You can all blame my client

[heinous_bitca.livejournal.com]

A few weeks back now, I had a client call me in a desperate panic. (I do computer consulting on the side.) She was trying to scan a check to send to her bank and was having problems getting the scanner to work.

Why did she need to scan a check, you ask?

Because this relatively tech-and-RL-savvy 70-year-old woman fell victim to a cyberscam.

Yes, one of those "I'll send you a check for $N amount and you can keep half/quarter/three-quarters" scams. And the bank wanted to see a copy of the check.

I didn't have time to get into the whole "HOW DUMB ARE YOU THAT YOU FELL FOR THIS?" with her on the cell phone. She put her older son on the phone and I tried, while commuting home (husband was driving) to help him figure out why he could scan the check and not save it. I wasn't able to help, but promised if they would call me later, I would try and connect to her MacBookPro via my husband's MacBookPro and go through iChat to control her computer and figure out what they were missing with saving the scan.

I never actually heard back from them that day, or all weekend. A week later, I got an email from her saying that they had figured it out, and asking about another issue.

I don't know what I'm going to say to her once she needs me consulting her in person again. Part of me wants to ask her how she fell for this (I'm HOPING that it was a subtle scam, and not the ones I still get in my spam mailbox), part of me wants to grab her and shake her and say DID YOU EVEN TALK TO YOUR HUSBAND ABOUT THIS?, and part of me wants to just throw my hands up in the air and give up on her.

So if you ever think, "Why do they keep sending out these emails? Doesn't everyone know by now that they're scams?", now you can say you have heard of someone who fell for one, and fell recently. So yes, that's why we still get them. They still manage to hook in a few suckers.

Comments

[kukla-red.livejournal.com]

I remember cracking up about 11 or 12 years ago when my brother called me all in a tizzy because he'd found a similar check in the mail to my mother and he was SURE it was legit. Yeah. No.

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

Does anyone who sends these checks out ever get arrested?

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

Rarely, they're usually a couple of steps ahead and the delay with going between law enforcement agencies in different jurisdictions gives them along enough to launder money through an offshore bank and disappear. Or they have some dupe who's been solicited through an equally ludicrous scam to cash the check and keep 10% and forward the rest in a money order leaving them with the money sucked out of their account when it bounces or the police catch up.

[cumaeansibyl.livejournal.com]

Con artists will tell you that you can't con someone unless s/he is interested in getting something for nothing and willing to ignore things that sound sketchy. There are plenty of people out there dumb enough to think these scams are real but too honest to participate -- "gosh, this Nigerian prince wants to pay me to help get his money out of the country, but that sounds illegal."

So sure, it helps to be dumb, but it also helps to be just a little bit greedy.

[redhillian.livejournal.com]

There was a variant being through eBay a few years back - I'd put something up for sale, and get enquiries from various places overseas with offers to overpay on a cheque to cover international shipping with the "just include a cheque for any remaining, or if it's less than [x amount] keep it to cover your expenses".

Of course, we all know what would have happened had I accepted and tried to cash said cheque. Only with the added bonus of having shipped off something of value, plus paid for international shipping as well.

I suspect more than a few honest people got duped that way before eBay spotted it and started the education campaigns for that.

[natalie-i-am.livejournal.com]

First rule of the con;
you can't cheat an honest man.
The other first rule of the con
Find a man who wants something for nothing, and give him nothing for something.

I think there is another first rule too, I cant remember it.

[redhillian.livejournal.com]

re the first "first rule" - see my above reply to cumaeansibyl, sadly there are ways to cheat 'the honest man', all they need is a little bit of naivety. :(

[natalie-i-am.livejournal.com]

The counterpoint is "theres a sucker born..."

[redhillian.livejournal.com]

Yup, that would appear to apply. Maybe that's the missing third "first rule". ;)

[fallconsmate.livejournal.com]

My ex was THISCLOSE to falling for that sort of scam. I wasn't upset that he was talking to someone claiming to be a woman, I was mad at him for nearly falling for the scam. Sillyass man. *eyeroll*

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

"I've gotten 500 of this kind of offer before and those were all scams, but this one has to be the real thing!"

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I wonder what makes you think that hubby would be any less gullible.

[biggeek.livejournal.com]

My 70 year old mom got a letter from a collection agency demanding payment for unpaid debt of about $700 and she called me totally freaking out about it. She didn't recognize the creditor listed and couldn't remember making a purchase that size.

I checked her credit reports, and she had no collections. I googled up a debt verification boilerplate, printed it out and sent it back to them on her behalf.

She never heard back from the collection agency again.

Plenty of people are drawn into these types of confidence scams just with some official-looking letterhead or legitimate-looking checks.

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

debt verification boilerplate?

[biggeek.livejournal.com]

Sample Debt Verification Letter

Date
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State Zip

Collection Agency
Collector’s Address
Collector’s City, State Zip

Re: Account Number XXX-XX-XXXX-X

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on January xx, xxxx. This is not a refusal to pay. Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b), I am disputing your claim and requesting validation of the debt.

I request that your offices provide me with evidence that I have a legal obligation to pay you including proof of the debt, the name and address of the original creditor, and the original account number. Please also provide me with your license numbers and your Registered Agent to show that you are licensed to collect in my state.

I request that you cease all collection activity while you collect the aforementioned information. This includes listing the information on my credit report. If you do not comply, I will file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the state Attorney General. Civil and criminal claims will be pursued.

I appreciate your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

Best Regards,

[http://users.livejournal.com/_caecus_/]

The ones I've seen lately have come about while trying to buy another car. My fiancee needs one, so I've been looking in papers and locally on Craigslist. It seems like about 70% of the ones I email about want me to use a shady escrow company, after which the vehicle will be delivered to me. Should I not be satisfied with the vehicle, the escrow company will return my money. Riiiiiggggghhhht.

Back around '99...

[parmanya.livejournal.com]

...I was trying to sell my older powerchair on eBay (I'd finally upgraded).

Someone won my auction, and wanted to pay by check (around $400, plus freight shipping at anywhere from $60-$450, depending on destination in the continental 48).

Mailed me a third-party "cashier's check" for more than $5K, with a request to ship to Africa, and include a check for any "change".

Stated reason was that a colleague had paid him in US funds, and this would save him part of the conversion fee (because the amount converted would be lower).

Yeah, no - contacted the Feds, and they didn't even want the info, because I hadn't fallen for it (they only assign manpower if someone has been financially injured).

Good times.