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PhaedrusMC

PhaedrusMC

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I got stung by a debit card fraud this week.

Expecting arrival of new gloves from Louis.ie on Monday, I got a text saying package was being held due to an outstanding €1.68 shipping cost. Wary, but under pressure in work, I (now ashamedly) followed the link in the text and attempted to pay - I was excited to get my gloves. The payment failed, I became even more wary, and I abandoned it so I could get back to work.

I got a call within minutes from Bank Of Ireland card fraud department, asking me to confirm some details. Knowing this to be a scam, I hung up and called the real Bank Of Ireland, who told me they'd seen and caught the scam, and refunded me the €1.68, and cancelled my debit card, and were sending me out a new replacement card.

They said that with the COVID lockdown, www buying went through the roof and consequently so did scamming/hacking activity.

Dumb of me to fall for it, but distracted by work and excited to get my gloves... :blast

The gloves did actually arrive Monday - clever scam had a lot of specific info...
 
Last edited:
Thats scary, even without the distractions of work, I could have fallen for that. Was it random or had they access to your order / shipment details?
 
Transaction was done using business PayPal payment direct on Lous.ie website.

They quoted a package/shipping/tracking number - I haven't checked yet if that was a real number.

Great that BOI caught it, pain in the hole to have to update all my bills and stuff with a new card number - I'll miss payments now, and I'll struggle to get in to a bank in person to withdraw cash till I receive the new card, and I'll be delayed in being able to pay for stuff I'm in the middle of buying on here. :mad:

Fuckers.
 
A useful heads up, thanks. Haven't seen that myself (yet), but having made several online purchases will be watching out for.
 
B@stards getting us at our weakest when we’re waiting on stuff to arrive in the post bad enough having to intercept it before the missus sees it without this shit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Good to know, and sharp work from the Bank of Ireland, credit to them.
 
Have you checked the paypal account has not been hacked?

Not sure about your homeland but in the UK I would say that any online purchase should be done with a credit card. In addition to statutory rights, credit cards are usually bundled with the bank's own fraud protection. Debit cards have lower levels of statutory rights and may have lesser indemnity from the issuing bank. Good to hear BoI were on the ball though.
 
Have you contacted Louis.de over the affair? They have an excellent, English speaking, help desk.
 
Wapping said:
Have you contacted Louis.de over the affair? They have an excellent, English speaking, help desk.
Click to expand...

Too easy !!

I had an issue with sending something by email to the ICO ‘s office yesterday
Ironic really
Sent some personal data to them, but they had not received it
Spoke to a helpful girl and she contacted their IT bods
Turns out my email addresses (both) were blocked at their server and held in quarantine
She rang me back and said all was fine and they had received all my 5 emails and they hadn’t been maliciously intercepted
Fee DD set up and confirmation by late afternoon

I always find it best to contact the business or organisation direct helps and beats asking on the www
 
From the shipping label on the box:

20200912_175939.jpg


The initial text message I got:

Screenshot_20200911-174943_Messages.jpg


Same format of Shipping Number, though not the same actual number.
 
looking at the pe81.com domain should raise further suspicion - why would a courier bounce a URL from a Chinese clinic in Nanking?

If the perpetrator had hacked Louis or the courier then they would probably be able to give the actual shipping number. This makes me even more suspicious about the paypal account you have used. I would be treating this account with a lot of suspicion and unlinking any bank accounts or cards. I suspect the hacker is inside paypal, has some of your data and is sniffing the transactions. The text message was a phishing attempt to get you to log into paypal using their spoofed site so they can get your password and maybe secondary security data.
 
The scammers usually don’t have information, they just send out hopeful messages with plausible-sounding details, knowing that they will occasionally get lucky. There are only a few delivery companies so the odds are good that their guess will coincide with a genuine transaction once in a while. I have nearly fallen for similar when I was expecting a Royal Mail delivery.

The other reason not to use debit cards is because of the massive PITA to cancel them, as you have discovered. There is no financial penalty for using credit cards if you repay the balance each month. I have an internet-specific credit card, with a low credit amount, that I use for all internet shopping. That way, if I do get scammed or my details get stolen, I can cancel it easily and my financial exposure is minimised.
 
Looking at the posted text message, I'd say the purchase at Louis.ie is nothing to do with it.

Irish website, German postal reference. Looks like random scam you've just associated with a recent purchase.

They're often convincing, but I stopped clicking links in text messages or emails a while ago. It's the easiest instruction to give out and follow.
 
I agree with Wessie and Monty, with the picture it seems likely that Louis.de (their systems) can be removed from the equation. Somehow, the fraudsters know that you had a shipment via a courier. They didn’t know the actual shipment number, so they made one up. They then chose a low digit fee, so increasing the chances of you just going along with it. The Chinese domicile of the website is the final give-away. If in any doubt, just type ‘pe81.com’ into Google and see the website that pops up.

As with Wessie, I’d be closing down my Paypal account and any card associated with it. Time for a new one of each.
 
Agree with the above. It was a coincidence (I got some of those texts in the past).

Always double check the URL. Even when in a rush. Always use credit/charge card online, never debit.
Good work from your bankz
 
Wapping said:
I agree with Wessie and Monty, with the picture it seems likely that Louis.de (their systems) can be removed from the equation. Somehow, the fraudsters know that you had a shipment via a courier. They didn’t know the actual shipment number, so they made one up. They then chose a low digit fee, so increasing the chances of you just going along with it. The Chinese domicile of the website is the final give-away. If in any doubt, just type ‘pe81.com’ into Google and see the website that pops up.

As with Wessie, I’d be closing down my Paypal account and any card associated with it. Time for a new one of each.
Click to expand...

Agreed on all, but would say no to that - just a random scam and taking account of the amount of home shopping, enough people will have something on the way.

I've had two recently by text:

"You have set up the payee Mr John Smith on your HSBC (+ Halifax) account. If you did not authorise this, please visit linkytotakeyourdollar".

I have accounts with neither, but an easy one to fall for.
 
Another variant received this morning ‘Paypal: Your confirmation code is 490236 and expires in 5 minutes. If you did not request this code immediately visit hhtpslinkymyarse’. Taking advantage in the rise of two factor authentication :blast
 
wessie said:
looking at the pe81.com domain should raise further suspicion - why would a courier bounce a URL from a Chinese clinic in Nanking?

If the perpetrator had hacked Louis or the courier then they would probably be able to give the actual shipping number. This makes me even more suspicious about the paypal account you have used. I would be treating this account with a lot of suspicion and unlinking any bank accounts or cards. I suspect the hacker is inside paypal, has some of your data and is sniffing the transactions. The text message was a phishing attempt to get you to log into paypal using their spoofed site so they can get your password and maybe secondary security data.
Click to expand...

I wish I actually understood what you are trying to describe.

These scams make me even more paranoid and wanting to pay by cash in person.

What is this 'pe81' website that people are saying to go to?
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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