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At this point we
would like to tell you about some of the cases we deal with, in
no particular order.
You will of course find no genuine data here, or references to our
clients.
But our intention with these little "detective stories" is
to illustrate our work to you in practical terms, and to that extent
all the behaviour of the protagonists matches reality, and has
simply had all identifying elements removed.
S E R G E J
In January 2001 more and more customers' orders were being placed via the internet
with a German company in Berlin. The company supplied goods to small and medium-sized
businesses throughout Germany, and was expanding its presence in online trade.
Existing customers were given the option when placing their order of specifying
a second, different address for the delivery of the goods.
As a result an order valued at EUR 65,000 was then delivered to
Stuttgart (with a new delivery address), and handed over there
by the courier as arranged. However, a short time later it became
clear that the customer had not placed the order.
Investigations by the police and the Berlin company's own security
department were getting nowhere. At that time the assumption was
that it was an inside job. Shortly after that there was a similar
order. This time, however, the goods were not supplied in one delivery
but in two partial deliveries. Corma employees were present along
with the local police when the second delivery was made, and three
individuals from Ukraine and Belarus were arrested. The reasons
behind this successful outcome were an alert customer, who had
quickly noticed the incorrect order, and optimum preparation for
cooperation with the local police. All the goods, with a value
of EUR 55,000, were then recovered by the police in the course
of further investigations.
From this point the number of these
cases rose continuously, reaching a peak of 35 cases worth EUR
320,000 in 2002.
Any countermeasures taken by the Berlin company
were repeatedly circumvented by those placing the orders. Again
and again different customer data were used for the orders, and
in almost every case the goods were intended for new recipients
from the Eastern bloc.
Then came the breakthrough in July 2002.
Investigations initiated immediately on receipt of a further order
led to the questioning of a "consignee" by corma. In
the course of this questioning the man turned out to be very cooperative,
putting us onto the track of Sergei.
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The man calling himself Sergei had
placed "job advertisements" on websites for Russian citizens
in Germany (discussion forums).
„Trustworthy person in Germany for simple
tasks wanted. Details via e-mail“
An e-mail enquiry elicited the following response:
>> Dear fellow surfer,
Here are some more precise details. Our company is principally made up of a
dozen people spread right across the Commonwealth of Independent States, and
we are not an officially registered business. But we do have a lot of experience
in working in our region. From here we deal with the development of software
for the West. In recent times, however, we have begun to act as agents. We find
clients in the West (Europe, Western Europe) and specialist contractors here,
and receive our percentage of the fee for each order completed. In this case
I have agreed the following with my client: For our money he can buy several
components for computers and notebooks in online transactions in Germany. The
fact is that we do not have that sort of proprietary technology here in Ukraine.
So the boss first orders 2 or 3 notebooks. But the thing is, he has neither
the time not the inclination to bother with dispatching these notebooks to Ukraine.
I thought it might be possible to do it like this: The boss orders the notebooks
for delivery to your address (he orders them either through his bank account
or by credit card), you receive the goods and send them by post to the address
that I will give you. You know, you can sell this sort of equipment very easily
here, because it's just not available, and there are plenty of prospective customers.
I will pay all the carriage costs, plus 50 dollars for your services for each
consignment. It might be possible to make 3 or 4 consignments a week. The consignments
will not be too large in terms of dimensions. If you like you can simply open
up the box and check that there is a computer in it, and not a bomb or anything
like that. If you are in agreement, just send me your home address and wait
for the consignment. If you like I can ask the boss to order any piece of equipment
for you, if you need anything….<<
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