In recent months, we have received reports from Independent Beauty Consultants who have been contacted via email through the “Contact Me" function on their Mary Kay®  Personal Web Sites by individuals attempting to use false or stolen credit cards, business checks, money orders and/or cashier’s checks to purchase Mary Kay®  products. Many times, the inquiry involves a large order from a stranger that, from a practical perspective, seems too good to be true.

If you received an order inquiry from someone with whom you’ve never had prior contact, protect your Mary Kay business from potential fraud or scams by practicing caution when any of the following factors exist:

• The person contacting you attempts to submit an order with you via an email sent through the "Contact Me" feature on your Mary Kay®  Personal Web Site, rather than simply submitting an order through the shopping feature on your Personal Web Site.

• The person contacting you provides an address that is outside of your zip code. (Remember that individuals who don't already have an Independent Beauty Consultant will likely find someone local to them through the zip code search function on the Consultant Locator.)

• The e-mail you receive contains multiple misspellings and grammatical error and/or is written in either all lower case letters or all uppercase letters.

• The individual who contacts you provides you with a "story" attempting to explain his or her need for a large order. (Examples may include, but are not limited to, explaining that gifts are needed for guests attending a family reunion, for members of a church congregation, children in an orphanage, employees at a company, etc.)

• You are asked by the individual to accept a money order, cashier’s check and/or business check that is equal to a sum greater than the value of the product order. Often you will be asked to provide the excess difference in cash to an individual or "shipping agent" that will pick up the order from you or wire the excess funds to the buyer via Western Union or other money transferring services.

• The email you receive indicates that the order is to be sent or used outside the United States or its territories. Remember, as an Independent Beauty Consultant living in the United States, you should never ship or deliver Mary Kay®  products outside of the United States and its territories for the purpose of selling to consumers.

In addition to paying close attention to the above described signs of fraud, we always recommend that you take advantage of the suggestions and tools for avoiding credit card charge backs offered to you by ProPay. Visit the ProPay Web site at http://www.propay.com/faq/faq_chargebacks.aspx for additional information. If you believe you are a recipient of a fraudulent order attempt, we strongly recommend that you delete the email without response. After all, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Should you have any questions, feel free to contact the Mary Kay Legal Support Team at (972) 687-5777 or via e-mail at legalsupport@mkcorp.com.