DISCLAIMER: This is not advice. Don’t do dumb shit on the internet like I do from time to time.
Sometimes I buy things on the internet that need to be discreet. Sending things too. I’ve done it both ways a few times. NBD. I know the risks. I’m as careful as I can be.
And I’ve been burned! Once!
And I’ve accidentally been the burn-er — by mistakenly sending damaged goods which I promptly refunded upon photographic proof.
And I’ve taken corporate cybersecurity “training” and should know better, but some people out there have really good Telegram game! So I was surprised when this source, one that I’ve used before for small discreet mailings multiple times with great success, outright conned me when the purchase was slightly larger.
A day or two after the purchase, once I got my tracking, I knew I’d been had:
Sender: info@worldrankingshipment.com
Subject: Package on hold for a payment of a refundable insurance fee
Body:
Worldrankingshipment:
DEAR CLIENT, Mr Troy Gravitt
Your package registered with us Discreet bearing the tracking number : WPC00466979043804-CARGO has met formal terms and subsequent custom request but having your package under custody while it was scheduled for a 2 days Transit - Delivery quote.To ensure your package keeps it's proper transport and arrival in good state, the package must be INSURED.
REASONS FOR THE INSURANCE SCHEME:
Customized Packages being transported Within the US STATES Countries and across any country in the European Union and African continent and the world in general would have to be registered into the US Insurance scheme.
According to Section 7, Article 11 ( EU-07/11 039746/95) of 13th July 1999, the insurance scheme is 100% refundable and the cost of the refundable insurance would be paid according to the weight of the package in question.
Cash Usage Details Below;
Insurance Fee (REFUNDABLE)...........................$410
Stamps Fee (REFUNDABLE)..............................$100 00
Signatures (NON REFUNDABLE)........................$50
Total.............................................................$560
Kindly meet up to the aligned fee to help save time as your package is scheduled to be kicking off as your Medical Certificate gets through with Authentification.
Tracking Details: [ REDACTED ]
Track here: [worldrankingshipment.com](https://worldrankingshipment.com/)
RECEIVED
EMAIL:
Info@worldrankingshipment.com
WEBPAGE: [worldrankingshipment.com](https://worldrankingshipment.com/)
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE:
THIS ELECTRONIC MESSAGE CONTAINS A CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION SUBJECT TO PROTECTION UNDER THE ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE AND/OR THE ATTORNEY WORK- PRODUCT DOCTRINE. THIS MESSAGE IS INTENDED SOLELY FOR THE USE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO WHICH IT IS ADDRESSED AND SHOULD NOT BE READ BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE INTENDED RECIPIENT. IN THE EVENT OF A TRANSMISSION ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY RETURN AND PROCEED WITH ITS DELETION.
There’s 8 million red flags in this email. And I’m posting it so hopefully its easily searchable for someone else in the future.
The redacted “tracking” number does indeed “work,” but that’s because this website is a Wordpress site that they’ve built to support a post type where they can put in all the data I already gave them. It looks like a real shipping service. But there’s so many sloppy mistakes, if this was where I was told to place my order I would have ran away a few dollars richer.
From the vantage point of a mobile phone web browser, it looks legit, but no way am I paying more money for something I already paid for, including “shipping,” even if it is REFUNDABLE.
I ask a couple questions, I get a couple responses, but the grammar and syntax is bad of the responder. I ask how the refund process works. He mentions trusting the process. He says he has my package. I ask for proof. The photo he sends me has the box label covered, and it’s grainy like a jpeg that’s been passed around a few times. He asks if I can hurry up because it’s cold here (Baltimore, Maryland, it is indeed currently cold). I ask him why he has a car with no heat. Back and forth. I call him out on how scammy this all feels and he has no convincing arguments other than “this is the way it works.”
Whatever — I have a secure day job and can work from anywhere and I know how to use Photoshop. I have time if he has time.
So I “pay” the insurance. I pay $3.00 through cashapp and make the receipt look like $303.00. Pixels, man… they’re easy. I send the screenshot.
He’s surprisingly is fine with that, and reminds me I still have the other package and that one is going to be $280 in semi-refundable insurance. OK. $2.80 later gives me another timestamped transaction.
I’ve spent almost $6 extra dollars on my own lols. He says he’s close to my address with the package. There’s one more checkpoint.
“Checkpoint,” a completely normal thing normal courier services say when they’re driving a package to you.
“How much?”
“Has to be bitcoin. $180 now because you’ve wasted my time.”
At which point I go ahead and doctor up a BTC transaction. Which are fairly instant, so I’m assuming he’s waiting for a wallet notification. Its a different wallet address than the other day, so I ask him if this is his wallet and he responds with an answer that makes no sense. Then he eventually replies with a screenshot showing the transaction did not go through.
46 emails later, I’m done with my games. I try to tell him so. I send him screenshots of my photoshop files. When I first called him out in the morning, I told him that he needs to level up his game. 6 hours later, I think I’m still right.
They’re now ready to take it in Zelle.
“Get the Zelle done so I’ll be on my way.”
Anyway, there’s better ways to buy things that are hard to buy, even on the internet. If you really want something that’s hard to get, it’s hard to get for a reason, and while there are always plenty of workarounds, they require some work to establish. Links that fall in your lap, even from trusted sources should be heavily, heavily scrutinized. Ask your sketchiest friend if it looks legit. (IRL friend invited me to the Telegram. We both have made successful purchases from their web presence before).
As always, if it’s too good to be true, it is. ALWAYS.
