Does this order seem fraudulent to you?

[Maximus1000]

I have a customer who has purchased a small order from me in the past. She recently contacted me asking me to give her a discount on a larger order of close to $300 to which I provided her with a coupon code to make the purchase on our site. She used paypal to make the purchase, however this time she put in the shipping details the address of a forwarding service in Westminster, CA (she is from the east coast). The reason why it appears to be a forwarding service is that she wanted me to add a identifier to the shipping address that had a code and the words Vietnam in it, and her name is also Vietnamese.

The shipping address in paypal is unconfirmed. I am getting worried that I may ship this and then get a dispute for the money back in paypal. What do you guys think? If I do ship it there is there anything I can do to protect myself? I would already insure it and do signature confirmation, but that wont protect me if its fradulent.

[bwnbwn]

How did she pay for it last time?

[enigma1]

There is an associated risk with it, there is a possibility the pp customer account or system was compromised. But it could also be genuine (looks like it).

If you have access to any other details check them (pp customer score/status, IP/logs perhaps) see if everything looks good.

How did you send her the coupon? email, on-site?

[Rugles]

People have stuff shipped overseas with freight forwarding companies all the time.

If you are worried, dream up some reason to call the customer just so you can confirm they ordered the goods.

[lorax]

That you're even asking this question tells me your spider senses have kicked in. Go with your gut.

[jwolthuis]

When you view the order at paypal.com, what does it say for "Seller Protection"? "Eligible", "Partially Eligible", or "Not Eligible"?

For large orders, we only fulfill PayPal orders that are fully-"Eligible", and only ship to a Confirmed PayPal address. Otherwise, you get no protection from fraud. You might as well take a personal check for payment; it provides the same level of protection to merchants.

[Maximus1000]

So I have resolved the situation, what I did was I cancelled her order via paypal since it was showing up as partially eligible. I had her place an order not through paypal but with her credit card on my site. I had her sign a form saying that she wants to ship it to a different address than her billing address and that she authorizes that. I also had her fax a front and back copy of her credit card and also a copy of her drivers license. I sent the package with signature confirmation, so I think hopefully that should have covered everything. I also verified, she used the same IP to make a previous purchase, so I am assuming it should be ok.

[dickbaker]

It sounds like you've covered your bases. I wouldn't be so presumptive as to ask a customer for everything that you did. That she complied is admirable on her part.

[Maximus1000]

I would have my bases covered rather than have her dispute the charge later on and then lose $300. Also by sending me all of that information it confirmed to me that she was legit. If she wasn't going to send it, then I wasn't going to do the deal.

In the past I bought some expensive auto accessories but wanted them shipped to a different address then my billing address. I remember the store made me also provide the same details before they would ship the items ($400+). Thats where I got the idea to do this.

[ergophobe]

Yeah, I was going to say - sounds like someone sending something to family or friends in Viet Nam.

I am always adding new ship to addresses in Amazon. I now have about 12 addresses in four countries. All they make me do is reenter my CC details rather than using the card on file.

[dickbaker]

You're lucky to have such a cooperative customer.

I get many orders larger than that one, and it's not always easy. Today I had an order for a $1400 item. When the dollar amount gets that large, I ask the credit card company to contact the card holder to verify that he authorized the purchase. They refused to call him, saying it violated their policy.

The name of the card holder was a bit cartoonish, like "Crumley Ashwell III", so I was suspect. Besides, this $1400 item is frequently the target of fraud for me.

I did a search for that name in the city provided in the order, and called the number I found. Crumley Ashwell III has been dead for over 40 years. The number was for his estate trust.

I don't know why banks won't help fight fraud.

[bwnbwn]

I don't know why banks won't help fight fraud.

Good question as they don't give a rats a-- about the merchant cuz they know they won't pay you will. This pisses me off more than the fraud orders.

[dickbaker]

Good question as they don't give a rats a-- about the merchant cuz they know they won't pay you will. This pisses me off more than the fraud orders.

I'd love to see a push for federal legislation requiring banks to do verifications for merchants, but I'm afraid the banks have far too much clout for small merchants to engage them in a fight.

[dpd1]

If you think about it... Financial institutions are benefited by the buyer more than the seller. Even though there's people blatantly ripping people off with "I never got it" and all that BS... It doesn't matter to them, because those people typically still charge stuff and still have outstanding balances that they are most likely paying minimums on. Criminal or not, they're a cash cow. The people who are 100% criminals... They know they have no real chance of catching them. Even if they do, what will the bank or card company make from that? Nothing. They'll pay out more money getting involved, than if they just write it off.