Netherlands (/A)

Do expect special instructions if you're shipping to remote areas of Australia (or presumably Canada, China, the former USSR, etc). Anywhere that has remote areas that really ARE remote. But Australia Post (Canada's Royal Mail, etc etc) knows how to handle this kind of thing. So do the big companies with international couriering.

Toth and I were considering living on an island at one point. Parcels and mail were to be addressed as normal; as if there was a postal delivery service to the various 'street addresses'. There wasn't, but each street address had a pigeonhole at the island's post office/general store/etc. The deal was that we walked down and picked up our mail with our fresh bread and milk.

If you get someone asking for special instructions like 'have it couriered to the Windanya depot', and they're Australian, that's normal. They probably live the width of the Netherlands away from Windanya, but it's still the closest depot to them.



That said; get the payment in a way that YOU are comfortable with. If you want paypal, get it via paypal. And have the parcel tracked. Once it's delivered to the depot, it's delivered and your job is complete.