Internet Scam: Triangle Credit Card Fraud

This is a tricky one, called the Triangle Credit Card Scam and here is how it works:

1. The scam seller, on some auction or selling site like eBay, sells a product to a buyer, who pays for it.

2. The scam seller doesn't actually have the product so they then go to a seller online who actually is selling the product.

3. They order from that seller, who is now also a victim, using the buyer's information but a different stolen credit card number. The victim seller thinks the the buyer is just shipping to a different address, which happens frequently.

4. So the second seller is out because the goods were purchased with a stolen credit card and the actual owner of that credit card will do a charge-back when they figure out their card number has been stolen, and the buyer has their product but in reality they have now received stolen goods, which is a felony, and the original scammer disappears with the money.

A little confusing but of course everyone loses but the scammer. I'm kind of thinking why even go past the point of getting the money from the buyer. Many scammers just do this scam - pretend to have something to sell that they don't, get payment, and then disappear. Of course, the ideal payment is via wire transfer but even with credit cards, scammers can turn that into cash by buying stolen goods themselves.

The only way not to get pulled into this scam is to fully research who you are buying things from before you do the purchase.