[404 Media] How a 'Refund Fraud' Gang Stole $700,000 From Amazon

[Pepper_Thine_Angus]

How a 'Refund Fraud' Gang Stole $700,000 From Amazon

Standard refund scam that we as sellers have all seen and known about for years, but looks like someone is finally doing something about it! (Not Amazon)

To Amazon’s credit the article does show Amazon is doing SOMETHING about the issue.

[GGX]

This isn’t the first or biggest one, I remember seeing an article about some scammers who shipped dirt (literally dirt) back to Amazon and got over a cool million in refunds.

This article also shows you how greedy and stupid people are. Imagine giving your account login voluntarily to a group that advertises themselves as fraudsters. So it’s basically people who are both greedy enough to want to scam free item(s) and too stupid to figure out how to file an INR claim on their own, and also stupid enough to associate themselves with a fraud group.

[Pepper_Thine_Angus]

@GGX

I remember seeing an article about some scammers who shipped dirt (literally dirt) back to Amazon and got over a cool million in refunds.

Anyone 'Member the seller on the OSFE that shipped cement to Amazon rather then fountains???

[RandomUsername]

@Pepper_Thine_Angus

shipped cement to Amazon rather then fountains?

It was DIY fountains. Just add water.

[Dogtamer]

@Pepper_Thine_Angus

Anyone 'Member the seller on the OSFE that shipped cement to Amazon rather then fountains???

Yepper, I do; that was the thread where I first made the “spit-take” post that I linked for years afterwards, as humorous situations warranted, in the OSFE.

Went looking for that post 2Nov23, but apparently the original thread has been lost in limbo:

https: //sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/my-account-was-closed-because-i-put-three-more-bags-of-cement-in-the-fba-shipment/923567/52

[GGX]

Too bad that link is dead, that sounds like an interesting case.

Reminds me of this

Homer's barbecue build fail

[Lost_My_Marbles]

Here is the NSFE link to the OSFE thread you referred to …

My account was closed because I put three more bags of cement in the FBA shipment

[Gandalf]

Legendary

[Dogtamer]

@Lost_My_Marbles

Here is the NSFE link to the OSFE thread you referred to …

My account was closed because I put three more bags of cement in the FBA shipment

@Gandalf

Legendary

Yessiree Bob!

It didn’t win Best Thread Of 2021 only because we didn’t vote on that - but had our Seller Community done so, I suspect it might’ve won Best Thread Ever.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if its trending popularity at the time also probably played a role in the advent of Katie’s abominable snowjob (aka the NSFE), as you folks were slap on fire with the quips at the OP’s expense.

Three keyboards & two monitors suffered the spit-take price, while I was reading it when new, before it finally dawned on me to put the coffee down…

[papy]

In short, the scam involves someone ordering an item from, say, Amazon—which in this case says it lost $700,000—receiving the item, and then using one of various tricks to get their money back from the retailer. The person is then free to sell the item online, and the criminal group takes a fee.
…
This is not a crime whose only victims are giant retailers, who may garner little sympathy. Delivery drivers, who already have very difficult jobs, are often dinged for misdelivering or failing to deliver a package, which is something these types of scams often rely on.
…
*The indictment reveals some of the specifics about so-called “Did Not Arrive” or “DNA” scams, methods for which are often discussed openly on Reddit, Discord, hacking forums, and in Telegram chats. …These scams prey on the fact that retailers want to provide good customer service, and the fact that packages are sometimes lost or misdelivered, or are stolen by porch pirates. *
…
ARG also tricked the target retailers in a variety of different ways. They include mail-in-fraud, where participants would send an empty package or another item to the retailer. And, in a more sophisticated method, ARG would conduct “fake tracking identification number” (FTID) fraud

Delivery drivers, 3P Sellers, other consumers…this is not a victimless crime, or single-victim (big bad company) crime.

It makes everything more difficult for all of us, every time it happens (even if only once).

Sidebar: Does Telegram have any actual purpose other than crime?

[GGX]

His mistake was claiming the bags of cement were a plastic water fountain

https://www.amazon.com/dp/b09bzh35fn

Now, had he sent in cement in lieu of a concrete water fountain like this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBFJBS5H

Then billy probably wouldn’t notice the difference and he wouldn’t have been suspended.