# Tread lightly my friends...



## PhoenixGrafx (Jul 4, 2015)

I know there must be a better thread to post this in so hopefully the Mods will move or share this post….

Anyway… I get an unsolicited email from a dude named "Rich Malvin" he want's to order a 1000 Gildan 8000's. BLANK. (why not call Alpha or Sanmar yourself)? Flag number 1…

He talks big numbers on the second order if the first price is right. Flag number 2…

I ask him how he found me. He says "Facebook". Flag number 3…

After a few rounds of email's he decides he wants 2000 and he wants them "2nd day". Flag number 4….

So, I had a little time, I figured I'll F*** around with this thief….

I ask for his his name, billing address, shipping address and Credit Card Info. He gives me everything but the Credit Card Info… Flag number 5…

…. After being in business for over 30+ years, my "spidey sense" is tingling off the charts, but this could be a $1000 payday for nothing more than making a phone call. (yea, right!)...

I tell him fine, send me a PO and I'll get the order started. He says "he doesn't use PO's, this is for Charity. (yea, MINE!!) Flag number 6…

After 14 emails, back and forth, he calls me "Jeff", my name is jerry! it's been in EVERY ONE OF THE 14 EMAIL's, YOU DUMBASS!!! Flag number 7...

I finish my lunch, go back to work and the phone rings. It's "MALVIN"! Holy moly!!! Maybe this guy is legit after all!!! (bwaaahahahaha!!!)…

Rich Malvin has an EXTREMELY thick Indonesian accent. Think Microsoft help center thick, yet the call came from Maryland… Flag number 8….

So after bantering about a bit about the weather, the Redskins, the Ravens, the Orioles, (he has no idea what any of those things are) he springs it on me… Flag number 9….

…"Rich" asks what CC processor I use. I tell him Square (I don't), he tells me he refuses to deal with anyone that uses Square because of a "bad experience" he's had with them, (yea, probably saw through your BS like I did) and will only deal with me if I will use "Quickbooks" as the CC processor (somehow he knows I use Quickbooks)… Flag 10…

I decide to have more fun…

I bill him $12,000 for roughly $2000 worth of shirts…

He pays it!

IT GOES THROUGH!!! LOL!!!!

I Call Quickbooks and alert them. They couldn't care less…

So, here I am, with an extra $12,000 in my bank account (anybody want a beer? I'm buying!)…

I'll update as need.

Anyway, That's my fun for today, You guys be safe out there! Remember, if it's to good to be true, it ALWAYS IS!!!


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## gardenhillemb (Oct 29, 2015)

I hope you didn't give out any bank account numbers doing this. Also, if he used a cc you should alert the company because it's probably a stolen card and the owner doesn't know yet.


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## rastoma (Sep 21, 2014)

A typical scam like this will be him trying to get you to send part of the money back to him in cash. If he has his hands on a stolen CC that will allow a $12k charge to go through and is only expecting $2k worth of shirts that's pretty stupid. And as stupid as criminals are they are usually smart enough to know how to pull a con. 

My point is if he is trying to buy stolen merchandise then he could have bought $12k worth of laptops and cell phones and gotten at least 50% or more in cash after he resold the items. But he's going through all that work for t-shirts? And if he's reselling them like typically stolen items he's going to wholesale them in one lot and net a few hundred bucks.

While I think it's more than likely to be a scam somehow, it seems like there's a slight chance it could be a legit order. Granted a teeny, tiny slim chance.

The address he gave is an apartment building: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-fields-of-silver-spring-silver-spring

I know they won't give out a lot of personal information but I would call them to see if they at least have a person by that name living there. Then leave your name and number and see if they call you back. For the charge to have gone through the billing address would have to have been correct. So if it's a scammer, the scammer won't be living there.


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## gardenhillemb (Oct 29, 2015)

This scam has been going on for at least the past 15 years. It's not new and obviously they get enough to fall for it to keep it going.


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## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

Don't spend the money! Don't order the shirts! The CC company will probably pull 12K from your account as soon as they figure this out. With this scam, they usually don't want the shirts. You will probably soon get a request for something odd, like, "The customer wants a private carrier to pick up the shirts but they have to be paid in cash up front, so they need you to send $300 back to a different account." These guys are usually only after a few hundred bucks while their scam costs the victim thousands. Like the @$$ holes that will break your car window to steal some coins.


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## ExcelGuy (Aug 15, 2016)

If you end up keeping the money and feeling like investing in a tshirt designer... 😎

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk


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## PhoenixGrafx (Jul 4, 2015)

I'm a loud snorer… Don't think you want to be bunking with me in the gray bar hotel...


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## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

I got one of these the other day and I messed with him for awhile. He quickly agreed to my inflated price and wanted to pay extra because the shipper's credit card machine was broken and he needed cash, which I was to pay from the extra. I also could add $200 for myself as a tip. I told him this is the 21st century, why does the shipper need a machine to process a payment? I also told him to use a different shipper. Why should he accept that lame arrangement? He finally gave up and moved on. These guys don't want any shirts and there is no shipper. Once you wire them cash they're gone and the card turns out to be either fake or stolen. I don't know how they get the payment to initially go through.....


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## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

Ripcord said:


> I got one of these the other day and I messed with him for awhile. He quickly agreed to my inflated price and wanted to pay extra because the shipper's credit card machine was broken and he needed cash, which I was to pay from the extra. I also could add $200 for myself as a tip. I told him this is the 21st century, why does the shipper need a machine to process a payment? I also told him to use a different shipper. Why should he accept that lame arrangement? He finally gave up and moved on. These guys don't want any shirts and there is no shipper. Once you wire them cash they're gone and the card turns out to be either fake or stolen. I don't know how they get the payment to initially go through.....


It's usually a stolen # that is valid, that's why it goes through. They have a hole stack of #s which is why they always start off with "which cards do you accept" Once it is figured out, the CC company can pull that amount from your account with no warning and there is nothing you can do about it. They often give a bogus PO box or shipping address. I've heard about people who drop shipped right away before getting the odd shipping request. So after the bank card took the money back, they didn't even have the shirts they paid for. Anything on the world wide interweb, or the phone, that sounds too good to be true, IS.


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## PhoenixGrafx (Jul 4, 2015)

Printor said:


> It's usually a stolen # that is valid, that's why it goes through. They have a hole stack of #s which is why they always start off with "which cards do you accept" Once it is figured out, the CC company can pull that amount from your account with no warning and there is nothing you can do about it. They often give a bogus PO box or shipping address. I've heard about people who drop shipped right away before getting the odd shipping request. So after the bank card took the money back, they didn't even have the shirts they paid for. Anything on the world wide interweb, or the phone, that sounds too good to be true, IS.


Yup! That's why I shared "Rich's" information. I'm sure I'm not the first guy he's called and I'm also sure I won't be the last.


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## Printor (Apr 16, 2015)

PhoenixGrafx said:


> Yup! That's why I shared "Rich's" information. I'm sure I'm not the first guy he's called and I'm also sure I won't be the last.


 What has happened since the $12,000 cleared? what did he ask you to do?


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## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

It would be fun to do some kind of a sting on some of these guys. Apparently they contact all of us and although it seems amusing, they want nothing more than to take money from us that they don't deserve. Rather offensive.


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## Hotpuppy (Sep 21, 2016)

Ultimately, the problem with this is you get pinged for having touched a bad sale. Your bank will drop you if you have too many of these. 

You can also ask for a copy of the front and back of the card and a government issued ID. That will usually get rid of the scammers.

With the back or the card you can call the issuing bank and ask them to verify cardholder participation. Just explain that it is an unusual order for your business and you would like to make sure that it is not fraudulent. Most banks will play along and call the customer and see if they authorized the charge.

I always insist on being able to get a CID and AVS match when I run a card for a MOTO. (Mail or Telelphone order)


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