Apparel manufacturer Mary Minken’s suspicions were aroused recently when a mysterious caller from the West African country of Ghana got greedy on what he wanted to order. Her instincts prevented a devastating loss.

Minken, owner of a southern Alberta sportswear and corporate wear company called Branch Works Corporation, received the call last October via a North American telephone-relay service for the hard-of-hearing. Mike, (likely not his real name) who communicated with the operator in text format via the Internet, inquired about buying 50 pairs of soccer shoes.

Through the operator, Minken told Mike that her company doesn’t make soccer shoes.

What about soccer jerseys?

“Yes,” Minken replied.

Mike pounced. He told Minken he would like 2,000 soccer shirts and shorts, worth $100,000 retail, and he would like them shipped to the seaport capital of Accra via Federal Express.

Minken was taken aback by the sudden increase in the size of the order. “I cannot ship internationally,” she said. “My company is not set up for that.”

Minken’s instincts served her well. Hers was among the first businesses in southern Alberta approached via telephone relay by criminals in such West African countries as Ghana and Nigeria, who place bogus orders with stolen credit card numbers or counterfeit bank drafts.

The Better Business Bureau of Southern Alberta issued a public alert this month after three Calgary businesses reported this activity.

Valerie MacLean, a spokesperson for the Vancouver-based BBB of Mainland British Columbia, said businesses have also called her about bogus orders from Africa. But the telephone-relay tactic was new to her. “Holy smokes!” she said. “Pretty scary.”

MacLean warned businesses not to get greedy. “Is it worth the risk?” she asked. “You could demand a credit card, but you have to wait three weeks to be sure it didn’t come up counterfeit. I would not ship anything until I had the money in my account.”

One Calgary company, Aero Apparel Ltd., has been stiffed with a $3,600 courier bill for an eight-box, $5,900 air freight shipment of T-shirts ordered from Ghana, though there is some question about whether Aero is liable as it was the receiver who hired the courier.

The credit card appears to have been valid, however, as the charge has not been reversed. “Get your money by wire transfer or cash money,” advised rattled Aero co-owner Nash Javer. “Make sure that it’s good. It could bounce back.”

MacLean said a Kelowna computer company took a huge loss when it accepted an order from Nigerian criminals. A Surrey computer firm nearly went bankrupt after making a similar mistake, she said.

Even if the credit card company OKs the purchase, the card can later turn out to be counterfeit, or stolen without the theft yet being reported. “They’ll charge it back to you because you don’t have a signature or imprint,” MacLean said.

Three thousand Toshiba laptop computers, 1,500 Mercedes Benz radiators, 5,000 pairs of Nike athletic footwear, 2,000 soccer jerseys – such orders are being placed from West Africa to businesses throughout North America with the unwitting abetment of telephone utilities.

“We are a human telephone wire,” one American telephone relay operator, bound by strict federal confidentiality rules, complained anonymously on the Internet. “We can’t alert the authorities any more than an actual telephone wire can tell on someone.”

“We can get so totally fired for doing anything other than reading exactly what is typed to us,” said another operator. “I always try to adjust the tone of my voice so, in case I’m being monitored, they can’t say I didn’t read what the originator typed to me.

“I can do my best to sound like the oiliest, slimiest salesman this side of the Texas Panhandle.”

Telus Corp. spokesman Charlie Fleet says the criminals likely are accessing Internet Protocol (IP) telephone relay services, a technology not used by Telus in B.C. or Alberta. Callers who use Telus must access it through the regular telephone system.

Fleet said Telus had not heard about African swindlers using telephone-relay services to place bogus orders prior to Business Edge contacting him this month. The calls received by businesses in Alberta and B.C. likely are being relayed outside the two provinces, he suggested.

Fleet and banking industry officials I spoke with said these criminals likely are using the IP-based systems because of the anonymity afforded by being able to go to any cybercafe and make the contact from a Yahoo or Hotmail account.

Relay service gives the swindler more control and less direct exposure to awkward questions. Any lack of proficiency with English is obfuscated by this medium. And the recipient’s unfamiliarity with the medium dulls his or her olfactory senses.

And what image-conscious businessperson would want to risk saying the following to an industrious deaf person? “Get lost – you’re trying to swindle me.”

Let’s hope, for sake of both Telus and businesses in Western Canada, that these criminals don’t discover a way to use Telus’s relay service. Its operators are sworn to confidentiality, and they can speak up only in emergency situations, such as where suicide appears imminent. Like the BBB, Fleet advised businesses to handle big-order calls from overseas strangers with caution. “If you suspect the call is a scam and you suspect a telephone relay operator is involved, tell the operator you suspect a scam and you would like to terminate the call.”

BOGUS ORDERS:
The caller likely is a criminal if:
* He wants product, any product, and lots of it.
* He wants the product shipped today.
* He asks for a specific product, then will settle for anything you sell.
* He isn’t concerned about specs, or colour, or warranties.
* Price is no object.
* The call smacks of randomness.
Sources: Telus Corp., BBB

ENSURING PAYMENT:
* Wire Transfer: The safest method. Western Union is a big player in the money transfer field.
* Third-Party Guarantor: These companies guarantee financial transfers. eBay sellers use them.
* Written Confirmation: If it’s a large order, ask your banker to confirm, in writing, that the money has arrived before allowing the goods to leave your premises.
* Major Credit Card: The card could be stolen or counterfeit. Contact your credit card provider. Personnel have security procedures that determine if the card is good.
* Bank Draft: Also could be counterfeit.

Sources: Canadian Bankers Association, BBB

(Brock Ketcham is the director of trade practices for the Better Business Bureau of Southern Alberta. He can be reached at brock@businessedge.ca)