MONSTERS: Just what is this?

We're not sure what this creature is. Its teeth look mammalian and herbivorous. It could be a large ungulate judging by the skull morphology but what was it doing in the Sakhalin sea, where it washed up on the Russian coast? The body also seems to be disproportionately long, as can be seen in the other photographs available on the site from which this picture was borrowed.

Deliciously creepy.

Click on the image to visit the originating site.

FRAUD: Credit this

Of course, we make our living by selling things, so it's always nice to get a message such as this one, from kuss**@surimail.com:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Ong L Kuss** from Singapore, I want to order the FoxBox Portable Oxygen & Carbon Dioxide Analysis System, Qty:10 units.

How much the price? Do you shipping to Singapore and accept payment by credit cards?

I look forward to your reply, thank you.

Sincerely,
Ong L Kuss**.

How nice - a very large order! Then you start noticing a few things, and they're major alert factors.

1. The writer is from Singapore (Nigeria is another popular base).
2. The writer uses a web-based email account that's easy to fake.
3. The writer wants to pay by credit card.

Now, any one of these factors isn't troubling by itself, but when they cluster together like this, they spell PROBABLE FRAUD. Let's see if the writer graduates to TOTAL FRAUD. So, we reply to his email and ask him for a credit card number and shipping preferences.

Here's his reply:

Card Type: Visa
Name on Card: Ong L Kuss**
Card Number: 4719************
Exp. Date: 03/07

Billing address:

Company: DUTA International Pte Ltd
Address: 2 Boon Leat Terrace #01-03
City/State: Harbourside
Zip: 119844
Country: Singapore
Phone: 65-6377-1551
Fax: 65-6377-1221

And the shipping preference is the fastest available, overnight if possible.

OK, we have TOTAL FRAUD. Why? Two additional reasons.

1. The writer wants the absolutely fastest possible shipping.
2. The writer specifies a mail-drop as his address.

The mail-drop looks like a nice enough little company (http://www.dutafreight.com/) that we're sure isn't in on this act.

Calling the VISA international center (800-847-2911) establishes that the card was issued by US Bank, and gives a contact number: 877-734-8742. Calling that number is frustrating; it's for an "REI Visa" and it's difficult to get through to a human. Finally, pressing ##### does the trick, we explain the situation, and are put on hold for the fraud department. We're on hold for TEN minutes; when we finally get through, the fraud guy appears to think he's doing us a huge favor by confirming that the card was not, in fact, issued to Mr. Kuss** in Singapore. But the fraud guy says he won't alert the card owner to the fact that his card number is floating around cyberspace. We offer to email him the correspondence but he says US Bank doesn't have email, and gives us a FAX number (701-461-2300) that it turns out is not, in fact, attached to a FAX machine. Wonderful customer service, US Bank. We've reported this type of fraud to a number of different banks, and so far, Fifth Third has had the best fraud department and US Bank the most USless by a SUpersized margin.

So you might wonder how Mr. Kuss** intended to profit from this deal. It's simple. Here's what he does:

1. Get a web-based email account and invent a name.
   
2. Place an order for several expensive, sellable items. Jewelry is a favorite with these scam artists, but expensive scientific equipment will do.
   
3. Give a fraudulently obtained credit card number. The number and expiration date will check out as valid unless the merchant goes to the trouble of matching names.
4. Specify a mail-drop address.
   
5. Specify the fastest possible shipping.

Here's what a naive merchant would do and experience:

1. Check the credit card number - it exists and has funds.
2. Ship the goods by FedEx or DHL Courier.
3. Congratulations, merchant, on a great sale!
4. Receive a call from the credit card company a couple of days later denying the charges and demanding the money be repaid immediately - often with an additional penalty.
5. Attempt to contact Mr. Kuss** without success.
6. Contact the mail-drop. Sorry, but the goods are gone.
   
7. Contact law enforcement in Singapore (or Nigeria) and get the run-around.
   

When a bank has a good fraud department, it's amusing to string the would-be fraud artist along and request more and more credit card numbers, and pass them over to the issuing bank. Our record was 12 credit card numbers (all Fifth Third) from a Nigerian scammer operating on Hotmail. Mr. Kuss** subsequently sent us another two REI card numbers, and we tried reporting them with the same result - the card holder's name didn't match Mr. Kuss**'s, so once again, fraud ahoy. But the fraud guy again said he would not alert the card holders that their credit card information is common currency in Singapore.

Once again we asked ourselves: Why try to report fraud to a bank that doesn't give a rat's patootie about their customers' security? US Bank's fraud department is such a sick joke that we'll simply resolve the issue by directing Mr. Kuss** to this blog next time he contacts us. We do feel sorry for the REI cardholders, but what more can we do?

Of course, we do encourage legitimate customers to use credit cards. That includes overseas customers. But be prepared for a degree of skepticism if you contact us via a web email account, and want express shipping to a mail drop. That said, if anyone holding their own real REI Visa card wants to buy a FoxBox (or ten) from us, we'd love to hear from you!