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Am I being scammed?

Minoosh

Penultimate Amazing
Minoosh
Joined
Jul 15, 2011
Messages
12,594
Out of the blue I got an email from someone in the UK who claims to have found my name in an ad. He supposedly has a son visiting my part of the country and he wants his son to get 3 two-hour tutoring sessions each week for two weeks.

The problem is, I don't know what ad he's talking about! It's possible I posted my résumé on a jobs site, or craigslist ... but I don't remember doing so.

I'm trying to figure out if there's any angle for a scam. His English did not seem perfect, even though he has an English name, but he wasn't asking for my bank account number or trying to hook me up with a Nigerian prince. It could be just what it seems. I did write back, because I did not see the harm in it. I'm just curious to see if anybody here sees an angle for a scam.

It would be weird if someone were just writing to random people ... because most people aren't tutors ... so in that way it did not see random.
 
We've had this sort of thing in the past and when you start to make arrangements you find they need a little help with a visa application, or a 'loan' for transport costs and so on. Even if they have got your details via an advert it could still be a scam.


Or it could be absolutely genuine - what a cynical world we live it :)


Niall
 
Do not give them ANY financial information!!!!! Or important personal information either!!!
 
Back in the day, when we (my wife and I) were still making costumes for people we would ask for a deposit of about 30% (in nicely round numbers of euros) for procuring the fabric. The rest would be paid whenever the costume was finished.
That way we would only be the poorer of in hours spend if ever the customer would be 'difficult' (lesson learned from our third customer, shall we say).

Of course, we don't use cheques here. It is either cash or transfer of money directly in our bank account. So I guess that would make things easier.

But what I'm trying to say. If in doubt. Ask for a deposit. If legit (and it could very well be) then you can tutor to your hearts content. If not legit. At least you'll find out beforehand.
 
You could simply ask them, politely, which ad they're referring to. If they try to gloss over that, politely but firmly ask for specifics. If they're genuine, they'd have no reason to not clarify this, or to mind, as long as you took care to be courteous.
 
This already smells scam to me. When ze tells you are there are books or materials to be purchased for the tutoring and says ze's going send you a check to cash that incudes the cost of materials and your first pay for the job, drop it and give no information.
 
Of course, even if they could point to a genuine ad, that's still no assurance that this isn't a scam.
 
One possibility is that somebody with an email address similar to yours did post an ad, an the email got sent to you due to a typo (either by the sender or in a link in the ad).
 
It's a scam. As for whether you are being scammed, that depends on if you agree.

Next will come either the overpayment scam on your advance, or the, give me your account # so I can deposit a payment in it.
 
It'd be interesting to see the email.

Did it mention you by name?

I remember a woman who sold horses online who kept a running tally of scams from people pretending to be interested in buying a horse. Almost always, their "agent" would deliver a large check which you were supposed to deposit and then pay the agent's small fee.

Post the emails here and let's 419 this jerk.
 
Loss Leader said:
It'd be interesting to see the email.

Did it mention you by name?

I remember a woman who sold horses online who kept a running tally of scams from people pretending to be interested in buying a horse. Almost always, their "agent" would deliver a large check which you were supposed to deposit and then pay the agent's small fee.

Post the emails here and let's 419 this jerk.
Click to expand...

I would also like to see the actual email. It reminds me a bit of when I had a small online business, several years ago. Long after I closed the business and had not run an ad for many years, I still sometimes would get scam offers. The spelling and grammar would be OK, but there seemed odd about the wording.

Just a few minutes ago I was cleaning out my spam folder. I do it often, and always seem to feel annoyed, but also disappointed. Even being a cynic by nature, it simply - steams my peas - that there are so many out there that thrive on torturing a victim into a situation resulting in life-shattering devastation.

Sorry for the off topic rant, really.
 
Hello,

I'm *******, During my search for a lesson teacher that would help in taking son (Kenneth) During is stay in your location. I found your advert and it is very okay to me since you specialize in the area I'm seeking for him, My son would be coming to your city before the end of this month for a period of time with his friend, I'll like to know if you can help in taking him for the lesson? just to keep him busy and refresh. Kenneth is 11 years old, So kindly let me know your charges per hour/lesson in order for me to arrange for his payment before he travels down to for the lessons to commence.
He will be staying there for 2 weeks and Please Reply back on:

(1). Your charges per 2 hours (3 times a week for 2 Weeks):starting from 15th June until 28th June 2018

(2) Total Cost For 6 class/12 hours lessons in 2 Weeks

(3). The Day you will be available to teach him During the week:

Well am very happy that i see you as my son tutor and about your years of Experience there is no problem about the lessons, My son will be coming with his caregiver. So there is no problem for the lesson to commence by next week, my son caregiver will be bringing him to your location for the lessons and you can teach him anywhere around you including the Library or your home if that is okay by you so i will like you to teach my son the best of you when he get to the city for the lessons. I will like you to email me with your schedule for the lessons, I will like you to email me with the name on the check and Full mailing address where
the check will be mailed to and including your Home and Cell phone number for my attorney to issue out a check to your before leaving the the state, by this week, I will be awaiting to read from you soon with your name and address.

Best Wishes,
**********
Click to expand...

My email address actually contains my name, so IMO it's a bit odd he didn't mention it. The guy (if it's a guy) has an almost comically British-sounding name, but to my ear this does not sound like a native English speaker.

His 2nd email:
Hi,

Thanks for the mail, Yes my son his coming to ****** metro, I'm okay with the cost per hour so i will be sending you a check for 12 hours lessons, the payment will be sent Via FedEx/UPS courier
service and it's safe and faster, Please send me the name to be written on the check and the address where the check should be mailed too. and send me
your phone number, mobile number, i will be waiting to hear from you.

Best Wishes,
********.
Click to expand...

The only info I'd be giving up is my home address, and I'm curious to see where this is going.

I just wrote back asking what advert he'd seen as I do not remember placing one! It's just possible I did; but for the most part I have not been trying to get tutoring business.

Just the day before I had been online looking at Airbnb properties in London, so there is a slight coincidence ... but the odd thing is that he identified me as a tutor, which seems like a major assumption on the part of the sender.
 
The person who wrote that doesn't speak English as a first language, you can tell by the specific mistakes. That's scam cue #1.

What does he want you to teach? "you specialize in the area I'm seeking for him" He doesn't say. Scam cue #2.

FedEx-ing or UPS-ing a check. Scam cue #3.

You don't have an advert and no specialty is noted. Scam cue #4.


I wouldn't be surprised if 2 muggers show up for the lessons. Do be careful. But my guess is, he'll say the plans fell through and ask you for a refund, maybe leave you a bit for your trouble. In the meantime the victim sends the refund from their checking account and later the original check turns out to be fraudulent.
 
Last edited:
Minoosh said:
Out of the blue I got an email from someone in the UK who claims to have found my name in an ad...
Click to expand...
Yes, it's a scam. You can tell based on this information alone. Do not respond. Mark the email as junk. Do the same to all other messages claiming to have found your name somewhere.
 
I agree.

This feels like a scam. Don't go any further with it.
Just tell him something has come up and you don't have any spare time left for tutoring. (This because you already answered him)
 
It's a scam. Do a Google search for "found your advert and it is very okay to me". It's been around for years, even with the same wording. That Kenneth sure does need a lot of tutoring. :rolleyes:
 
I can only assume that you have done some tutoring in your life, if you don't know whether you created an ad offering tutoring services.

BTW, I am uh, something else, so I appreciate being alerted to this scam. From the pages on it, it's the classic overpayment scam.
 
Last edited:
DevilsAdvocate said:
It's a scam. Do a Google search for "found your advert and it is very okay to me". It's been around for years, even with the same wording. That Kenneth sure does need a lot of tutoring. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Agreed. I found the same letter in a search. If I ever receive a suspicious email then one of the first things I do is a search on the Internet.
The name that is **** out in the previous post is Robin Treder.

Edit. Do you have any connection with http://www.usgo.org/? If so that may be where the scammer got your details from.

Edit2. The email does not even mention a city. Obvious red flag.
 
Last edited:
DevilsAdvocate said:
It's a scam. Do a Google search for "found your advert and it is very okay to me". It's been around for years, even with the same wording. That Kenneth sure does need a lot of tutoring. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well thanks, everyone. Found this in a search. Identical language. Too bad, I was looking forward to meeting Kenneth :o.
 
Scam (as you've surmised). The biggest hint was the complete failure to use your name.

- And it's not an accident, according to some experts. These emails are intentionally bad in order to weed out anyone smart enough to see the obvious red flags. That increases the chance that the person will stay with the scammer when things get really sketchy - in this case, very likely an overpayment scam.

You get a washed check which you deposit and then wire the guy his refud with actual money. When the bank gets around to bouncing the check, your wired money will be long gone.
 
Loss Leader said:
Scam (as you've surmised). The biggest hint was the complete failure to use your name.

- And it's not an accident, according to some experts. These emails are intentionally bad in order to weed out anyone smart enough to see the obvious red flags. That increases the chance that the person will stay with the scammer when things get really sketchy - in this case, very likely an overpayment scam.

You get a washed check which you deposit and then wire the guy his refud with actual money. When the bank gets around to bouncing the check, your wired money will be long gone.
Click to expand...

Well, he had my name, but not using it may have been in order to see whether I'd catch that. He did tell me where he'd found the list with my name & email.

I am tempted now to string him along with my own absurdities :D - not very smart of me really I'm sure. Just to mess with him. Tell him I'll work for free. Act hurt when he doesn't respond. Marvel at how good a dad he must be, seeking so many opportunities for "Kenneth" (for yes, he has used Kenneth's name before). Make him wonder what kind of kook he's talking to.

I had a wonderful aunt who was targeted by a con I never understood, but it involved "found" money and was supposed to exploit human greed by promising some huge payoff. My aunt was so without guile that she did not respond to the greed incentive. I wish I could remember the details of the scheme but they escape me.
 
Last edited:
Minoosh said:
Well, he had
I wish I could remember the details of the scheme but they escape me.
Click to expand...

Here's one i got on my phone last week:

"My name is Mr Gatan, I work with Medirect Bank in Malta.Can i trust you with a business worth $21.3 million?reply ONLY to my email d47hds@gmail.com"

I have been wondering how to monetise this opportunity.
 
Wow! So it did turn out to be a scam after all.

Of course, one way to protect oneself from this sort of thing is to always keep one's own wallet zippered up. Speak with them, sure, receive their check, whatever ; but the moment the slightest suggestion comes up to pay something out, then no matter what the pretext, simply refuse.

On the other hand, who knows, the personal info. may go into some network somewhere for mining later on. Plus there's always some risk -- very far-fetched, but still -- of hoodlums or whatever landing up there along with the kid. Close call for you, that.

This is really impressive, this kind of focus. Getting hold of teachers' mail ids from someplace, and then send a customized email. I suppose they do this for others as well, like doctors, or whoever -- I'd never heard of something this focused before this.
 
Minoosh said:
Well, he had my name, but not using it may have been in order to see whether I'd catch that. He did tell me where he'd found the list with my name & email.

I am tempted now to string him along with my own absurdities :D - not very smart of me really I'm sure. Just to mess with him. Tell him I'll work for free. Act hurt when he doesn't respond. Marvel at how good a dad he must be, seeking so many opportunities for "Kenneth" (for yes, he has used Kenneth's name before). Make him wonder what kind of kook he's talking to.

I had a wonderful aunt who was targeted by a con I never understood, but it involved "found" money and was supposed to exploit human greed by promising some huge payoff. My aunt was so without guile that she did not respond to the greed incentive. I wish I could remember the details of the scheme but they escape me.
Click to expand...

I saw a news story this last week about someone who strung out a scammer and the scammer SWATed them. Not pleasant to have cops pointing guns at you and yelling that you need to hit the ground or be shot.
 
Minoosh said:
Out of the blue I got an email from someone in the UK who claims to have found my name in an ad. He supposedly has a son visiting my part of the country and he wants his son to get 3 two-hour tutoring sessions each week for two weeks.

The problem is, I don't know what ad he's talking about! It's possible I posted my résumé on a jobs site, or craigslist ... but I don't remember doing so.

I'm trying to figure out if there's any angle for a scam. His English did not seem perfect, even though he has an English name, but he wasn't asking for my bank account number or trying to hook me up with a Nigerian prince. It could be just what it seems. I did write back, because I did not see the harm in it. I'm just curious to see if anybody here sees an angle for a scam.

It would be weird if someone were just writing to random people ... because most people aren't tutors ... so in that way it did not see random.
Click to expand...
It could be an error in the email address.
 
Minoosh said:
I had a wonderful aunt who was targeted by a con I never understood, but it involved "found" money and was supposed to exploit human greed by promising some huge payoff. My aunt was so without guile that she did not respond to the greed incentive. I wish I could remember the details of the scheme but they escape me.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the old-time pigeon drop scam. The way it works is basically a female con artist (usually) finds a bunch of money in a bag or a briefcase in some public place, like a park. Oh, my gosh, look at all this money! She generously offers to share it with the mark, but first, they should go see this lawyer friend of hers and find out what he thinks they should do. He basically says finders keepers, but first, you two better show me that you have basic financial stability. Come back here in an hour or two with $500 (quite a bit less than the found money), leave it with me for a few days while we wait to see if there are any news reports about the missing money.

And of course a few days later the lawyer's office is empty and the mark is out her $500.
 
Brainster said:
Sounds like the old-time pigeon drop scam. The way it works is basically a female con artist (usually) finds a bunch of money in a bag or a briefcase in some public place, like a park. Oh, my gosh, look at all this money! She generously offers to share it with the mark, but first, they should go see this lawyer friend of hers and find out what he thinks they should do. He basically says finders keepers, but first, you two better show me that you have basic financial stability. Come back here in an hour or two with $500 (quite a bit less than the found money), leave it with me for a few days while we wait to see if there are any news reports about the missing money.

And of course a few days later the lawyer's office is empty and the mark is out her $500.
Click to expand...
Thanks. My aunt would be distressed for the person who lost the money. She would not dream of trying to keep it, and her probable immediate and incontrovertible reaction would have been to give the money to a police officer. Not the kind of outcome a grifter would welcome.
 
Brainster said:
Sounds like the old-time pigeon drop scam. The way it works is basically a female con artist (usually) finds a bunch of money in a bag or a briefcase in some public place, like a park. Oh, my gosh, look at all this money! She generously offers to share it with the mark, but first, they should go see this lawyer friend of hers and find out what he thinks they should do. He basically says finders keepers, but first, you two better show me that you have basic financial stability. Come back here in an hour or two with $500 (quite a bit less than the found money), leave it with me for a few days while we wait to see if there are any news reports about the missing money.

And of course a few days later the lawyer's office is empty and the mark is out her $500.
Click to expand...

Actually if you find anything you can either hand it over to the rightful owner or hand it to the police. If the police cannot find the rightful owner, within a certain time frame, then you have a claim over it. Just keeping something that is found can be labeled as a crime.
 
Minoosh said:
Well thanks, everyone. Found this in a search. Identical language. Too bad, I was looking forward to meeting Kenneth :o.
Click to expand...

The important thing may well be to ask "What's the frequency, Kenneth??"
asked by a person to a famous person (newsperson iirc) a number of years ago........
 
Apathia said:
This already smells scam to me. When ze tells you are there are books or materials to be purchased for the tutoring and says ze's going send you a check to cash that incudes the cost of materials and your first pay for the job, drop it and give no information.
Click to expand...

It's "he". H-E. Are people actually trying to do this?

I knew it was a scam the moment I started reading the thread, I've seen too many of these. Glad the OP worked it out.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I saw a news story this last week about someone who strung out a scammer and the scammer SWATed them. Not pleasant to have cops pointing guns at you and yelling that you need to hit the ground or be shot.
Click to expand...

Protip. You can easily get multiple accounts on yahoo. Just make sure you go into personal settings and type ---- (or something else) in the "sent by" column (so it doesn't reveal your real name if you made a new account using your real name ;)).

Extra bonus! Make your account name something like nigeriasux404@yahoo.com or romaniablows@yahoo.com.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I saw a news story this last week about someone who strung out a scammer and the scammer SWATed them. Not pleasant to have cops pointing guns at you and yelling that you need to hit the ground or be shot.
Click to expand...

^This.

For safety's sake, don't try and bait the scammer.

Best strategy to defeat them is to avoid any further contact with them, and warn everyone you know to be on the lookout for stuff like this.
 
fuelair said:
Tager was paroled in October 2010 and is believed to be living in New York City.
Click to expand...
Well that's reassuring. I wonder if he's taking his meds.

mgidm86 said:
It's "he". H-E. Are people actually trying to do this?
Click to expand...
I have started using "they," which I used to always fix in copy because of the pronoun/subject disagreement. I also use "Ms." now.

We had a policy at the paper of always having to use "Miss" or "Mrs." for females, which drove me up the wall.

fuelair said:
I knew it was a scam the moment I started reading the thread, I've seen too many of these. Glad the OP worked it out.
Click to expand...
I was pretty sure it was, but for the tutor part - I didn't realize there was anything online identifying me as a tutor.

BTW he gave his name as "Belfield Bayle."
 
Update: I ignored one email from "Belfield," and today there's another, insisting he will send a check by courier - however I have never given him my street address. Due to my somewhat unusual name he may actually find my mother's address.

He might be getting paid by the email and is trying to show his superiors his work product.

Do I respond saying don't send the check, or continue to ignore him?
 
Minoosh said:
Update: I ignored one email from "Belfield," and today there's another, insisting he will send a check by courier - however I have never given him my street address. Due to my somewhat unusual name he may actually find my mother's address.

He might be getting paid by the email and is trying to show his superiors his work product.

Do I respond saying don't send the check, or continue to ignore him?
Click to expand...

Either keep ignoring him, or give him the address of your local police department.

I vote on "just keep ignoring him".
 
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