Forum Moderators: buckworks
But we had great cooperation from an out of town police dept (in N.C.) a few years ago. The crook had committed a few other web scams, but nothing big. Last I heard they had arrested him.
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Virtually every post here over the years (especially from the U.K.) has indicated the local police had ZERO interest in web fraud. Is that always the case?
Ive been involved in various businesses over the years and have only had one positive result I.e the crook was charged.
However I did have to hand it to them on a plate, I had the girls home address and phone number and several witnesses, one of whom was the mayor.
I was involved in case where a car of mine stolen and used in a ram raid, I had this on tape you could clearly see the two blokes involved, when the car was recovered and returned to me, I caught these two on tape again inspecting the car.
I even knew where they lived in the block next to me. They were never prosecuted.
when I now have cause to call the police I dont bother when they call asking for video tapes of events in the street, I now refuse to co-operate.
waste of time, so if your in doubt about a credit card just dont take it.
I found the purchaser was in a different state than the card holder. I contacted the shipping company to try to stop the package. They were not able to, so I called the local police department. The lucky thing was that the town was VERY small in KY I think. I gave the police the address it was sent to, the item description, etc...
They went to the house, rang the door bell, etc... A hispanic couple came to the door (speaking no english) and gave the product to the police. The police suspect someone who did not live there, ordered the product, and was going to go to these people's house saying it was delivered to the wrong address and "give me the package"...
The police brought the package back to their station, I gave them a prepaid shipping label, and I got the package back in a week.
This would never have happened in Queens or Brooklyn.
But this is the situation:
You phone and say that someone ordered a £1000 item on your site with a fraudulent card... and you have a name and address and phone number.
They look at it and think: The person living at this address is going to deny everything. He'll say that someone else used his address and phone number. How do we prove it in a court?
You will reply: Check his PC.
Police: But he could have erased everything
You: How do you know unless you go through his hard disk? He could have cookies, his email could have the automated receipt our ecommerce software sent him.
Police: What's a hard disk, what's a cookie?
You: Don't you know anything about PCs?
Police: We have a specialist high-tech crime unit that handles this sort of stuff.
You: Well, let them investigate this.
Police: OK, I'll pass it on.
You: High tech crime unit, what's happening? Did you get my complaint?
HTCU: Yes.
You: Why aren't you doing anything?
HTCU: We are trying to find the grounds to go in there and confiscate his computer.
You: What more grounds do you need? I'll give you copies of his order and his email.
HTCU: But that's not enough grounds to barge into someone's house and confiscate his computer.
You: Well, what grounds do you need?
HTCU: He needs to have committed an offense first.
You: (Pull your hair out, bang your head against the wall... which is what you should have done in the first place instead of calling the police!)
However, I DID get a lot of support and help from the national high tech crime unit. They are interested in fraud because it often funds more serious crime. If you contact the national office they can put you in touch with a more local office. nhtcu.org
who knows looking around the car park they may find an untaxed car. What crime!.
