The Connecticut Better Business Bureau is warning of a delivery scam that can empty unsuspecting victims’ bank accounts. It revolves around the delivery of alcohol via shipping services.
A consumer told the BBB she was contacted over the phone by a delivery company verifying the need to deliver wine and flowers to an adult at her address. A time was set, what appeared to be a legitimate delivery person showed up in uniform, and asked for a $3.50 “delivery/verification” charge because the basket contained liquor. The fee was supposedly required to prove that the package was received by an adult of drinking age, instead of being left outside where a minor would have access to it.
The driver wouldn’t accept cash. Instead, he swiped the consumer’s credit card with a mobile device and asked that the consumer enter the card’s Personal Identification Number (PIN), and then handed her a receipt for the payment.
Then the consumer noticed over the next five days $4,000 was taken from her account at ATMs or through purchases. The BBB says that the criminal used the mobile pin pad to copy the card.
The Better Business Bureau advises that any delivery fee should be a red flag. It says delivery companies do not require payment of fees as a condition of delivery.
It also advises, “As a general rule, you should never give out financial or personal information to anyone over the telephone, online or at the front door unless you initiated the transaction.”
