**CREDIT CARD FRAUD OVER THE INTERNET**

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POST OFORIGIN: ALMATY

DATE OF REPORT (YYMMDD):     000112

 

AUTHOR:  PATRICK SMELLER

 

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT,U.S. & FOREIGN COMMERCIAL SERVICE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 2000. ALLRIGHTS RESERVED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.

 

1.  LET THE SELLERBEWARE

 

CS Almaty wishes to warnU.S. companies of a recent rash of cases involving the purchase of merchandiseover the Internet using stolen credit card numbers.  In most instances, the fraudulent company is seeking to buycomputer equipment from small-to-medium-size U.S. computer companies withlittle-to-no export experience. Some companies are so eager to make the sale that they forget to askthemselves basic due diligence questions. This kind of “blind date” approach to doing business can and have cost companies tens of thousandsof dollars in bad sales with little chance of recovering their money ormerchandise.

 

2.   CARPETBAGGERS INCYBERSPACE: HOW THEY DO IT

 

Jumpingfrom e-mail address to e-mail address, modern-day carpetbaggers can easilyswindle their targets with little fear of ever being brought to justice.

 

Usuallyan e-mail address is the only real -- albeit temporary -- information that a phony company will give to its unsuspectingvictim.  Everything else -- names of itsrepresentatives, company address, telephone/fax numbers, etc. -- is usually as bogus as the “company” itself.  Phony companies are often “located” in a remote city somewherein the former Soviet Union, a convenient location given the combination of badtelephone lines and the huge time difference.  This more or less forces U.S. companies to communicateexclusively through the Internet. When there are telephone calls, chances are that they’ll come from the “buyer”.

 

After several instances of back-and-forth, “trust-building” e-mailcorrespondence between the phony company and the target, an order, to bedelivered by express airmail, is finally placed using one or more stolen creditcard numbers. According to the regional security officer of the U.S. Embassy inAlmaty, organized crime rings and others with access to credit card numberssell this information or use it themselves to purchase merchandise. After thephony company gets the airway bill number, it immediately asks the expressdelivery company to hold the package (after all, the mailing address isprobably a fake).  The carpetbaggerthen stops by, signs for the package, and disappears into the Internet etherworld.

 

3.    DON’TFALL FOR IT

 

Several U.S. companies recently avoided being ripped offin the above kind of scam, because they checked in with their nearest U.S.Export Assistance Center (USEAC) before making any agreements.  USEACs, together with U.S. CommercialService offices around the world, counsel U.S. exporters on qualifyingpotential buyers and making smart business decisions about potential foreigncompany clients.

 

To find the USEAC or U.S.Commercial Service office nearest you, call 1-800 USA-TRADE (872-8723) or visitthe website: www.usatrade.gov.

 

## 4. OTHER helpful contacts for doing business in Kazakhstan

 

Business Information Service forthe Newly Independent States (BISNIS)

USA Trade Center

Washington, D.C. 20230

Tel: (202) 482-4655

Fax: (202) 482-2293

E-mail: [email protected]

Home page: www.bisnis.doc.gov

Contacts: JudithRobinson, International Trade Specialist

Derek Nowek,International Trade Specialist

 

(Informationclearinghouse for U.S. companies interested in doing business in the formerSoviet Union.)

 

AmericanChamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan

Address: 531 Seyfullin Prospect, 4th floor, Suites 414-416

Almaty 480091, Kazakhstan 

Tel: 7 (3272) 58-79-38

Fax: 7 (3272) 58-79-39

Contact: Diana Brett,Executive Director

 

(A non-profit,non-governmental organization affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. TheAmCham has more than 70 member companies representing a diverse group of U.S.and international businesses in nearly every industry sector.)

 

The U.S. Commercial Service Almaty

U.S. Embassy Almaty

Address: 531 Seyfullin Prospect, 3rd floor

Almaty 480091, Kazakhstan 

Tel: 7 (3272) 58-79-20, 58-79-24

Fax: 7 (3272) 58-79-22 

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.usis.kz/csalmaty

Contact: Ms. Julie Snyder,Senior Commercial Officer

         Mr.Patrick Smeller, Commercial Officer