A large number of sellers suddenly had their goods detained! UPS cracks down on fraudulent accounts

In the past week, many sellers posted on social media platforms asking for help because their UPS logistics had not been updated for several days and the freight forwarder could not give a reasonable explanation. After they took the initiative to contact UPS, they learned that the freight account they used was a water-traffic account and the goods had been detained.

UPS is strictly investigating the accounts of water leakage, and USPS will follow suit starting August 1. A freight forwarder revealed that many low-price peers who send UPS have won the bid, involving more than 100 cabinets in Yiwu, Shenzhen and other places. At present, a logistics company has confirmed the accident and notified the compensation.

UPS cracks down on fraudulent accounts, and many sellers have had their goods detained

A seller said that UPS did not update the logistics for 10 days, which made her very anxious. The seller contacted UPS and was told that the account had been reported and UPS had the right to detain the goods. The goods have been detained. The seller's order number starts with 1Z59YR.

UPS is detaining shipments on a large scale. Another seller, unable to learn about the logistics progress from the freight forwarder, called UPS and learned that the account she was using had been reported as fraudulent. The communication email the seller saw showed that 2,500 shipments were detained along with hers.

There are many similar cases. Sellers asked around because UPS logistics information was not updated, and after a few days they were basically told that it was due to a water account. The logistics progress of some sellers showed "shipping has been canceled, and the cancellation information has been received", which made them feel helpless.

A freight forwarder in Shenzhen revealed: "Many of my peers who send UPS have had their goods detained. Some of the low-price grabbers that everyone knows have basically won the bid. Shenzhen Yiwu has no less than 100 containers involved, and UPS starting with 1Z59 is the hardest hit area." The 1Z59 mentioned here is the account number of the detained goods mentioned by many sellers above. In addition, the order number segments involved this time include 1ZY881, etc. Sellers using the corresponding number segments can check themselves and deal with them as soon as possible if they are affected.

Prior to this, the industry had already warned that UPS would conduct a major overhaul. It was reported that UPS was investigating the problems of stealing area, stealing weight, and losing accounts recently. If found, there would be a series of serious consequences, including paying the freight, downgrading discounts, and stopping the warehouse's full container delivery service. The mailing slips with losing accounts may not be scanned online, nor delivered, and may be destroyed. In serious cases, the customer may be prosecuted and held accountable for related legal responsibilities, and the delivery warehouse address will be blacklisted. Customers are advised to pay attention to the risks of UPS's mailing.

As expected, this strict investigation has impacted many cross-border logistics companies. Zhejiang * Yun Logistics has confirmed the incident and apologized for the problem with account 59Y. It is understood that the account has more than 2.6 million US dollars in fees, including dimensional weight rebound fees, residential address correction fees, and some fines and other related fees ; at the same time , UPS officials have clearly stated that only about 50% of the goods associated with this account can be transferred out, and the transfer cycle of related goods will take 4-5 weeks.

After comprehensive consideration, *Yun Logistics decided not to recharge the UPS account, but to compensate the customer directly , and has now provided a compensation plan.

The compensation for all goods will be based on the promise of "return freight + compensation for the value of goods" in the price list. The value of goods will be reviewed based on the system-declared value of goods and the seller's purchase price, and the minimum value will be taken. If the system-declared value of goods is less than 200 US dollars, the return freight + system-declared value of goods will be compensated directly; if the system-declared value of goods is higher than 200 US dollars, the return freight + purchase price will be used for compensation after negotiation .

The seller needs to provide proof of value of goods, purchase contract, payment screenshots and other authentic credentials; if the system declares the value of goods to be higher than US$200 but fails to provide valid proof of value of goods, compensation will be paid in the form of return shipping fee + US$100/box.

*Yun Logistics said that the account problem was caused by a variety of reasons. It has traced the source as soon as possible, strictly investigated the root cause of the problem and actively solved the problem to prevent similar problems. But it is unknown how the company will prevent the leakage of accounts after multiple strict investigations?

UPS's strict inspection is just the first step, and USPS will follow suit. According to official news, in order to solve the problem of unpaid and counterfeit postage, USPS will verify payment documents in real time starting August 1, 2024. Packages that are not included in the list when first scanned at the USPS facility will be intercepted and processed. These packages will not re-enter the mail flow, and the sender will not receive compensation.

There are endless scam accounts. How can sellers avoid scams?

UPS and other companies are strictly investigating accounts that have caused fraud, which has caused sellers to be anxious. How can they judge whether they have fallen into a trap recently? Logistics companies in the industry have summarized that if logistics information is delayed in updating, and the freight forwarder's reasons are false situations such as UPS warehouse explosion and limited withdrawal, it is very likely that a fraudulent account has been encountered.

"Also, don't look for low prices! Don't look for low prices! Don't look for low prices!" said a Shenzhen freight forwarder. "Of course, high prices are not always reliable. It still depends on whether the people and the company are reliable." As the seller said, Amazon's first-leg logistics prices are becoming more transparent. Too low prices are mostly illegal operations. Otherwise, where does the profit come from? In the end, it is likely to go bankrupt or run away.

In the first half of this year, affected by the Red Sea crisis and other factors, cross-border freight rates continued to rise, and ocean freight prices have been rising for more than ten consecutive weeks. Freight rates on the US route once broke through the 10,000 yuan mark, and have only recently begun to fall. Sellers are complaining about the high freight costs, and coupled with Amazon's new low inventory level fees, warehousing configuration fees, return processing fees and other expenses this year, they can only shop around and try to reduce expenses.

Abnormally low prices mean higher risks. A freight forwarder lamented that there are still a lot of long-distance warehouses and nearby deliveries on the US route, and many customers immediately asked if there was a lowest price, and said that a certain company could give a 6-month credit period and the price was cheap. "The freight forwarding industry is now in chaos. A company here defrauded 15 million yuan, and the police station came to talk about how much money the company had defrauded."

In order to reduce costs and attract customers with low prices, some logistics companies have enabled water-draining accounts. They take advantage of the fact that UPS and other express delivery companies in the United States deliver first and then charge, and that domestic sellers pay first and then ship, to open accounts registered by empty companies and get super low discounts. When UPS is held accountable, they cancel or transfer the accounts without paying the freight. UPS and other companies will naturally not tolerate this, and once they take action, they will use thunderous means.

Since May last year , UPS has cracked down on accounts with fraudulent shipments. Multiple Los Angeles overseas warehouses have been disqualified from picking up goods or have been investigated by UPS. At the same time, the scope of cargo seizure is very wide. It is reported that UPS seized 170 containers in one day. Soon, the United States Postal Service also began to conduct strict inspections. All order number information under fraudulent accounts was deleted, resulting in restrictions on multiple accounts. Afterwards, USPS and the Postal Inspection Bureau launched expanded crime prevention measures, one of the key tasks of which is to crack down on fake delivery notes.

Even so, the phenomenon of leaked accounts still continues, until now a big bomb has exploded, shocking the industry.