Was this an attempted scam?

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Was this an attempted scam?

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
I had a weird experience during a regular visit to my local Sainsbury's yesterday afternoon to pick up my Sunday Times & a few other necessary bits & bobs. On my way home, I stopped briefly after a couple of minutes to rest my back (I was carrying two heavy-ish bags), on the corner of a side road regularly used by lorries delivering to the back entrance of Sainsbury's. I was approached by a man of Asian/Middle Eastern appearance & wearing a day-glo yellow vest who had come round the corner & who asked me if I'd just come out of Sainsbury's. Apparently (so his story went - his English was fluent, but accented, so he wasn't a native speaker), they were aware that someone had been charged twice for an item at the till &, if that were the case, they would have to reimburse that person. He then asked if I'd paid in cash or by card (the latter). I'd checked my till receipt before I left the shop to make sure that all my Nectar savings had been applied & noticed no anomalies, so I was puzzled by his story, to say the least. I dug out the receipt & showed it to him, mentioning that I wasn't aware of any overcharging.
He made a show of looking at the receipt, then changed tack: if I went to any of the nearby holes in the wall (no shortage of those) & had a statement printed out, they could compare the total with the amount on the receipt & if the two figures were different, they'd refund the difference. My bafflement increased & I made it clear that I didn't understand what he wanted & also that my card provider wasn't any of the banks in the High Road (the HSBC branch closed last year). Nor could I understand how I could use my credit card to request a balance. He insisted that it didn't matter, but after about five minutes more of pressing me to go to a hole in the wall, he could see that I wasn't going to play ball & walked off back round the corner into the side road.
If it was an attempt to con money from me, it was a novel one & I'm not at all sure how he'd have gone about getting it!

It certainly sounds like a scam to me, I guess once they had your bank details for your credit card, theyd use them somehow or maybe even had a cloning device on the hole in the wall they wanted you to use?

Var · Pro player

JonH comes home wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
I had a weird experience during a regular visit to my local Sainsbury's yesterday afternoon to pick up my Sunday Times & a few other necessary bits & bobs. On my way home, I stopped briefly after a couple of minutes to rest my back (I was carrying two heavy-ish bags), on the corner of a side road regularly used by lorries delivering to the back entrance of Sainsbury's. I was approached by a man of Asian/Middle Eastern appearance & wearing a day-glo yellow vest who had come round the corner & who asked me if I'd just come out of Sainsbury's. Apparently (so his story went - his English was fluent, but accented, so he wasn't a native speaker), they were aware that someone had been charged twice for an item at the till &, if that were the case, they would have to reimburse that person. He then asked if I'd paid in cash or by card (the latter). I'd checked my till receipt before I left the shop to make sure that all my Nectar savings had been applied & noticed no anomalies, so I was puzzled by his story, to say the least. I dug out the receipt & showed it to him, mentioning that I wasn't aware of any overcharging.
He made a show of looking at the receipt, then changed tack: if I went to any of the nearby holes in the wall (no shortage of those) & had a statement printed out, they could compare the total with the amount on the receipt & if the two figures were different, they'd refund the difference. My bafflement increased & I made it clear that I didn't understand what he wanted & also that my card provider wasn't any of the banks in the High Road (the HSBC branch closed last year). Nor could I understand how I could use my credit card to request a balance. He insisted that it didn't matter, but after about five minutes more of pressing me to go to a hole in the wall, he could see that I wasn't going to play ball & walked off back round the corner into the side road.
If it was an attempt to con money from me, it was a novel one & I'm not at all sure how he'd have gone about getting it!
It certainly sounds like a scam to me, I guess once they had your bank details for your credit card, theyd use them somehow or maybe even had a cloning device on the hole in the wall they wanted you to use?

Ight be worth reporting it to the police. May stop,someone else getting robbed.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Var wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
I had a weird experience during a regular visit to my local Sainsbury's yesterday afternoon to pick up my Sunday Times & a few other necessary bits & bobs. On my way home, I stopped briefly after a couple of minutes to rest my back (I was carrying two heavy-ish bags), on the corner of a side road regularly used by lorries delivering to the back entrance of Sainsbury's. I was approached by a man of Asian/Middle Eastern appearance & wearing a day-glo yellow vest who had come round the corner & who asked me if I'd just come out of Sainsbury's. Apparently (so his story went - his English was fluent, but accented, so he wasn't a native speaker), they were aware that someone had been charged twice for an item at the till &, if that were the case, they would have to reimburse that person. He then asked if I'd paid in cash or by card (the latter). I'd checked my till receipt before I left the shop to make sure that all my Nectar savings had been applied & noticed no anomalies, so I was puzzled by his story, to say the least. I dug out the receipt & showed it to him, mentioning that I wasn't aware of any overcharging.
He made a show of looking at the receipt, then changed tack: if I went to any of the nearby holes in the wall (no shortage of those) & had a statement printed out, they could compare the total with the amount on the receipt & if the two figures were different, they'd refund the difference. My bafflement increased & I made it clear that I didn't understand what he wanted & also that my card provider wasn't any of the banks in the High Road (the HSBC branch closed last year). Nor could I understand how I could use my credit card to request a balance. He insisted that it didn't matter, but after about five minutes more of pressing me to go to a hole in the wall, he could see that I wasn't going to play ball & walked off back round the corner into the side road.
If it was an attempt to con money from me, it was a novel one & I'm not at all sure how he'd have gone about getting it!
It certainly sounds like a scam to me, I guess once they had your bank details for your credit card, theyd use them somehow or maybe even had a cloning device on the hole in the wall they wanted you to use?
Ight be worth reporting it to the police. May stop,someone else getting robbed.

The thought had crossed my mind, but given the apparent lack of interest on the part of police in anything affecting us little people (think the current epidemic of shoplifting, flytipping...), I concluded that I might be wasting my time. However, I am considering paying a visit to Sainsbury's Customer Services the next time I'm in there in case they're interested in what someone's trying to do purportedly in their name.

Strongbow · All-time great

Stircrazy wrote:
Var wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
I had a weird experience during a regular visit to my local Sainsbury's yesterday afternoon to pick up my Sunday Times & a few other necessary bits & bobs. On my way home, I stopped briefly after a couple of minutes to rest my back (I was carrying two heavy-ish bags), on the corner of a side road regularly used by lorries delivering to the back entrance of Sainsbury's. I was approached by a man of Asian/Middle Eastern appearance & wearing a day-glo yellow vest who had come round the corner & who asked me if I'd just come out of Sainsbury's. Apparently (so his story went - his English was fluent, but accented, so he wasn't a native speaker), they were aware that someone had been charged twice for an item at the till &, if that were the case, they would have to reimburse that person. He then asked if I'd paid in cash or by card (the latter). I'd checked my till receipt before I left the shop to make sure that all my Nectar savings had been applied & noticed no anomalies, so I was puzzled by his story, to say the least. I dug out the receipt & showed it to him, mentioning that I wasn't aware of any overcharging.
He made a show of looking at the receipt, then changed tack: if I went to any of the nearby holes in the wall (no shortage of those) & had a statement printed out, they could compare the total with the amount on the receipt & if the two figures were different, they'd refund the difference. My bafflement increased & I made it clear that I didn't understand what he wanted & also that my card provider wasn't any of the banks in the High Road (the HSBC branch closed last year). Nor could I understand how I could use my credit card to request a balance. He insisted that it didn't matter, but after about five minutes more of pressing me to go to a hole in the wall, he could see that I wasn't going to play ball & walked off back round the corner into the side road.
If it was an attempt to con money from me, it was a novel one & I'm not at all sure how he'd have gone about getting it!
It certainly sounds like a scam to me, I guess once they had your bank details for your credit card, theyd use them somehow or maybe even had a cloning device on the hole in the wall they wanted you to use?
Ight be worth reporting it to the police. May stop,someone else getting robbed.
The thought had crossed my mind, but given the apparent lack of interest on the part of police in anything affecting us little people (think the current epidemic of shoplifting, flytipping...), I concluded that I might be wasting my time. However, I am considering paying a visit to Sainsbury's Customer Services the next time I'm in there in case they're interested in what someone's trying to do purportedly in their name.

Well done - lucky escape. Report it to Sainsbury's as they're more likely to get a response from the police.

-- Edited by Strongbow on Tuesday 30th of April 2024 01:54:43 AM

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

I would definitely report it SC. Sounds like a scam to me.

I got scammed online recently and my credit card was hacked. I was trying to reclaim funds from the airline company TAP because of delays on my last trip to Brazil, where I missed my connection in Lisbon due to a 2 hour delay in Natal.

I was initially turned down by TAP, who claimed it was 'out of their control - bird strike' despite the captain telling us it was a problem with the landing gear. Eventually I got an email saying I was entitled to 441 euros compensation and to 'follow this link' to claim the compensation. I did what was requested including entering the card number to receive the funds, but didn't receive the final SMS to complete the transaction.

As it turned out, this was NOT from TAP but from scammers. It came from an official TAP email account - reembolso@flytap.com - so I believed it. A couple of weeks later, my credit card was being used in the USA for stuff. It is now blocked and I am reclaiming the funds through the bank but it is pretty clear to me that TAP got hacked and their email account was used. They have admitted that several customers where caught in this phishing scam.

Christine · Intermediate Club Player

Report it to the police if only to have it added to their statistics which, when we get a more humane government, can be used to boost their funding and staffing

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Thanks all for the comments/suggestions. I have now reported it on-line to the Met, which has acknowledged receipt & provided a reference number. Next stop Sainsbury's! wink

I probably owe something to my almost complete lack of understanding of anything technology-related that the would-be scammer abandoned his attempt to get me to do anything. Someone more savvy in such matters might have rumbled him straightaway & told him where to get off.

Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience with the air fare refund, Bob.

christ · Futures level

Bob in Spain wrote:
I would definitely report it SC. Sounds like a scam to me.

I got scammed online recently and my credit card was hacked. I was trying to reclaim funds from the airline company TAP because of delays on my last trip to Brazil, where I missed my connection in Lisbon due to a 2 hour delay in Natal.

I was initially turned down by TAP, who claimed it was 'out of their control - bird strike' despite the captain telling us it was a problem with the landing gear. Eventually I got an email saying I was entitled to 441 euros compensation and to 'follow this link' to claim the compensation. I did what was requested including entering the card number to receive the funds, but didn't receive the final SMS to complete the transaction.

As it turned out, this was NOT from TAP but from scammers. It came from an official TAP email account - reembolso@flytap.com - so I believed it. A couple of weeks later, my credit card was being used in the USA for stuff. It is now blocked and I am reclaiming the funds through the bank but it is pretty clear to me that TAP got hacked and their email account was used. They have admitted that several customers where caught in this phishing scam.

It is relatively easy for someone to send an e-mail that looks like it comes from an official company account. It is not technically difficult for a scammer to send you an e-mail that appeared to you to have come from reembolso@flytap.com. The problem is that a recipient cannot tell where an e-mail comes from, they can only tell where it says it has come from.