Description

On Tuesday, September 2, I received an email from a customer named Brandon Wall, who was interested in purchasing furniture from my antique store. I replied and explained that we do not typically arrange furniture shipping because we do not have a shipping company. Brandon then asked me to contact a shipping company he recommended, 2Day Express Logistics and to reach out to them for a quote and he provided me with this email address [email protected] I reached out through email to the company he provided and received a quote to ship five items to Hawaii for $5,834. I then emailed Brandon with the total cost of the furniture plus shipping, which came to $8,548.12. On Saturday, September 13, around 6:00 PM, Brandon called me and provided a credit card number over the phone. The payment went through successfully. He asked that the items be shipped as soon as possible. Following that, I contacted the shipping company by email and informed them that I would send the wire transfer on Monday so we could schedule a pickup. On Monday, September 15, I went to the bank and completed a wire transfer of $5,834 to the shipping company. Afterward, I emailed the company again to schedule a pickup and notified Brandon that the transfer had been made and we were waiting for confirmation. Brandon then replied, saying he had looked at our website and wanted to purchase additional furniture. This raised a red flag for me. I responded by requesting a copy of his driver’s license, a photo of his credit card, and a picture of himself before processing any further purchases. I did not receive a reply. The last communication from him was Monday, September 15, at 2:15 PM. Later that same day, at 3:29 PM, I emailed the shipping company requesting a copy of their business license, but I never heard back. I have since spoken with my bank, and they confirmed that the wire transfer was fraudulent. Unfortunately, the funds cannot be recovered.