# I think impostor intercepted my Pizza then pretended to be the delivery guy and stole my card **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927 "2012-11-05T05:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/21 "2012-11-05T08:58:35Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > A pizza comes down the pipes to my local store. I call corporate and say “Hi, this is Andrea Green, I decided I’m just going to pick this up instead of paying for delivery…kthxbai”. Then I buy the pizza, bring it to your house, swipe your credit card with my skimmer and go back to work. Alternatively, instead of buying the pizza with my own money (now that I think about it), I could use the CC info I stole from you to buy the pizza so it shows up on your statement and I’m not paying for it out of my pocket. How would you buy the pizza with the CC details _you will later steal_ when you deliver said pizza? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/22 "2012-11-05T09:18:50Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Even if she did what website isn’t using SSL for credit card orders, unless she is doing something silly like emailing her CC info. Not many, as I said - > [@](#): > > any real cc transactions would almost always be encrypted - but a pizza order with no payment info may be sent in plain text. She didn’t send any CC information to their website as far as I can tell. She ordered a pizza and chose “pay in person”. I was just speculating that info might not be encrypted, specifically because there isn’t any kind of payment being sent. It may be encrypted, but even then some malware on her computer could be capturing keystrokes before they are encrypted and sending them to a third party. I looked at the pizza site and they also accept logins via facebook, which could open up any number of leaks. Basically any way that a third party could become privy to the fact that she is expecting a stranger to arrive at her house with a pizza asking for her credit card makes the rest of the scam easy to understand. It’s all speculation on both theories but I think it is unlikely it was an inside job at the pizza place. And employee could only get away with it a few times before they were uncovered through phone logs and customer complaints. A third party getting the information some other way seems more likely. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/23 "2012-11-05T09:19:18Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > How would you buy the pizza with the CC details _you will later steal_ when you deliver said pizza? She said no charge for the pizza appeared on her card? 😕 Someone attempted to withdraw money from an ATM in another town though. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/24 "2012-11-05T11:47:02Z")
Another reason why it’s much safer to use a CC over a debit card. At last then the fraudsters aren’t messing with _your_ funds. If this went down add written, I’d say it’s someone in cahoots with an employee. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/25 "2012-11-05T12:44:47Z")
> [@andrea\_green](#): > > I live in Toronto and PizzaPizza is the largest pizza company in Canada. Humm - I’m in Alberta and have never heard of it - perhaps it’s the largest in Ontario. Anyway - was this your bank card or credit card? If credit, the company will take care of it - I believe that CC companies have whole fraud divisions that work on this type of thing. If its your bank card, have you spoke to your branch? I would have them give you a new debit card, reset your pin and be done with it. If you’re really in a froth, maybe try CTV Toronto’s consumer reporter (I’m sure they have one) - that might get the company a bit more interested. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/26 "2012-11-05T13:21:55Z")
Depending on the procedures at the pizza place, all the high-tech spy stuff might not even be needed. Is the address printed on the receipt? If so, I can see being able to do this kind of thing just by fishing. Call the local pizza place during a decently busy time period, and say “We just ordered a pizza for pay-in-person, as it turns out I’m going to pick it up.” They ask “what name is it under?” and you say “Hmmm, not sure, my wife/girlfriend/buddy called it in.” “OK, sir, was it a large pizza with sausage and onion?” “Yup, that’s the one, I’ll be there in 15 minutes to pick it up.” As long as the place writes the address on the receipt, the whole scam will work. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/27 "2012-11-05T13:34:20Z")
Fanboy’s have leaked that PizzaPizza is the worldwide evil empire that the Bond faces in the new movie Skyfall opening in theaters this coming weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/28 "2012-11-05T13:37:11Z")
Get a new card and a new password (I assume you have done this already). Speak with the bank’s fraud division. Speak with the financial crimes division of the Toronto police 416-808-7300. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/29 "2012-11-05T13:48:11Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Humm - I’m in Alberta and have never heard of it - perhaps it’s the largest in Ontario. Pizza Pizza owns Pizza 73. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/30 "2012-11-05T13:54:07Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Depending on the procedures at the pizza place, all the high-tech spy stuff might not even be needed. > > Is the address printed on the receipt? If so, I can see being able to do this kind of thing just by fishing. Call the local pizza place during a decently busy time period, and say “We just ordered a pizza for pay-in-person, as it turns out I’m going to pick it up.” They ask “what name is it under?” and you say “Hmmm, not sure, my wife/girlfriend/buddy called it in.” “OK, sir, was it a large pizza with sausage and onion?” “Yup, that’s the one, I’ll be there in 15 minutes to pick it up.” > > As long as the place writes the address on the receipt, the whole scam will work. My contention is that it’s very unlikely, bordering on impossible, that a criminal would spend his own money on a scam that, to this point, has netted him $0. The only way that this could even be remotely plausible is if it’s an inside job and they’re getting the pizzas for free. More likely, the pizza charge didn’t go through yet and someone unrelatedly tried to make a withdrawal from the OP’s bank account. ---
**Author:** ![andrea\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@andrea\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrea_green)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/31 "2012-11-05T14:05:26Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > More likely, the pizza charge didn’t go through yet and someone unrelatedly tried to make a withdrawal from the OP’s bank account. I like occam’s razor as much as the next girl but how do you explain the call that the Pizza company logged (supposedly they have a time, caller id and voice recording) a call from someone claiming to be me requesting that the order be changed from delivery to pickup? Seems like a pretty big coincidence no? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/32 "2012-11-05T17:33:29Z")
> [@Sierra\_Indigo](#): > > How did the person know you’d ordered? > > Did they go in to the pizza place claiming to be “andrea\_green”? > > How did they know where you lived to deliver the pizza to you and skim your card? These are the biggest questions and why I respectfully must disagree with **crazyhorse**. Yes it is possible to intercept this stuff electronically, people with those kinds of skill sets would be looking for bigger scores than “in person” pizza scams. Too labor intensive for the money and risk of identification. My bet, very much inside job. Someone positioned to intercept the order, redirect it in their system and have a driver with the correct uniform, pizza, etc there to make the snag. Having worked in pizza, I know its full of starving college students, an ATM cloning device could look very tempting to a guy who might make $200/week as a part time pizza delivery guy. Heck I have seen delivery drivers get nailed 3-4 times in my 4 years I worked there. this is just the new way to do it. There are several ways to try, for example.. Claim delivery was not home/did not answer door. Usually nobody bothered to doublecheck if they brought a pizza back. Convenient cancellations: This one was a biggie for one guy. Has friend call in order, wait for pizza to be ready, friend would call back and cancel claiming one emergency or another. Driver would grab pizza from warmer and deliver it anyway, then pocket cash. One driver had a couple friends who would happily pay $10 for a pizza, pretty much any kind, so if a cancellation or mistake came back, he knew he could make $10 off of it. IF it was me doing this, I would most definitely make sure that the pizza got picked up and paid for in cash. I would also not bother with the pizza charge as the CC companies are going to look to cross reference pizzapizza customers with the problem transactions. Also people are less likely to complain about not having paid for something. If there is no pizza pizza transactions, then it makes it look like the scam must have been elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![baileygrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@baileygrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baileygrrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/33 "2012-11-05T17:44:31Z")
Last week, AMEX called me to let me know that my card had been compromised. She couldn’t go into detail, but she said that I had used my card at a merchant where card skimmers were found. The last purchase I had made was a pick up at Pizza Pizza. Hmmmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/34 "2012-11-05T18:25:17Z")
If you are in TO, you and Andrea should speak to the same officer in the financial crimes division. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/35 "2012-11-05T19:21:19Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Get a new card and a new password (I assume you have done this already). > > Speak with the bank’s fraud division. > > Speak with the financial crimes division of the Toronto police 416-808-7300. You should listen to **Muffin** because he is terribly clever. > [@Muffin](#): > > Pizza Pizza owns Pizza 73. See? Clever. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/36 "2012-11-05T19:35:11Z")
[Just do what Northern Piper advises. He’s wise.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) ---
**Author:** ![andrea\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@andrea\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrea_green)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/37 "2012-11-05T20:29:54Z")
I returned to the store that made the pizza and this time I was able to speak to the owner who would identify himself only as Zal. He was not pleasant, friendly or professional but he did provide some useful records. [Click here](http://imgur.com/a/xrIyf) to see the store’s copies of my original order and the fraudulent revised request to change it from delivery to pickup. Also he showed me their order logbook which indicated my order was indeed picked-up. So they have one of the crooks on camera (and probably a voice recording of them calling to change the order too!) ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/38 "2012-11-05T20:40:50Z")
> [@andrea\_green](#): > > I returned to the store that made the pizza and this time I was able to speak to the owner who would identify himself only as Zal. He was not pleasant, friendly or professional but he did provide some useful records. [Click here](http://imgur.com/a/xrIyf) to see the store’s copies of my original order and the fraudulent revised request to change it from delivery to pickup. Also he showed me their order logbook which indicated my order was indeed picked-up. So they have one of the crooks on camera (and probably a voice recording of them calling to change the order too!) So have you contacted your bank and got a new card and PIN? If not, forget the Coloumbo schtick and do that. If yes, did Zal say he would look at the surveillance? Honestly, as annoying as this type of thing is, I think you may be tilting at windmills here. Also, listen to **Muffin** because he is terribly clever and has a very large kayak. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/39 "2012-11-05T20:46:19Z")
Missed the edit - perhaps try calling Pizza Pizza’s HQ - they may be more helpful than Zal. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927/40 "2012-11-05T21:11:18Z")
I agree that is sounds like an inside job. A few weekends ago, I stayed at a local hotel for parent’s weekend at my daughter’s college. At 1am, I got a call from someone claiming to be the front desk clerk. He gave me some song and dance about his computer crashing and needing me to re-register. He started asking me personal information, and because I couldn’t verify it was the front desk clerk on the phone, I told him that I’d go re-register at the front desk. Of course, the person at the front desk denied making such a phone call. Although I have no proof, I’ll bet it was a college student who’d figured out how to call rooms directly so he could try and trick guests into voluntarily divulging our personal information and credit card number. My other guess is that it was a friend of the front desk clerk because when we notified her of the scam attempt, she shrugged and said it wasn’t her. She made no attempt to follow up and didn’t seem remotely concerned. (I ended up contacting Hilton corporate and they will be following up on it.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-impostor-intercepted-my-pizza-then-pretended-to-be-the-delivery-guy-and-stole-my-card/639927.md?page=3)