Avoiding Fraudulent Orders and Scams that love to Target small Handcrafting Businesses! Protect Yourself!

As a natural handmade soap maker or Etsy business, you work hard to create your product, take great photos, spend time marketing by writing amazing product descriptions and rejoice as each order trickles into your business...then something wonderful happens!! You receive an amazingly huge order from overseas...YES!  But NO...it may not be what it seems.

Unfortunately, fraudulent orders and scams often target small handmade companies, hoping to taking advantage of a small business owner’s excitement and dedication to growing their business. This happened to me only recently and I want to share my experience with you...just in case you too are targeted! I felt so excited when I saw the following email from the contact page on this website. 

Name
Schuyler Bedge
Comment
Hello,
I want to order from you company to my store in Spain, And do you accept credit card as form of payment?
i will be waiting to read back from you at your earliest convenience.
Schuyler 
Email
slinashoppe@gmail.com

I replied ...
Hello Schuyler
thank you for your enquiry. I do offer payment via credit card. I would be happy to hear more from you and hope to be able to offer you what you need.
best wishes
Janine

Sounds good so far:)  
My main concern was how much I had in stock and postage costs. So I awaited a further response, and it was then that my alarm bells went off! You know those metaphorical alarms that reside somewhere inside your brain or gut or both...well they just began to have a party!

This was the email response I received...

Hello,
Thanks for your reply back. Its a pleasure receiving your reply back. I want to order for the below items for my customer's here, I want you to reply back with the total cost plus shipping quote. We're ready and can't wait to receive these wonderful products of yours here.
Your utmost reply back with the total quote will be highly appreciated.

THE ITEMS I'M INTERESTED IN ORDERING FOR IS LISTED BELOW AND ALSO MY ADDRESS FOR THE SHIPPING QUOTE:::
Chocolate soap gift box
QTY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20
Australian Eucalyptus Soap with Lavender flowers, Eucalyptus soap, Lavender flower, Vegan Bar Soap, No Palm Oil, etsyau, Australian soap
QTY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20

Castile soap,Castile soap with Lavender, Lavender soap, Pure Olive Oil soap, natural vegan soap, etsyau, Australian seller, bar soap
QTY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20

Vanilla Body Lotion, Mothers Day, Vanilla Body, Vanilla body moisturiser, etsyau
QTY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20

Organic Antioxidant Facial Oil,Organic facial serum,organic skincare,Organic Antioxidant Radiance Oil, Certified organic oil
QTY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20

Gift box 3 Soap Set, Christmas Gift, Teacher' Gift, 3 Soaps in a gift box,Sampler soap Gift Set, Soap Gift Box, Australian seller, etsyau
TY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20

Damask Rose Handmade Soap Bar, Damask Rose soap, Vegan Handmade soap, Rose Soap
QTY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20

Coconut Soap,Natural coconut cream soap with organic coconut, handmade natural soap, bar soap
QTY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::20

...ADDRESS FOR THE SHIPPING QUOTE........

Calle de Atocha, 415, 28012 Madrid, Spain

Hope to read back from you with the total cost and we can proceed and finalized my order.
God bless you,

Schuyler.

My first reaction was panic!! I can't possibly supply this much product in less than six weeks!! What to do?  Then...my brain kicked in!
On re-reading I noticed what should have been immediately obvious...the grammar, spelling and punctuation, the cut and paste form, and the overly eager  nature of the request. 

So I did a bit of detective work.

Here is some information from the  Modern Soap Making website that will help you, like me, be able to identify and avoid the scammer! Interestingly, the information below dealt with this exact same fraudulent scammer!! 

Here’s some red flags you should look out for before you get too excited about large international orders:

• Orders involving the same multiple quantities of differing items (this scammer is requesting 20 of everything.)
• Urgent or rushed requests, such as next-day shipping or phrasing that urges you into action (“We’re ready and can’t wait to receive these wonderful products if yours here. Your utmost reply back with the total quote will be highly appreciated.”)
• Poor grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling (“Hope to read back from you with the total cost and we can proceed and finalized my order.” – say what?)

Even if you have doubts using these factors as a way to screen out fraudulent order requests and scammers, you can do even more due diligence. You can check into an international bulk order request more thoroughly by:

• Checking the email for areas that feel like a form letter or copy and paste job. The entire middle section of the email is clearly a form letter that has been filled in to fit my products.
• Checking if they have ordered from you before. If not, why would they order a huge amount with no previous experience or samples? If you want to be sure, ask how they found you – I bet they’ve never even gotten a whiff of your wonderful smell-goods.
• Checking the shipping and billing address of orders on Google Maps. The handy dandy Street View makes it possible for you to see exactly where the address is located. You may also want to check this list of countries with the highest fraud risk to get a good idea of whether it is a legit order.
• Checking that the IP address is located where they say they are located, if your email or contact form provides an IP address. (They usually aren’t where they say they are!) If possible, integrate a better contact form that shows what pages the visitor viewed before they contacted you (so you can tell if they browsed or went straight to your contact form) andwhere they are located via IP address.
• Checking their feedback or ratings, if it is through an online venue, such as Etsy. If they don’t have any feedback, why would they be shopping for their store on Etsy?
• Checking the all-knowing Google machine. Copy and paste, and google: the email address that sent it, the receiving address they are requesting it be shipped to, and the person’s name/business name.
• Checking a phone number, if provided. If they provide a phone number, call it as a last resort. It’s likely a bad number and only provided to make it look real.

Does the email check out? Well, hey, it’s not impossible to get international orders – I promise! 

​Before fulfilling a large international order, you want to make sure that:

• You use your own shipping service, and ship to the billing address. Anyone requesting to use a third-party shipping service is bad news and mismatching shipping/billing addresses can be sketchy.
• You do not accept credit card payment on new customers’ international bulk orders. Only accept payment through methods in which you can verify the funds are truly received, such as a wire transfer through your bank (if there are transfer fees, pass those on to the customer!)
• You do not ship a single drop of product until you have the full amount of money for the order in hand and verified by your bank.

So, how do these scams and fraudulent orders play out?
Scammers use stolen credit cards to purchase your items, and pressure you to ship quickly. In the end, the scammer receives your products, while you receive no cashola (or worse, a giant chargeback.) Ouch.
Scammers may also request you to overcharge a credit card and pay a third party shipper or freight company (a fake one, at that.) When the chargeback on the card comes through, you are out your product AND the money you sent to the fraudulent third party.


When it comes down to it, listen to your instincts. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Well, I had a happy ending and did not fall into the too good to be true dollar trap! I replied to the above email with some strict guidelines as to how I would proceed with the order, stating I would only consider payment through direct deposit and tracked shipping with Australia Post...needless to say, all has been quiet from this scammer:) 

Have you received any fraudulent orders? Or worse...did you find out when it was too late? I would love to hear your experience. 
​

Thank you to these websites for their information and help in identifying this Fraudulent Purchaser.
http://steepster.com/discuss/12498-does-anyone-know-a-private-shipping-company-x-press-freight-forwarder-inc-dot?page=2&post_id=197303

 http://www.modernsoapmaking.com/about-modern-soapmaking/​