Background: I am an internet based jeweler. Our company regularly ships jewelry all over the USA, and a few international packages per month. Most shipments average $800-8,000. Many customers have transaction limits on their credit cards and have to call their bank to approve our transactions. After many years of doing this, we have never had a single chargeback due to a fraudulent transaction (though have cancelled some questionable orders).
The order in question came from a customer in the UK. We have a fair number of customers in the UK. He asked a few normal questions about an item that costs a few thousand dollars, asked for a video (which we provided) and seems like a standard customer. He also asked what taxes might be expected from customs. He wanted to pay for most of it now and the rest after his next paycheck arrives. To charge his card the first time, he had to call his bank twice (transaction was denied because it was high value international), but it went through.
About a week later, he said we could charge the balance, and it went through fine. We shipped the diamond to his address in the UK via FedEx. UK customs would not release it until he pays about $1000 in duties and VAT (that amount is correct). Here is where it gets a little strange.
He said he doesn't have that amount (despite knowing it in advance), and asks for it to be sent to "a relative" in the USA instead, "to save time". We quote him return shipping and he is okay with that. The package just arrived back in our possession. We charged the card again today for return shipping and it went through fine. We have not contacted or heard from him since he told FedEx to "return to sender" a week ago.
After a quick search, the man in the USA he wants us to ship it to lived in Nigeria up until January (according to LinkedIn). This person has a different last name from the original customer. The original customer is on Twitter and retweeted a post about the Nigerian soccer team in February, so may legitimately be from there or have relatives from there. He has some other internet presence and seems to have been in the UK for at least a few years.
With many fraudulent credit card transactions, they want the transaction to be done as quick as possible, yet this is now about three weeks and we have the item back in our possession. All our emails with this customer seem as normal as any other, though this is the first time we have come across an international "return to sender" with reshipping to a different US address.
If the new recipient had the same last name or didn't just arrive from Nigeria, I probably wouldn't be posting this. I don't want to stereotype, and know not everyone from Nigeria are scammers, but it is an expensive item and I'd rather be safe than sorry. For the record, no funds or shipments are going to or from Nigeria. We were paid with a UK credit card in multiple charges over about three weeks.
Do you see a cause for concern? Thanks in advance for any feedback.
The order in question came from a customer in the UK. We have a fair number of customers in the UK. He asked a few normal questions about an item that costs a few thousand dollars, asked for a video (which we provided) and seems like a standard customer. He also asked what taxes might be expected from customs. He wanted to pay for most of it now and the rest after his next paycheck arrives. To charge his card the first time, he had to call his bank twice (transaction was denied because it was high value international), but it went through.
About a week later, he said we could charge the balance, and it went through fine. We shipped the diamond to his address in the UK via FedEx. UK customs would not release it until he pays about $1000 in duties and VAT (that amount is correct). Here is where it gets a little strange.
He said he doesn't have that amount (despite knowing it in advance), and asks for it to be sent to "a relative" in the USA instead, "to save time". We quote him return shipping and he is okay with that. The package just arrived back in our possession. We charged the card again today for return shipping and it went through fine. We have not contacted or heard from him since he told FedEx to "return to sender" a week ago.
After a quick search, the man in the USA he wants us to ship it to lived in Nigeria up until January (according to LinkedIn). This person has a different last name from the original customer. The original customer is on Twitter and retweeted a post about the Nigerian soccer team in February, so may legitimately be from there or have relatives from there. He has some other internet presence and seems to have been in the UK for at least a few years.
With many fraudulent credit card transactions, they want the transaction to be done as quick as possible, yet this is now about three weeks and we have the item back in our possession. All our emails with this customer seem as normal as any other, though this is the first time we have come across an international "return to sender" with reshipping to a different US address.
If the new recipient had the same last name or didn't just arrive from Nigeria, I probably wouldn't be posting this. I don't want to stereotype, and know not everyone from Nigeria are scammers, but it is an expensive item and I'd rather be safe than sorry. For the record, no funds or shipments are going to or from Nigeria. We were paid with a UK credit card in multiple charges over about three weeks.
Do you see a cause for concern? Thanks in advance for any feedback.