I have used Federal express for over years, probably close to 20. They have pretty much always gotten it right. Always able to deliver on time and in the right location. Packages have always been handled with good care and arrived in good condition. I have never had to make a claim due to Federal Express losing a shipment. However earlier this week, I was the victim of Bank Fraud, with a regional bank in Arkansas. The bank allowed a criminal to call in, and order debit cards against both of my checking accounts. The criminal then had the cards expedited overnight and the bank used Federal Express to ship them. The criminal then created a new Federal Express Delivery Manager account under my name and home address They then went in and had the shipping location of the cards changed to the local Federal Express pickup/shipping location in Little Rock Arkansas, on Westpark Drive, (in West Little Rock). The rest is history needless to say the criminal was able to use the cards for several large purchases in the Little Rock/North Little Rock area before I was able to stop the cards. They created the Federal Express Delivery manager account on 09/05/18.
Since the criminal used a different email address, I did not get any email notification of the creation of the Delivery Manager account. However on 09/08/18, I received in the mail a card that “thanked” me for opening a new Federal Express Delivery manager account. There were a few paragraphs and at the bottom, one line with a phone number to call if I had not opened this account.
Knowing I had not opened the account, I immediately called the number, which was just a main standard number for Fed Express. Of course all of the standard numbers are designed around asking for a tracking number and if you don’t have one you are not in the best shape to use this system. After spending about 20 minutes bouncing back and forth attempting to get a “human being”, I finally did. They were unable to tell me anything about the system and what to do to close the account. They told me I needed to talk with the tech group. After another long hold of 1o minutes, the tech department came on line.
The person I spoke to could confirm that someone claiming to be Paul Caldwell at 13723 Rivercrest Dr did open a Delivery Manager account on 09/05/18. They would not give me that person’s email address, or log in info. They were also UNABLE to close the account or stop it. Remember, that with this service, you can log in and see all the current tracking numbers that are shipping to your address. YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE THE TRACKING NUMBERS AS YOU DO ON THE MAIN FEDERAL EXPRESS HOMEPAGE TO TRACK, INSTEAD IT APPEARS THAT THEY ARE LISTED. THUS IT’S POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE SHIPPING ADDRESS OF ANYTHING CURRENTLY LISTED AS SHIPPING TO YOUR ADDRESS LISTED IN DELIVERY MANAGER. Net, they leave you with the feeling of being pretty exposed.
The tech support person took all the information and said that someone would call me hopefully by Monday, no later than Tuesday, “INCREDIBLE”. SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO STOP THIS ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY, AT LEAST FREEZE IT UNTIL THE PROPER CREDENTIALS COULD BE PRESENTED. I was given a case number and different phone number to call it if I did not hear from anyone by Tuesday.
Now be aware, that on Saturday, I was expecting my Phase One digital back to be delivered for Saturday delivery. If the same criminal that setup this account happened to log in and see this particular shipment, they could have again changed the delivery address and stolen my digital back.
I feel that this process is totally unacceptable i.e. the fact that a online system that controls valuable shipments can be so easily created and manipulated. I see Federal Express as having a lax system for signup, but worse they should be able to freeze the current account due to the fact that the account was used in a bank fraud.
I also asked the tech I was working with if Federal Express could “stop” any future attempts at someone creating a delivery manager account for my address. I was shocked to hear that NO, they can’t. The only solution that was offered to me was once Federal Express closed the Fraudulent account for my address, I needed to open a new one under the same address as the current Federal Express system only allows for one delivery manager account for each physical address.
This is a typical situation where a very large company has created a tool that has easily been used in assisting bank fraud. As the end user of the fraud, how do I reach out to Federal Express? What number do I call. As usual the people that can make a decision to change this system, are buried deep inside the Federal Express corporate wall.
This post is basically to hopefully make other photographers aware of the fact that such a loophole exists and that you also may have someone sign your business up and then take control of your shipments. Heads up!!
Written for paulcaldwellphotography–09/09/18
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