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Sgt Sostand
11-17-03, 08:49 AM
Our man ordered waffles, but paid for tools of war <br />
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WASHINGTON AND AMMAN, JORDAN – All I wanted was a warm, crispy waffle. But I ended up sending a night-vision rifle scope to some unidentified...

Sgt Sostand
11-17-03, 08:54 AM
An odd coincidence <br />
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Then something really interesting happened. <br />
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One of my colleagues at The Christian Science Monitor, Jerusalem correspondent Nicole Gaouette, noticed similar unauthorized...

Sgt Sostand
11-17-03, 08:55 AM
Who was the vendor?

One lingering mystery about the case is the identity of the Internet merchant who sold the scopes.

Fraud investigators at my credit card company say that since they got their money back they are not interested in further investigation.

The fraudulent credit card transactions were processed by a company called Ccnow.com, which acts as a middleman for Internet merchants.

When I contacted the Delaware-based company, an official refused to identify the merchant who had sold "me" the rifle scopes.

"But this was fraud," I said. "You must be required to maintain business records."

Lorenzo Anderson, an e-commerce consultant at Ccnow, said the company has a policy of destroying all transaction records after six months – even in instances of known fraud.

"You will never know who the supplier was," Mr. Anderson said. "You would know if you placed the order yourself. But if you didn't place it yourself you would never know because (in fraud cases) we just give the money back and we end things right there."

Ccnow says it has a confidentiality agreement with Internet merchants. Such an agreement, in effect, also serves as a firewall that could protect merchants who might either knowingly or unknowingly facilitate fraudulent purchases and shipments.

Where does the case stand now? A senior FBI official contacted recently by a Monitor editor promises an agent will call me soon.

Meanwhile, the next time I want a warm, crispy waffle, I think I'll just pay cash.