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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    Nashville TN
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    What's the scam here?

    So, there's a package on the front porch when I arrive home from work yesterday afternoon. No surprise there, it's fall, so it's another pair of boots. Wait, what's this, that's actually MY name on the package. Wow, this hardly ever happens, so I open it to discover to Google Pixel phones. I have always used iPhones, and I haven't ordered any new phone. Package is from Ingram Micro CFS in Carol Stream, IL. It is addressed to me with the correct address and "Michael" rather than "Mike" with the former the name that would be used as the billing address on a credit card, etc. There is a phone number there under my name and address, so I call that and the answer is "Nashville Rescue Mission" which is a homeless shelter in town, but not particularly near my house--probably 3 miles away.

    I called the sender of course, but after business hours, so just got a machine. I'll try them later this morning and figure out how to send this back, but, in the meantime, just curious regarding what's up with this. Presumably they would not ship 2 expensive phones unless someone had given them a functioning credit card. If someone had managed to defraud my card, you would think they would have had it shipped to somewhere other than my house.

    Ideas?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
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    between campus and church
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    Did you call your credit card company?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    on the banks of Fish Creek
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    It’s all about the drugs dude......



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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    Nashville TN
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peruvian View Post
    Did you call your credit card company?
    First, I checked online and yes the charge is there. So, I did call and dispute it, and there's a new card on the way (wife was in NYC last weekend, our fraud charges seem to coincide eerily with trips to NYC).

    Still, I don't see the scam here. What does someone get from using my credit card to send me phones? I would think if someone had my credit card number and wanted a phone, they would ship the phone to themselves rather than to me.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    on the banks of Fish Creek
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    7,514
    It’s easier for the thief to steal packages off your porch if he knows exactly what’s in the package and when the package is going to show up. Dude has the tracking number. He was just hoping that you wouldn’t be home when the package showed up.

    Probably somebody from your neighborhood.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
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    59715
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    Bluesnarfed. The creep screwed up and didn't change the shipping address when the order autofilled.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Not in the PRB
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    32,785
    Quote Originally Posted by m2711c View Post
    It’s easier for the thief to steal packages off your porch if he knows exactly what’s in the package and when the package is going to show up. Dude has the tracking number. He was just hoping that you wouldn’t be home when the package showed up.

    Probably somebody from your neighborhood.
    Quote Originally Posted by I Skied Bandini Mountain View Post
    Bluesnarfed. The creep screwed up and didn't change the shipping address when the order autofilled.
    I think mseries jong is right. Fraud detection would have caught the different mailing address.
    "fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
    "She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
    "everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
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    EWA
    Posts
    22,006
    When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something. To do something." Rep. John Lewis


    Kindness is a bridge between all people

    Dunkin’ Donuts Worker Dances With Customer Who Has Autism

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Nashville TN
    Posts
    1,054
    damn, wish I had received an "adult toy" instead of 2 stupid Google phones. So, after 45 minutes on the phone with Google, I still don't have a path for how to return the damned phones. The customer service lady, for whom english is at best a 2nd language, kept telling me that she needed the email address that I used to order the phones in order to process a return, and that it had to be a Gmail address because that's required to order any google product. Umm, ok, what I'm trying to tell you here is that I didn't use any email address to order the phones, because I DIDN'T ORDER THE DAMNED PHONES. How about you use some of this other information here on the label (order number anyone) to look up the order? No can do. So, finally, I giver he a gmail address, which i never use, she confirms that hey, he didn't use this address to order the phones. Tell me I need to fill out a fraud form they will send me. Ok, fine, I'll do that, but how do I send the phones back to you. Get this..."Don't worry about the phones. If we don't have your email address associated with the order, we can't send you a label to return them." So, I guess I'll just leave $800 worth of phones here in my office for a few weeks to make sure they don't ask for them back. If not, check gear swap for a couple of Pixel 3a's if your Androidan.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    2,661
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Mike View Post
    So, I guess I'll just leave $800 worth of phones here in my office for a few weeks to make sure they don't ask for them back. If not, check gear swap for a couple of Pixel 3a's if your Androidan.
    $800 worth? What a noob your scammer was, he should have waited for the price drops. As of now you have $600 of fraudulently ordered phones in your office, and I'm hoping the price drops to $200 (per phone, that is) on Black Friday.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Nashville TN
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    Quote Originally Posted by dan_pdx View Post
    $800 worth? What a noob your scammer was, he should have waited for the price drops. As of now you have $600 of fraudulently ordered phones in your office, and I'm hoping the price drops to $200 (per phone, that is) on Black Friday.
    yeah, my scammer sucked. He overpaid, and he had them delivered to me rather than to him.

    We can probably work out a deal on the phone if google won't ever let me send them back...

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    1,663
    i mean, if they are not being used, I wouldn't mind some newer phones. let me know

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Nashville TN
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    Quote Originally Posted by crackboy View Post
    i mean, if they are not being used, I wouldn't mind some newer phones. let me know
    I'll be in touch. I will hold onto them for a period of time just in case they pull their heads out and to make it clear that I'm the scammee not the scammer, but at some point, I'm not going to hold onto them forever.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    2,661
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Mike View Post
    yeah, my scammer sucked. He overpaid, and he had them delivered to me rather than to him.

    We can probably work out a deal on the phone if google won't ever let me send them back...
    Yeah man, I'd be happy to buy one from you if your CC company completes the chargeback but you have no way to return the merchandise. Would have to hope that there were no warranty issues, imagine how fun that conversation would be, lol

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    I can still smell Poutine.
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    24,509
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Mike View Post
    yeah, my scammer sucked. He overpaid.
    He has no incentive to save you money. LOL.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Watching over the valley
    Posts
    5,002
    I bid $100 for one pixel phone...
    Pm me for shipping info...

    sent from Utah.
    sigless.

  17. #17
    jgb@etree Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Mike View Post
    So, there's a package on the front porch when I arrive home from work yesterday afternoon. No surprise there, it's fall, so it's another pair of boots. Wait, what's this, that's actually MY name on the package. Wow, this hardly ever happens, so I open it to discover to Google Pixel phones. I have always used iPhones, and I haven't ordered any new phone. Package is from Ingram Micro CFS in Carol Stream, IL. It is addressed to me with the correct address and "Michael" rather than "Mike" with the former the name that would be used as the billing address on a credit card, etc. There is a phone number there under my name and address, so I call that and the answer is "Nashville Rescue Mission" which is a homeless shelter in town, but not particularly near my house--probably 3 miles away.

    I called the sender of course, but after business hours, so just got a machine. I'll try them later this morning and figure out how to send this back, but, in the meantime, just curious regarding what's up with this. Presumably they would not ship 2 expensive phones unless someone had given them a functioning credit card. If someone had managed to defraud my card, you would think they would have had it shipped to somewhere other than my house.

    Ideas?
    Credit card fraud. Someone got your details, order the phones and planned to grab them from your porch before you did so they could resell the phones.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    1,744
    What was stopping Mike from keeping the phones and getting the charge reversed? Aside from ethics, of course.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    33,546
    Shit in box. Tape it back up and put back out on door step.
    Quote Originally Posted by Downbound Train View Post
    And there will come a day when our ancestors look back...........

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    The Bull City
    Posts
    14,003
    I'll also be in the market for a previous generation Pixel phone when the new ones come out in a couple months. However, I'd be afraid that the serial numbers on these will eventually show up as stolen even though Google won't take them back. When they finally realize the credit card company pulled back the payment for them as fraud and stolen those units have serial numbers that can probably be blocked from activation/deactivated regardless of the sim card used.
    Go that way really REALLY fast. If something gets in your way, TURN!

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Not in the PRB
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    32,785
    Quote Originally Posted by SumJongGuy View Post
    I'll also be in the market for a previous generation Pixel phone when the new ones come out in a couple months. However, I'd be afraid that the serial numbers on these will eventually show up as stolen even though Google won't take them back. When they finally realize the credit card company pulled back the payment for them as fraud and stolen those units have serial numbers that can probably be blocked from activation/deactivated regardless of the sim card used.
    I highly doubt that happens. Google is not that on top of this shit, as their primary business model doesn't include consumer products. I have Google Fi as my phone service. Many months ago, I had some fraud on my CC, the one that pays my Fi bill. Canceled the card. So of course, my Fi bill charge didn't go through as normal (because I didn't yet have the new card # to update). They sent me an email saying "you must update your account with a new CC within 3 days", and that the new card would get charged, etc, and I did. They never charged me for the month that had been declined due to the canceled card. The just charged me the next month on the new card. I actually contacted them on 2 different occasions, asking them to charge me, because I was afraid their system would just somehow ID me as a non-payer and they would suspend my phone service. But nope, the CS reps couldn't even wrap their heads around the fact that I owed them money. Now, months later, I figure I'm good.
    "fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
    "She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
    "everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    475

    What's the scam here?

    My money is on a guy from the homeless shelter



    Sent from my iPad using TGR Forums

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    truckee
    Posts
    23,120
    Could be porch pirate but most likely seller shipped to billing address. This happened to my kid. We knew it wasnt porch pirate because the card number was used halfway across the country.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Nashville TN
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Tortoise View Post
    What was stopping Mike from keeping the phones and getting the charge reversed? Aside from ethics, of course.
    I guess Google would be able to tell if I promptly activated the phones, and then, if my cc bank contacted google to verify my claim, google would rat me out?

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Moose, Iowa
    Posts
    7,926
    We had a credit card someone else ordered in our name show up in our mailbox. Lolz. Locking mailbox so our mail is secure but chances are they were just hoping for a way to get the numbers and get it activated somehow. They lost. Thanks Equifax for the data breach.

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