We have been made aware of several attempts by scam artists to
target AMSOIL Dealers while posing as legitimate companies, including recent attempts by
someone posing as a representative from Pfizer. It is important to be wary of scam attempts during
the ordering process. If an opportunity seems too good to be true, it may be a
scam. Be wary of the following warning signs:
• Unusually large orders
or unusual product selection
• Email domain name
doesn’t match the legitimate company’s website address
• Names on the account,
credit card or shipping address don’t match
• Multiple orders with
different shipping addresses
• Multiple payment
methods used or offered
• “New” businesses with
no online presence
• Price isn’t an issue
and registering as a customer is too inconvenient
• Caller ID is different
than phone number used on account
• Speed is
important
• Unusual shipping
locations, including trucking company depots, storage facilities, vacant
buildings, apartments and package-forwarding services
• Retail businesses
(resellers) that aren’t concerned about paying sales taxes
While there can be
legitimate reasons for some of these unusual situations, Dealers are
well-advised to perform additional research. A couple minutes of online
research by name, business name, address and telephone number can usually
confirm whether an opportunity is legitimate. Asking customers a few questions
about the type of business, how products will be used, who is the end customer
and billing details associated with credit cards can also be helpful. Consumers
are used to providing this type of information, and these questions can help
identify fraudulent activities. If you have doubts, do more research, decline
the opportunity and advise AMSOIL/others to look out for similar
activities.
Do not rely on credit
card authorization processes to determine if payment is valid. Transactions
with stolen credit cards will be authorized until the theft or fraudulent
activity is identified, but credit/debit card companies will charge back
merchants for all fraudulent charges. In some cases this can take 90
or more days after the sale. At this point, there is little chance of
retrieving products or identifying the customer.
Protect yourself and
your Dealership by doing your homework and knowing who you’re selling to. Remember,
it is your responsibility to avoid selling products to another Dealer’s
protected customers and to ensure your customers aren’t attempting to pass
stolen credit cards or resell products online.
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