PPB May 2015

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change to try to avoid detection. It was also
discovered that the two boxes shipped to the
mail store contained cell phones and cases.
Although the motive remains unknown,
police think Parke was used as a middleman
for tracking and Parke guesses this was a
trial run. If the scam had not been detected,
she thinks future shipments could have con-
tained drugs.
Identity theft is one of the fastest-grow-
ing crimes with 19 people falling victim every
minute, according to credit reporting agency
TransUnion. Parke faults the state’s website
for not having password protection. “We are
living in a world of identity theft and there’s
no password protection on the Secretary of
State’s website,” Parke says in dismay. “They
are just putting our information out on a sil-
ver platter as if to say, ‘Change anything you
want for just $10!’”
Although police have kept the post office
box open in case the scammers decide to send
more packages, Parke is hopeful that her
involvement is over. While she was fortunate
not to have incurred any material losses, she
is working to clear her name on a Verizon bill
for $4,051 for the 15 phone lines, despite her
notification to the company that a scam was
in the works.
Her mission at this point is to alert
other small-business owners to check their
state’s Secretary of State website to ensure
their information is password-protected and
to watch for suspicious activity. Parke is
proud of her efforts to effect some change.
As a result of her actions, the state now
emails business owners if any action is taken
on the site regarding their company infor-
mation. She has also been told that late this
summer the state will add password protec-
tion to its website.
Other Crimes To Watch For
Identity theft is just one type of a grow-
ing list of white collar crimes to which busi-
nesses can fall victim. Have you seen this
email or one like it?
Hi,
We will like to make a quote request on
below items
a) 2500pcs 4GB USB FLASH DRIVE
b) 2500pcs 2gb micro sd card with adapter
c) 2000pcs 8GB usb flash drive
Regards
Matt
Purchasing manager
delta created
This is an actual email that popped into
my PPAI inbox as I was preparing to write
this article.
“A lot of email scams are easy to spot,”
says Allison Schaffer, CAS, formerly the
director of sales and marketing for technol-
ogy products supplier Pingline and now a
regional sales rep for TK Cups-Sorgs.
“Scammers are typically looking for four or
eight gig drives, and for external hard
drives. Ninety to 95 percent of the emails
are in broken English, may be addressed to
Sir or Madam, have a lot of grammar mis-
takes and misspellings, and the emails often
are from a gmail account.”
22 • PPB • MAY 2015 INNOVATE
18 Ways To Avoid Scams
1. Be alert to anything out of the
ordinary. Lisa Parke says she
should have become suspicious
when she received several business
calls asking for someone named
Linda. Linda was the contact name
given in the Craigslist ad.
2. Make sure your state’s Secretary
of State website is password pro-
tected. Companies located in
Kentucky can call 502-564-3490 to
ensure their email address is on
file for activity alerts.
3. Be vigilant in checking your credit
reports as often as possible and
note any unfamiliar activity.
4. Check your personal credit card
statements regularly for unautho-
rized charges.
5. When setting up a new customer,
ascertain that the card holder
name matches the name to whom
the products are being shipped.
6. When shipping offshore, be wary
of a shipping address that is an
individual’s home.
7. Research the address on Google
Maps, which often provides snap-
shots of what a building looks like.
Sometimes this step can help filter
out fraudulent orders.
8. Make sure the address and phone
number on the order match the
information on the company’s
website.
9. Scammers almost always pay by
credit card. When you establish
open credit for an unfamiliar
company, look it up in Dun &
Bradstreet.
10. Double check the “Bill To” name
on the order. Ascertain the credit
card is not stolen.
11. Google the name of the company
and call it to make sure it’s gen-
uine.
12. Be wary if you get an order from
an unknown customer for promo-
tional products that are normally
decorated. Products with a high
retail value such as undecorated
t-shirts, USBs and other electronics
are the products most often
ordered in scams.
13. Be alert to emails with poor gram-
mar and frequent misspellings.
Business professionals likely have a
better way of phrasing a request
for pricing.
14. If the email address is a “generic”
domain ;
, check out
the order thoroughly.
15. Use caution if the requester offers
to pay immediately by credit card
or requests immediate shipment.
This is often a red flag of a scam.
16. Be alert if the order “ship to”
address does not match the “bill
to” address.
17. Know the person or company to
whom you are selling. If you don’t
know them, find someone you
know who does.
18. Don’t go for the easy buck.
Chances are you won’t collect.
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