shepd's Journal: Telefraud "Merchant Retail Supplies" back in business

Well, guess what sort of call I got yesterday at work?

The old "Hello, we have an item we are shipping you that includes an invoice for (insert item and price with 10x markup here) because you've ordered it" scam.

Yes, everybody, Merchant Retail Supplies is back in business after a long respite! As usual, they'll use a fake company name on the phone, but unusually, they're too dumb to hide their caller ID.

DO NOT ACCEPT ANY CALLS FROM [phone]. THE CALLERS ARE TRYING TO STEAL YOUR MONEY. WATCH MATCHSTICK MEN IF YOU REALLY HAVE TO!

They'll call, try to weasel their way to a sucker, and then if they aren't successful at getting a "yes", they'll tell you they need to make "one last sale". Of course, for anyone watching out for scams, that's all you need to hear to know what to say.

While they're pleading for you to take the package, let them know if they send it you'll gladly accept the gift, but won't pay invoices for items you never ordered. In my case it was a counterfeit detector that they tried to pawn off at over $200. They even had the gall to suggest the Government of Canada said that they were necessary.

If you're feeling vindictive, the police suggest you try to get their Employee Name / Number, the company's real name and address, and their real phone number.

After you get tired of playing with them, let them know that you know they're a bunch of scamming assholes. I know it sure felt good. Then let them know never to call you back, ever, and to take you off any and all their known and future calling lists. Then you can shout "Goodbye" if you're nice, or something else if you're not and hang up.

After that, you should drop RECOL.ca or the FBI (or whoever is local for you) a line about how they tried to scam you. MRS losers work worldwide, BTW.

If you're really ticked off, like me, call their number back, and let the person know you need to be taken off their list (they'll try to trick you by saying "Can we also get your nametocallyouback", just tell them "No, you may not call me back and my name is [name]".) Then let them know you phoned the RCMP/FBI about their scam and hang up. Let them drop bricks for a while. It's more fun that way. Perhaps they'll help get any numbers associated with your name off their lists too...

If you *HAVE* been a scam victim, this appears to be their address info (from whois):

Domain name: MERCHANTRETAILSUPPLIES.COM

  Administrative Contact:
        Department, IT [e-mail]
        6875 Decarie Boul.
        Montreal, QC H3W 3E5
        CA
        [phone] Fax: [phone]

I'm going to do some emailing, to double check if I have the right company (I wouldn't want to hurt someone who has accidentally selected a well-known scummy business name). If it is them, I'll try to post some data about the company owner's home address, just so you can do personal product returns (I sure do hope they sell toilet paper). You know, in case their "support lines" don't cut it. >:-D