Scam Alert! Question for Scam Aficionados

[BackInTex]

The other night (about midnight) I got a fraud alert text from American Express about an $8 charge to Amazon Marketplace. I thought it odd because we purchase many many items from Amazon and never get an alert. Everone in my immediate family shares my Amazon account so I texted everyone asking if they had tried to purchase something about that time, for $8. No one did. There were no orders, cancelled orders, or archived orders matching that on my Amazon account either.

I logged online on my Amecrican Express Account and saw the $8 pending charge so I called the Amex fraud line. They cancelled the charge and sent me a new card since it appears that card has been compromised.

Yesterday I got an Amazon deliver addressed to Denise Haber, at my address. It was a package of little 1 inch by 2 inch Magnetic Dry Erase Labels. The packing list showed the purchase was ..... $8.

I don't know how they got my Amex card info and address, but I suspect the scam is they create a fake Amazon account, use my Amex info, order the items, then enter 5-star reviews. No money from them, free stuff for me (notwithstanding the annoyance of haveing to call Amex and get a new card).

Is that all it is? Seems a lot of trouble to bump up your ratings for an $8 item.

Anyway I can search for reivews by Denise Haber?

[silverscreenselect]

To answer the second question first, there's no way to find reviews by "Denise Haber." At one time, Amazon kept a list of the top 10,000 reviewers, which I was on, and if you found one of those reviewers, you could look up all of their reviews. But they've done away with the list. Even when they had that list, you couldn't look up any of the millions of other reviewers.

If you know exactly what the product is, you can look up reviews for that product and click on the reviewer's name. That shows you their profile and whatever information they've chosen to put on that profile. Unfortunately, a lot of reviews just say "Amazon Customer" or a set of initials. Mine says "Silver Screen Videos." If you click on a reviewer's profile, you can see the 16 most recent reviews they've posted (assuming they've posted at least 16 reviews). Also, the fact that the package was addressed to "Denise Haber" doesn't mean that Denise Haber ordered it. A lot of people send gift packages via Amazon.

My guess is that the Denise Haber purchase was a test to see if the card was legit and the purchase would go through. Scam artists who get hold of a credit card number will make a small purchase first, then make a large purchase of the item they really want, which could cost thousands of dollars. They set up a bogus account, send the first item to a different address, then send the real item to their address. If Amazon couldn't find the fake address they listed, they may have looked up your address on file with your Amex card to send you the Denise Haber purchase. I think if you hadn't notified Amex when you did, you would have had a very large purchase charged to your account in the next day or two.

Also, check with Amex and have them read back to you the last few purchases on your old card. It's possible another small purchase may have been charged to your account as well.

[mellytu74]

My guess is that the Denise Haber purchase was a test to see if the card was legit and the purchase would go through. Scam artists who get hold of a credit card number will make a small purchase first, then make a large purchase of the item they really want, which could cost thousands of dollars. They set up a bogus account, send the first item to a different address, then send the real item to their address. If Amazon couldn't find the fake address they listed, they may have looked up your address on file with your Amex card to send you the Denise Haber purchase. I think if you hadn't notified Amex when you did, you would have had a very large purchase charged to your account in the next day or two.

Also, check with Amex and have them read back to you the last few purchases on your old card. It's possible another small purchase may have been charged to your account as well.

Was just coming here to say the same thing.

Also, if you use any other cards, also check them for small purchases.

[BackInTex]

My guess is that the Denise Haber purchase was a test to see if the card was legit and the purchase would go through. Scam artists who get hold of a credit card number will make a small purchase first, then make a large purchase of the item they really want, which could cost thousands of dollars. They set up a bogus account, send the first item to a different address, then send the real item to their address. If Amazon couldn't find the fake address they listed, they may have looked up your address on file with your Amex card to send you the Denise Haber purchase. I think if you hadn't notified Amex when you did, you would have had a very large purchase charged to your account in the next day or two.

Also, check with Amex and have them read back to you the last few purchases on your old card. It's possible another small purchase may have been charged to your account as well.

Was just coming here to say the same thing.

Also, if you use any other cards, also check them for small purchases.

I verify every charge on all my cards, regularly. I also take pictures of all my restaruant receipts and verify the totals when they hit to make sure I didn't get scammed on the tip (once had a large tip doubled). The thing that concerns me most about this incident is they had enough of my card info to make a purchase, and had my full address (unless what SSS says came about in that Amazon didn't recognize the address (or Amazon account) so sent it to the address on record for the card). But that is concerning. Why would Amazon allow a different account to be created, with the same credit card, then ship the item to the standard delivery address of the first account? Why not decline the purchase and give feedback as to why?

My daughter got a brand new Ipad via this same "scam". All I got was some silly magnets my wife has already threatened to trash because we don't need them.

[Beebs52]

Got a phone call today from a Tx number asking about amazon purchases in Mexico. Asked for a callback number and gave me amazon giftcard scam alert number. His number was a 281 local number. No notifications on my account so...