The Triangulation Scam

One of the hardest online scams to follow is called "the triangulation scam." Usually, it starts when something is being offered online at an auction like eBay or Amazon, etc., at an incredibly low prices, or discounted shipping and handling charges; basically an offer that is too good to be true. There are hundreds of offers for items out there that are "too good to be true", and usually that should be taken literally, because it's generally true. Don't always take product descriptions at face value, because you could be getting a lot more than you asked for or paid for. For instance, try to ask yourself when you encounter one of these offers for sales, "What's the catch?" If you get a package, unexpectedly, even if it's marked as a gift or "a complementary prize," don't accept it, before asking who it's from. By accepting this "gift" you might be assisting in a crime that has been a plague to online auction sites, and the authorities. Triangulation is a scam that continues to lead the authorities to several leads and misleads for it involves several victims and an unknown offender.

It's called the triangulation scam because there are three points to it, three victims. There's the cardholder, the person actually paying for the item; the merchant, which is the person auctioning, or selling the item; then there's the winning bidder, their address, which the criminal uses to route the goods that were supposedly paid for, to themselves. If at this point, you're realising that it's incredibly confusing, then you're not the only one.

How it all starts out, is that the person running the scam will put something up for sale, for instance, electronics, or jewelry, expensive clothing, or something akin to the like, usually expensive, and then put it up for especially cheap, or discounted prices, on an online store, like eBay or Amazon, etc.. Eventually, a customer will take the bait, bids on the auction, and if they win will send the necessary information for payment of the item. However, instead of using the online auction site to pay, as customers are supposed to do, customers usually follow the instructions of the person running the scam, and send their money via a wire transfer. Instead of paying the online merchant with the money he or she has obtained, the scammer keeps it, and uses another person's credit card information to pay for it instead. Usually, the credit card information comes from another previous customer, or bidder.

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