Is this a scam ? if so how does it work ?

signs · 30 Nov 2018 at 13:12

A guy who claims to be working away at sea has contacted my company in regards to doing some van graphics. I've done a design and gave him a price to do the work , he's given the OK to both .
We've told him it will need to be payment in advance as he's not got an account with us , this is where it gets a little weird.
He says he's getting the van delivered to us from Ireland on a trailer but he wants to send us payment (by card)for the graphics and also the money to pay the van delivery company and then for us to pay the delivery company by BACS , he says the van delivery company don't accept card payment !!!

he has only contacted us by email (not the best grammar ) and only brief details of address (road and post code )

All seems odd to me , I've told him i'm not happy to do this .

any thoughts ?

linktoinsanity · 30 Nov 2018 at 13:22

Other than stick with your guns, not really anything else to add. I would say it is not worth the risk and to trust your gut on this one.

Scam · 30 Nov 2018 at 13:27

I don't really understand who's doing the graphics, who's paying etc. but if it sounds like ****, smells like **** then it probably is ****.

Martynt74 · 30 Nov 2018 at 13:29

Presumable he does a charge back on the credit card/it's a stolen credit card. They reverse the transaction leaving you out of money since you've paid for the van.

Rilot · 30 Nov 2018 at 14:14

It's the same scam as the "I'll pay you £2000 for your £1000 item, you give me the item and £1000 back" scam, just slightly more complicated.

He'll pay you with a stolen CC (or one he will reverse afterwards), the delivery "company" is part of the scam. They will call you before the supposed delivery of the van and ask for the payment. You pay them whatever they say you should and then the CC payment either gets reversed or is rejected as being shown up as stolen.

jpaul · 30 Nov 2018 at 14:54

Rilot said:
It's the same scam as the "I'll pay you

+1 as he says.

sounds as though you have already incurred some expense, for the design -
I think I would contact your bank, to find out what the payment process would need to be, to ensure any payment from them was legitimate,
even, the police, since presumably the van 'delivery' could have been a large expense/con.

AHarvey · 30 Nov 2018 at 14:57

Money Laundering, stolen cards, etc

Block him and move on

What's the email address he's using? You could try and pop it into Facebook see if it brings anything up, I can do a fraud check on it.

d_brennen · 30 Nov 2018 at 14:57

It's 2018, there's no need for convoluted payment methods. Tell him to pay up or **** off. You're not a van moving company so don't get involved in moving the van

ttaskmaster · 30 Nov 2018 at 14:59

Destination · 30 Nov 2018 at 15:06

Take the order, take the payment, then don't do anything to pay the delivery company.
just wait, and wait and wait.
and wait...

LOAM · 30 Nov 2018 at 15:13

It would be classed as income to the business, you would have to charge Vat on the transaction. Theres absolutely no way you should be getting involved with clients 3rd party dealings and especially not paying for them. I wouldn't take it any further until he provided an actual address and bank reference, its what we used to do with clients we were suspicious about and it certainly weeded out the chaff.

signs · 30 Nov 2018 at 16:09

thanks for the input everyone , pretty much how i feel about it

koooowweeee · 30 Nov 2018 at 16:13

It's like the old eBay scam with the cheques.

It will be absent card so you pay the guy and then cardgets reported and you lose time,matiria ma and the money you have sent

ltron · 30 Nov 2018 at 16:16

Don't touch it with a bargepole.

mmj_uk · 30 Nov 2018 at 18:25

Tell him you'll only accept bank transfer? if he has the means to pay by card then there shouldn't be any reason why he can't do a bank transfer.

Diddums x · 30 Nov 2018 at 21:12

Scam said:
I don't really understand who's doing the graphics, who's paying etc. but if it sounds like ****, smells like **** then it probably is ****.

No OP. This is a scam^

LeeUK · 1 Dec 2018 at 01:49

No van will ever turn up to have graphics applied to it. The scammer will pay you with stolen funds then the "van delivery company" who is also the same scammer will ask you for payment. The stolen CC gets revered and you are left out of pocket for the money you paid to the van people.

It's just like when the scammers reply to car adverts on Gumtree for their friend who's currently abroad. No one is ever coming with a low loader to buy your car.

banja · 1 Dec 2018 at 21:16

Over at Gearslutz there are stories of this bs being used on recording studios. 'Producers' pay the studio, who then pay their artist in cash. The funds get reversed and you get ripped off. Common scam.

jpaul · 8 Dec 2018 at 14:14

*A DIFFERENT SCAM*

A telephone scam virgin - had one of these today

Bogus phone calls
HMRC is aware of an automated phone call scam which will tell you HMRC is filing a lawsuit against you, and to press one to speak to a caseworker to make a payment. We can confirm this is a scam and you should end the call immediately.

This scam has been widely reported and often targets elderly and vulnerable people.

!

Blackjack Davy · 9 Dec 2018 at 00:58

Tell them you're happy to do it but so sorry due to banking issues you're currently only accepting cash, and in advance.

You'll never hear from them again.

jpaul said:
*A DIFFERENT SCAM*

A telephone scam virgin - had one of these today

!

Can't say I've ever dealt with a phone scammer as I always hang up on auto diallers if theres no immediate reply down goes the phone. I did get an phishing email the other day though the guy didn't even bother to spoof his email addy. Amateur.