Alert – Business Courier Fraud

BUSINESS COURIER FRAUD

Lincolnshire Police have recently seen an increase in Business Courier Fraud targeting Small and Medium Enterprises in Lincolnshire.

HOW DOES THIS WORK

• Potential buyer orders goods of significant value over the phone
• Courier (potentially innocent) sent to collect the ordered goods
• Payment made with a stolen credit card over the phone
• Repeatedly makes further orders paying with different credit cards
• Once the victim of the stolen credit card reports the transaction, The Bank payment systems charge the payment back to the retailer who will have to stand the loss

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

• Take care to vet all new buyers using established due diligence procedures
• Raise awareness with your staff
• Be alert to buyers repeatedly ordering goods with different credit cards
• Be alert to couriers (potentially innocent) collecting telephone orders
• Report a crime on 101 or if a crime in action call 999

RECENT EXAMPLE

A local business was contacted by a person purporting to be a party planner based elsewhere in the country.  The person made multiple orders valued from £450 - £1000 a time.  Payments were made on “company” credit cards, when a payment was declined the person offered another credit card number claiming that their accounts must be slow to pay. Collection was arranged by the person and couriers collected the goods. Over 4-6 days over 30 orders were collected to a value of almost £30000.  On review between 40-50 different credit cards were used to pay for the goods.  The victim company only became aware when they were contacted by their card payment provider about the charge backs.

Angela Lambert     Crime Reduction Tactical Advisor/Fraud Prevention