This is very clever. I would probably fall for it if not warned. Just when you thought you'd heard it all---
Beware of people bearing gifts.
You get a phone call from someone saying that he was from a delivery service asking if you were going to be home because there was a package for you that required a signature which is to be delivered within an hour.
A uniformed delivery man shows up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine.
The courier didn’t know who the package was from but that a greeting card was being sent separately.
The courier explains that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a $3.50 "delivery verification charge," providing proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking age), and had not just left it on the doorstep.
The courier then says that the delivery company requires payment to be by credit or debit card to have a legal record of the transaction.
The courier has you swipe your card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad. If it’s a debit card you are asked to enter your PIN number. A receipt is printed out and given to you.
In the next few days thousands of dollars are charged/withdrawn from your credit/debit account at various ATM machines.
WARNING:
Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package," which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is.
Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction.
