How to (almost) steal a new 12 core Mac Pro from Amazon with an unintended assist from me

[Acer]

Another reason why forcing you to use your real name on the web is a dumb idea. Yeah, it adds legitimacy to an online review, but Speedy's case is a massive downside.

Lucky the scammer didn't live nearby. He could use your Amazon review and googled address to help himself to a slightly used Mac Pro, and a few other things to pad the "order."

[Speedy]

Acer wrote:
Another reason why forcing you to use your real name on the web is a dumb idea. Yeah, it adds legitimacy to an online review, but Speedy's case is a massive downside.

Lucky the scammer didn't live nearby. He could use your Amazon review and googled address to help himself to a slightly used Mac Pro, and a few other things to pad the "order."

True and true. But obtaining a used Mac Pro probably isn't worth the risk while the risk involved with a few phone calls to Amazon is minimal.

[Black]

space-time wrote:
How did he get details, did he break into your amazon account?

Explained adequately in OP.

[Black]

space-time wrote:
I am surprised the scammer was able to convince three separate amazon CSR to make changes to the account without providing info such as CC number or other info to verify identity

Yup, gives a little insight into an obvious hole in their system. Kind of surprising for a company that slick.... Didn't someone here work for them? MAVIC?

[mrlynn]

Speedy wrote:
My name was on a review and I was a confirmed buyer. The web is your friend after that. If my name was John Smith then the scammer would move along but my name is unique to me. After that, Google is the scammers friend. And a griping customer who can't remember his lengthy order number...

Sounds like a real failing on the Amazon CSR's part: If the scammer pretended he couldn't remember the order number, all the CSR would have to say is, "Go to your Customer Account page by logging in with your user name and password, and you'll see all your orders there. Your email receipts will also have your order number on them. There is nothing I can do without the order number."

If I were Amazon, I'd fire that CSR.

/Mr Lynn

[Speedy]

space-time wrote:
I am surprised the scammer was able to convince three separate amazon CSR to make changes to the account without providing info such as CC number or other info to verify identity

Me, too. The scammer was quite capable. I do not know what info Nicholas L. provided so that Tina C. was willing to reship the Mac Pro. Nor why Swathi K. was convinced to add another 'ship to' address to my account. The CSR I spoke with handled the thing very matter-of-factly, just another call like any other.

[Black]

So a couple thoughts/questions:
-thanks for this info, very good to know
-Speedy, all e-mails had your full first and last name in the subject line, or at least the body, right?
I have yet to receive a mailing that does so that's not legit
-I just answered someone's question about a product I had purchased in the past on Amazon yesterday, and when I saw it posted with my full name I placated myself by reminding myself that there are at least 5 people in the Chicago area with the same name..... Speedy, if I looked up your full name for your city, would you be pretty much the only one? Or do you think there may have been other clues they used to zero in, e.g. they found you posting under your name somewhere else for something mac-related...?
-Anyone know if there's a way to not have one's full name appear, other than just not reviewing anything ever? I certainly didn't choose to have it that way.

[Speedy]

mrlynn wrote:
[quote=Speedy]
My name was on a review and I was a confirmed buyer. The web is your friend after that. If my name was John Smith then the scammer would move along but my name is unique to me. After that, Google is the scammers friend. And a griping customer who can't remember his lengthy order number...

Sounds like a real failing on the Amazon CSR's part: If the scammer pretended he couldn't remember the order number, all the CSR would have to say is, "Go to your Customer Account page by logging in with your user name and password, and you'll see all your orders there. Your email receipts will also have your order number on them. There is nothing I can do without the order number."

If I were Amazon, I'd fire that CSR.

/Mr Lynn
Scammers are slick as can be. A decade ago I was almost convinced by a scammer that I needed to supply more info for a $19k car I bought on eBay. This was back when you could fairly easily get a phone number for any username/bidder. The scammer told me the info was required because of the size of the transaction. I was a heartbeat away from providing the info, he was very slick. A CSR who is new to the job, who is gullible, not well trained, who doesn't want a customer to complain to his/her superior, etc. could be easy prey for a pro.

[Speedy]

Black wrote:
So a couple thoughts/questions:
-thanks for this info, very good to know
-Speedy, all e-mails had your full first and last name in the subject line, or at least the body, right?
I have yet to receive a mailing that does so that's not legit
-I just answered someone's question about a product I had purchased in the past on Amazon yesterday, and when I saw it posted with my full name I placated myself by reminding myself that there are at least 5 people in the Chicago area with the same name..... Speedy, if I looked up your full name for your city, would you be pretty much the only one? Or do you think there may have been other clues they used to zero in, e.g. they found you posting under your name somewhere else for something mac-related...?
-Anyone know if there's a way to not have one's full name appear, other than just not reviewing anything ever? I certainly didn't choose to have it that way.

The emails where I substituted Speedy had my first name only. Those where I did not use Speedy are just as I received them except I x'ed out the last four numerals of the order number when it was included. I imagine the emails were sent as confirmation of what was said and done rather than as any sort of security measure like eBay uses.

If Googled, I'm the only one on earth with my name although on its face it looks to be common enough.

[Buzz]

Speedy wrote:
[quote=Black]
So a couple thoughts/questions:
-thanks for this info, very good to know
-Speedy, all e-mails had your full first and last name in the subject line, or at least the body, right?
I have yet to receive a mailing that does so that's not legit
-I just answered someone's question about a product I had purchased in the past on Amazon yesterday, and when I saw it posted with my full name I placated myself by reminding myself that there are at least 5 people in the Chicago area with the same name..... Speedy, if I looked up your full name for your city, would you be pretty much the only one? Or do you think there may have been other clues they used to zero in, e.g. they found you posting under your name somewhere else for something mac-related...?
-Anyone know if there's a way to not have one's full name appear, other than just not reviewing anything ever? I certainly didn't choose to have it that way.

The emails where I substituted Speedy had my first name only. Those where I did not use Speedy are just as I received them except I x'ed out the last four numerals of the order number when it was included. I imagine the emails were sent as confirmation of what was said and done rather than as any sort of security measure like eBay uses.

If Googled, I'm the only one on earth with my name although on its face it looks to be common enough.
I know three more people here in CA w/ Black's name, 2 in the LA area, and another up in the SF area. There are probably dozens more that we don't know. Having a common name can be helpful in some instances, and not so much in others. Speedy's relative uniqueness probably made this scam easier to perpetrate. Glad it was caught in time.

///