Dear Friend Hello,
I’m the artist Leonid Afremov, I would like to share with you a little story that keeps happening to me almost every month. As you all know, I make 99% of my sales online. In most cases I receive credit cards as the form of payment. Every month I have at least 2 or 3 customers that scam me by abusing the online sales protection system that card companies offers. In my opinion, such abuses are straight examples of online fraud and scam committed against the seller.
Customers purchase art from me and pay by credit card. Then after they receive the paintings, they call their credit card company and ask for a charge back saying they never received the paintings. The credit card company immediately gives them the money back. My ecommerce takes the money from my account as soon as it happens and forwards it to the credit card company. Although, I have a UPS tracking number proving delivery, the customer claims that he/she never received the merchandise paid for. With the online sale protection system, there is barley any chance to win such a dispute. I can only say that I repeatedly become a victim of scam and fraud by customers online. In a few cases, I tried to report this fraud and scam to the police and the FBI, but the law is on the customer’s side always.
Especially with American Express that allows charge back up to 11 months from the transaction. I had a couple customers scam me and cancel 8 months after the delivery. I would be fine with the cancelation if the customer returned the paintings, but they claim they never got anything and decide to scam me and the online trading system. When I send them delivery confirmation from UPS , they deny the delivery and say nothing ever arrived and say it’s not their signature on the confirmation. They basically steal my paintings that I invested my soul into. This is unacceptable online fraud and scam against me, artist Leonid Afremov. Sometimes customers are being jerks and write on compliant sites about me saying they never got their paintings, when the actually have the paintings and the money refunded. I feel completely vulnerable and unprotected from this type of fraud and scam, especially when such scam also affects my reputation.
Please advice, How can I protect myself from such fraud and scam. What can I do? Maybe someone has experience with this and can give me advice.
Best Regards,
Leonid Afremov
