DPD Express potential escrow fraud

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DPD Express potential escrow fraud

Postby PeterWard » Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:40 pm

Last week I responded to an advertisement for some hi-fi loudspeakers at a good price. The seller is Andy Murron, 6696mm@gmail.com, and his advertisement is here: https://www.audiophile.org/for-sale/loudspeaker/full-range/advertisement/30542/martin-logan-x-summit/. When he responded, he said they were in perfect condition etc, etc, and that they were in Scotland while he lives in London. They belonged to his father. I asked for additional photos and the serial numbers and he provided both.

I said I would purchase them if he would agree to using escrow, and proposed a company. He agreed to use escrow but said he wanted to use DPD Express for both shipping and escrow. I checked the website and it looked legitimate. It has international offices, over 100 staff, is accredited by several international shipping institutions, etc, etc.

I then received an email from a second website where he had hosted his advertisement saying that the advert was bogus. I therefore looked into things a lot more carefully. I found:

1. Andy Murron doesn't exist on Linkedin or Facebook and doesn't show up in any internet searches. Not definitive but odd for someone whose father could afford £15k loudspeakers
2. DPD Express is not linked with DPD. The company number on the website is actually for "The Shipping Company Limited". A check at Companies House shows that company has assets of a few thousand pounds and just one director, "GODDARD, Michael", who is also company secretary. I don't believe a company with over 100 staff and offices around the world would have a single director and almost no assets
3. The websites of the institutions DPD Express claims to be a member of do not list either it or The Shipping Company as members
4. The international offices listed on its website do not look like the locations for international shippers when I check them on Streetview.

I forwarded the "bogus" email to "Andy" who explained it was caused by someone complaining about being asked to provide a deposit. I agreed to continue with the transaction, to see how things would go.

Today I received an email from DPD Express giving me shipment details and telling me where to send the money. I checked the account at the Walthamstow branch of Lloyds (Name "DPD G. EXPRESS", BIC LOYDGB21K31, sort code 77-91-56, account 21053662) and it's valid but I cannot tell who owns it. I sent a message to DPD Express asking for a callback. To my surprise I received a call! The man, who sounded East European, did not answer my questions but said that the loudspeakers were already in the depot at head office. I asked him to confirm the address and he did so eventually. He said that if I had a problem I could go there and pick up the speakers rather than have them shipped. We agreed that I would go on Friday morning. To be honest, since the registered office is a house in a rural road (Streetview again) I do not believe anything is held there, but it was brave of him to offer for me to go! Since they were only picked up in Scotland this morning I think the truck must have moved very quickly!

So what does anyone think? Is this indeed a fraud? Should I go along and see what happens, or cut my losses and pull out? What might happen if I do pull out?

(2nd attempt to post here... not friendly that it allows you to write your post and then forces you to login again, at which point your text is lost :( ).
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Re: DPD Express potential escrow fraud

Postby lightfair » Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:51 pm

The first thing I need is the web address of the alleged "DPD Express".

And yes, this all sounds awfully fake to me.
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Re: DPD Express potential escrow fraud

Postby PeterWard » Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:24 pm

I'm sorry, I included it in my first attempt at a post but forgot the second time! The URL is http://dpd-express.com/index.php?page=home.

Oddly enough, my transaction on the DPD Express website is now stated as "Rejected". I have not rejected the transaction so my guess is they're pulling out because they realise I don't trust them. I haven't got any email to explain the situation yet so I can have fun tomorrow speaking to them again :).
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Re: DPD Express potential escrow fraud

Postby lightfair » Tue Feb 02, 2016 7:55 am

PeterWard wrote:I'm sorry, I included it in my first attempt at a post but forgot the second time! The URL is http://dpd-express.com/index.php?page=home.


Looks familiar:

http://escrow-fraud.com/index.php?page= ... layout=276

(Granted, it's not one of those overused layouts - but still, there had been fake sites with this layout before).

The domain was registered last November with a hidden registrant.
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Re: DPD Express potential escrow fraud

Postby PeterWard » Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:30 pm

Amazing how similar those sites are to each other and to this one!

I've had an eventful day. The seller rejected the transaction last night so I emailed him to ask what was going on. Today he said it was because I had not paid immediately. I explained that I'd already arranged with DPD Express to collect the loudspeakers from their depot on Friday and that I would pay once I'd seen them. He said that wasn't acceptable and that if I did not pay today he would sell them to someone else tomorrow. I responded that this was breach of contract and I wanted compensation if he did that. His response was "No deal! Good luck!". I've subsequently told him that since I'm in London tomorrow I'll call at his house and we can discuss face-to-face.

Tonight I've requested an urgent callback from DPD Express to ask them what's going on. I will of course be explaining the breach of contract and asking what they will do to keep the speakers for me until Friday rather than re-shipping them to another buyer :). I will also be asking about what compensation is available from them if they let this happen. That is if I get a call...

Obviously I do not expect to win since there's no shipping company, no depot, no speakers, no seller. But it's fun :).
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Re: DPD Express potential escrow fraud

Postby Ska » Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:33 am

I'm a little late to the party, but wanted to say that it's never a good idea to meet a suspected fraudster. Especially since you say street view indicates it's a residence not a business. They know you're coming with money. In this case, to purchase something worth 15k. Better safe than sorry. There have been many stories of people losing their money - even their lives - to shady deals.
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Re: DPD Express potential escrow fraud

Postby lightfair » Wed Mar 16, 2016 7:39 am

While I generally agree with your view we should also keep in mind that the fraudster has absolutely no reason to meet his victim in person - for exactly the same reason. What if the prospective victim shows up with a pickup truck with angry (and possibly armed) friends?
The whole "fake escrow" thing is almost exclusively an online crime; mostly also because the scammers are NOT located where they pretend to be (a couple of years ago the vast majority was operating out of Romania).

Apart from that I was under the impression that the poster was more or less "toying" with the scammer here.
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