Victim Location 01742
Type of a scam Counterfeit Product
A man emailed me to order 5 large prints and wanted them shipped to him in Budapest, using his preferred shipping company, Pavet Express Delivery Service.
Pavet Express looks like a very legit shipping company, judging from their web site. And the customer sent me his credit card info, which was approved! On the other hand, his original inquiry came marked as spam and his grammar was not correct. But then again, he was very specific about the prints he wanted, how he learned about my web site, etc. He definitely had done his homework! So he was quite credible.
A red flag was that he was willing to pay $972 for shipping goods that only cost him $750. (He paid me a total of over $1700). I was especially suspicious that if I paid the shipping company, he would immediately cancel his order and I would be out $972. The clincher came when the shipping company told me they could only accept cash or wire transfer. At that point, I immediately cancelled the order and refunded his credit card. (was it actually his? or stolen?) Havent heard from him since.