An Ashland, Ore., jeweler saved his jewelry store from a fraudulent transaction after receiving a suspicious phone call June 14.
Ron Hansen, co-owner of Gold and Gems Jewelry, became suspicious when a man called and gave him credit card information to purchase a gold bracelet worth $1,700, adding that his assistant would pick up the item. “This guy who I didn’t know from Adam wanted to buy a bracelet that he had never seen,” Hansen tells JCK. “He was more concerned about the value of the bracelet than how it looked.”
When Hansen contacted police, it was discovered the credit card information did not match the name given by the caller. Further investigation revealed the credit card information was stolen.
Jewelers’ Security Alliance president John Kennedy says jewelers should be wary of telephone orders that request another person to pick up the item: “If it’s a known customer, you may treat it differently. But with strangers it usually raises a red flag.” He advises checking the billing address against the shipping address; if they are different, that should raise concerns. People may sometimes also ask for FedEx overnight (so they can access the tracking number to change the address). “It just doesn’t happen in the real world that someone from Chicago calls a store in Mobile, Ala., for an item,” Kennedy says.