#2 All-Time. Radio Geo’s Media Blog. (SCAM ALERT) Published, 12/19/2012

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A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a company that asked if I would be interested in becoming their Secret Shopper.
What they wanted was for me to shop at various retail establishments, evaluate their service, and then write them a report.

They, in turn, would pay me two hundred dollars for my services and also let me keep all the stuff I bought.
What a great
way to kick start Christmas shopping, I thought, so I said, “Hell Yeah.”

I forgot all about it until a couple of days later when they Emailed me for an address where they could send me a check plus a number they could text me at.
Imagine my surprise when a check for $2500.00 showed up the next day, followed by a text asking me to contact them as soon as I deposited the check in my bank account.

When I got to the bank, I decided to deposit it using the ATM because checks always cleared faster. (mistake #1)
As soon as I made the deposit, I texted them, and they responded by telling me to check my computer for an email with step-by-step instructions.

While driving home, small warning bells started going off in my head: Hey, who the hell sends $2500 to a complete stranger?
However, when I opened up the email, their instructions were quite detailed and looked very official.

The first thing that they told me to do was to pay myself $200.00 and then go to the closest Wal-Mart and target and spend $150.00 at each as soon as possible.
Then they wanted me to go to Western Union and send a MoneyGram for a thousand dollars each to 2 two other mystery shoppers in other cities.

After I completed these tasks, they then wanted me to submit a written report about how I was treated at both Wal-Mart, Target and Western Union.
It all seemed a little weird but as long as the check cleared, what did I care.

When I asked them how many of these assignments I could expect before Christmas, they said it all depended on how quickly I completed my first two assignments.
I, of course, was in no hurry to do anything until that check cleared.

Still feeling weird, I forwarded a copy of their instructions to our CFO Ric Hindes and asked for his advice. Rick said that it sure smelled like a scam, but he couldn’t figure out how they were scamming.
When I ran it by my bank manager, she said that it had all the signs of a scam and if I had made the deposit inside instead of with the ATM, they could call the bank the check was written on to see if there were sufficient funds to cover it.

She then explained that by law, they couldn’t hold a check for more than 24 hours, which meant the funds would be available to me by 5:00 PM the next day.
However, she added, if I were you, I wouldn’t use any of the money because it could take up to a week to know if the check was any good, and I’d be responsible for any of the funds I used if it bounced.

CLANG ClANG! Ahhh, there it is; that’s why the company wanted me to complete my assignment quickly.
Their goal was to get me to wire two checks for a thousand dollars each to their worker bees before the week was up.

The next day, the scammers really put pressure on me but I held them off by saying that I wasn’t going to do anything until that check cleared.
The next day, I got 105 texts from them, and they were really starting to get nasty.

They claimed that their mystery shoppers in other cities needed me to complete my assignment so that they could do theirs.
I backed them off by saying that I would call the bank the next morning to see if the check had cleared.

They were all over me the following day, so I told them that I would withdraw the money on my way home from work.
Then, when I texted them later that I couldn’t withdraw the money because the ATM had a limit, they went crazy.

I calmed them by saying that I would be at the bank the next morning to withdraw the money.
Then when I told them that I would leave work early to complete their tasks, they perked up a little.

By the next morning, though, they were back to being ballistic, and somehow, the Wal-Mart and Target assignment had fallen by the wayside.
Now, they just want me to draw the money from the bank and then head right over to Western Union.

Later on, when I told them that the bank wouldn’t give me the money because there was something wrong with the check, they called bullshit.
As they said, there’s no way the bank would know anything about the check yet. (they should know)

I bought some more time by saying that I would go back to the bank and demand my money.
Instead, I went on the Rich Stevens at WFTL in Fort Lauderdale and warned the folks about the scam.

It was an enjoyable show, with many folks calling in to tell us their scam stories, which I hope helped a few people.

The whole time I was on Rich’s show, they were texting me like crazy, and I couldn’t help but think that if these guys worked this hard at something legitimate, they’d probably be millionaires.
When I finished up the show, I texted to tell them that I was on my way to the bank, and they’d hear from me when I got the money.

A half-hour later, I texted them that I was at the bank, but they still wouldn’t give me the money because they still claim that something was wrong with the check, so you need to send me another.
When they said that there was no way in hell that they were doing that, I gave them a little hope by telling them that the bank told me to come back the next morning because they may have a way of clearing this all up.

Then the texts started slowing down and I can only guess that they were on to me as I was on to them.
Damn, I can still see that money just lying there in my account, but all I get to do instead of spending it is to share this blog with two excellent scammers, Wander Thorman and Kevin Pool, with a text that reads, “You can’t scam a scammer Mo-Fos!

Hey, this just in! Surprise, surprise, the check did bounce, which cost me 12 dollars.
That $12, though, was well worth the price of admission, not to mention that over 6000 people have already read this blog, and we also got a radio show out of it.

However, when I texted the bad news to Wander and Kevin about the check bouncing, they never responded. C’mon guys!

Tomorrow, We Wrap It All Up With My #1 Blog Of All Time.

Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, Politics, Religion, Books, Social Media, and Life. For a sneak peek at upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com.
On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is encouraged and appreciated.

 

29 thoughts on “#2 All-Time. Radio Geo’s Media Blog. (SCAM ALERT) Published, 12/19/2012

  1. When I owned my B&B, there was a similar scam going around. People would make an email reservation for a week at your B&B, then send you a check for $2500. You would get an email a few days later saying they had over paid you by mistake and to send the balance due to them. So many people fell for it. Thank god I didn’t… all of their emails seemed fishy to me. Because when asked to pay by credit card, they refused. But so many people I know fell for it.

    • Yeah when I did the Radio show about this on Thursday Diane I couldn’t believe how many well thought out scams were going on. This one is only about 5 days old and one of the scammers e mails still works so I shared my Blog with him.

  2. My daughter wanted to sell her designer wedding gown after the big day. She posted on Craig’s List and quickly had someone contact her. After what seemed like a legitimate conversation, i.e. all the right questions were asked, a deal was made. Despite saying PayPal would be used, she got an overnight envelope with a check that was far in excess of the amount agreed upon. Then came the phone call, “oops, accidentally overpaid you, please send a check with the overage amount to…..”

    Fortunately she called me and I told her NO! Turns out the check was a company check, and when she contacted the company directly, they were shocked that someone had stolen a block of blank checks. The check would have been rejected for payment.

    There are all sorts of versions of this scam You just have to be super careful!

    • ‘ cause I wanted to, I love off the wall stuff but they never got any money from me only beautiful Women know how to do that, I’m tough on every one else.

  3. There are so many scams about that I thought your email with the subject line “SCAM ALERT” was a scam and didn’t open the link for hours. Couldn’t resist, though, and– BAM–there’s another interesting Geo blog! Careful out there. I’ve had my identity stolen (years ago) and now am “red-flagged” with the credit report companies. So, if someone steals my info and digits, and tries to use them to open accounts and such–not my problem. Thanks for sharing this important information. Glad you didn’t get hosed.

  4. I don’t know. I was always a bit fonder of the old pyramid schemes. Whatever happened to the old Perpetual Income Trust and the old International Philanthropists Society? I mean, you gotta be sharp out there. Look at what I’ve learned just by watching Freddie Fever – to avoid getting parking tickets, take off your wipers.

  5. Ah, Ric, this is money laundring 101 with a scam as well. Steve Hnat is rolling over in his grave on this one.. And George..sounded good but you never got something for nothing You will find these folks are most likely in Eastern Europe or Russia.. You can find out more of what’s going on by doing an IP lookup on the email you got.
    There is a book of great replies to the nigerian scammers of a few years back that really toys with them and hacks them off. Find it and adapt some of it to this situtation. I have gotten those emails as well.. They are in my spam filter and I toss em.

  6. Face it you poor victim…. You LOVE being scammed, hosed, taken to the cleaner and road hard and put away wet! I couldn’t keep track…..how many times have you been married?

  7. We were taken for $800 on a “legit” Mystery Shopper operation. We reported it to the Feds along with all of the counterfeit money orders that were sent to us. I am skeptical of trusting anyone these days.

  8. Hi George. Thanks for the reminder that just because my bank puts the money into my account it doesn’t mean a thing until the issuing bank where the check originated clears it. Last year I was selling some furniture on Craig’s List and someone said they deposited more than my asking price in my Pay Pal account. They then asked me to send the difference, $800.00 to blah blah blah. I had fun with them.

  9. Jenn Jenn: Seriously GEO, why did you even open the text. Kenny and I get spam texts daily. I don’t even bother to block them anymore because the scammers use a rotary list of numbers and they just keep coming.
    We live in a pathetic world, count on the people you trust and never respond to those you don’t.
    Amen
    Good story Sir GEO (Scam Alert)
    Geo: The thing of it beautiful lady was, it happened in 2012 and the subject matter was very interesting and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out the scam. It cost me $15 dollars to do so but I got a radio show out of it and the scam was brilliant.

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