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Mysterious Crimes
Mar. 16th, 2013 10:39 amA few weeks ago, some malefactor got hold of Kestrell's credit card info and made some unauthorized purchases. This, in and of itself, isn't very mysterious; just part of doing business on the internet. The bank had already noticed and reversed one of the charges before we did, and was pretty efficient about dealing with the others and issuing Kes a new card. So we're out some time and annoyance, but no actual cash.
The mysterious part is, these unauthorized online purchases were mailed to *our* house. It makes sense for thieves to want to buy stuff, but why would they send it to us?
Theory 1: When thieves get a new card, they test the waters first by making a few smallish purchases to see if anyone notices. Banks know this, and have complex automated systems for detecting anomalies. And, just as in the spammer-vs-filter arms race, the thieves are getting more sophisticated about making test purchases which look legit to the bank's bots. The things that were ordered 'for' us were from *categories* of things that Kes *does* purchase on-line, though she wouldn't have ought these specific items.
Theory 2: The companies which were 'purchased' from are actually in collusion with the thieves. If no one notices the false purchases, they've made a sale. If someone *does* notice, the have some sort of insurance that reimburses them for being one of the thieves' apparent victims. One of the 'purchases' was on a monthly subscription model, so it's possible that if you don't notice (or even if you do), they'll send you more of it later and try to bill you for that. This is the one that the bank called as fraudulent before we even noticed, which also suggests a past history of complaints against this company. And despite the bank reversing the charges very quickly after them being made, on a Sunday, the packages were mailed out anyways. And the invoice (which explained the subscription model angle) wasn't actually included in the package, but mailed separately, later. Meanwhile, the other package, while it did include a packing slip, had a return policy that extracted such a large "restocking fee that I suspect it is seen as a profit center for them.
Of course, theory 1 and 2 don't contradict each other so could both be true.
Sharing the info, partially 'cause it makes a good story, and partially to increase awareness that this sort of thing is going on.
The mysterious part is, these unauthorized online purchases were mailed to *our* house. It makes sense for thieves to want to buy stuff, but why would they send it to us?
Theory 1: When thieves get a new card, they test the waters first by making a few smallish purchases to see if anyone notices. Banks know this, and have complex automated systems for detecting anomalies. And, just as in the spammer-vs-filter arms race, the thieves are getting more sophisticated about making test purchases which look legit to the bank's bots. The things that were ordered 'for' us were from *categories* of things that Kes *does* purchase on-line, though she wouldn't have ought these specific items.
Theory 2: The companies which were 'purchased' from are actually in collusion with the thieves. If no one notices the false purchases, they've made a sale. If someone *does* notice, the have some sort of insurance that reimburses them for being one of the thieves' apparent victims. One of the 'purchases' was on a monthly subscription model, so it's possible that if you don't notice (or even if you do), they'll send you more of it later and try to bill you for that. This is the one that the bank called as fraudulent before we even noticed, which also suggests a past history of complaints against this company. And despite the bank reversing the charges very quickly after them being made, on a Sunday, the packages were mailed out anyways. And the invoice (which explained the subscription model angle) wasn't actually included in the package, but mailed separately, later. Meanwhile, the other package, while it did include a packing slip, had a return policy that extracted such a large "restocking fee that I suspect it is seen as a profit center for them.
Of course, theory 1 and 2 don't contradict each other so could both be true.
Sharing the info, partially 'cause it makes a good story, and partially to increase awareness that this sort of thing is going on.