Merchant Jill Gold loves the jewelry business. Through her Website based in North Broward, she'd made a good living selling just about any accessory you can think of.
"It was going really well then but it almost seemed too well," Gold said yesterday. "There were about 15 orders in one day from one address."
Everyone paid with a credit card, different customers all taking a liking to Gold's products.
She thought the watches especially were a hit, the orders coming from an office building where word was spreading about Jill's jewelry. The watches were going for $100 to $400.
All the credit card transactions went through.
Turns out, it was all a scam.
The watches were shipped to a warehouse in Doral and those credit card numbers all belonged to people who paid for the watches, but they were watches they didn't even order to be delivered to someone else.
"They were able to use their name, their address in Miami, but with someone else's credit card," Gold said.
Henry Gutierrez, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said thieves are always finding new ways to scam ordinary people through the Internet.
"This is the ugly side of technology -- your assailant, your criminal, is no longer down the street," said Gutierrez.
The manager at the warehouse where the watches were sent pulled up the records and they showed the watches were shipped to a police station in Venezuela.
"This could have gone on months and months longer but I just got a little suspicious," said Gold, who halted the orders and contacted the credit card companies and authorities.
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The surprised victims worked with lenders to get their money back, but Gutierrez said consumers and card holders still have to keep careful watch on their finances.
Gutierrez said they have been able to stop scammers in Venezuela, but you should keep a close eye not just on your credit card, but your birthdate, social security number and check your statement frequently so you can immediately shut your card down and challenge any purchases you didn't make.
"They can reach you electronically, every which way but loose, as the saying goes," he said.
