This is Audrey Schällibaum. I am an RN in L&D, and a student lactation
consultant. I happen to be profoundly Deaf. I use the Relay Service as part
of communication everyday. Please do not allow this fraud alert to interfere
with your service with the Deaf community. I have had many hang-ups when I
call other departments (ie., labs, radiology, etc.) or even the physician's
offices. Some even refused to accept Relay calls, and this is very, very
frustrating.
It is the subject of the conversation you should be more concerned about,
not about *how* the other person is calling you. Unfortunately these scams do
happen - those relay are website relays where one cannot trace the origin of
the calls. Websites are accessible anywhere in the universe and that is how
those crooks are taking advantage of these website relays services (where the
US phone calls are free). Like all orders - never ever give out your
credit card numbers unless *you* originated the call.
While this is starting to get a little bit off-topic, if you have questions,
feel free to E-mail me off-list. Thank you for your attention to this
clarification.
Audrey Schällibaum, RN
In a message dated 2/23/2005 14:27:41 Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 10:31:05 -0800
From: Lisa Marasco IBCLC <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: fraud alert
Two days ago I was contacted by someone through the deaf telephone relay
system. They claimed to be a physician in charge of an organization
promoting breastfeeding in La Mesa, California (about 5 hours from me). They
wanted a couple of breastpumps and were willing to take what I had in stock,
and then wanted a few more. They wanted the credit card transaction run
*while* we were on the phone and they asked for the authorization code. They
wanted the pump shipped ASAP and they wanted the tracking number. The next
day they emailed me and said they wanted 5 more. When I inquired for more
information on their organization (I asked for their website) and how they
got my name, they ignored that email and again asked if I had shipped yet. I
contacted my credit card company's security dept, who contacted the
cardholder's bank, who contacted the card holder, and it was confirmed that
the transaction was fraudulent. I had run the card through and it had been
"authorized," but I had not shipped, thank goodness. There were multiple red
flags and I'm glad that I paid attention to them, as I did not lose
anything.
My processing company just called to ask me a few more questions because
another small lactation business like mine just made inquiry about an
identical transaction to the identical location. They unfortunately had
shipped two pumps and did not investigate until the people wanted "five
more," and so are out that money. My processing company explained to me
that "authorization codes" indicate that the card has enough credit on it to
cover the purchase; it is not a guarantee of payment, especially under
fraudulent conditions. They ultimately would have charged me back and I'm
the one who would have been burned.
Since two of us were hit in California within 24 hours, there will probably
be more. Please be especially vigilant about deaf relay phone orders and any
kind of phone order for multiple items. If it's too good to be true, it's
probably not true.
~Lisa Marasco
Santa Maria, CA
PS-- Yes, I contacted the police dept in that city, who confirmed that it
was a real address, and offered to help with a sting. They weren't
interested. The fraud investigator told me that there was a chance that the
thieves would have re-routed the shipment, often to an African country. It's
a pretty big scam.
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