In January 2011, I published my first Radio Geo’s Media Blog.
Since then, I’ve written about a thousand of them, which has produced over five thousand comments.
However, after reviewing the Life-Liners, what I found most interesting was how many of them I’ve changed my mind about over the years.
Now, as we head towards the twelve days of Christmas, I thought it might be a good time to repost some of my most-read blogs.
So, with that in mind, may I present Radio Geo’s Media Blog, “All Time Top 12.”
#2 SCAM ALERT
A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a company that wanted to know if I’d be interested in becoming a Secret Shopper.
They wanted me to shop at various retailers in West Palm Beach and then evaluate their service with a written report.
Not only did they say that they would pay me two hundred dollars for my services, but that I’d also get to keep all the stuff.
Hell of a way to kick start Christmas shopping, so “Hell Yeah” was what I was thinkin’.
A few days later, they contacted me again, asking where they should send a check and that they needed a phone number so they could text me.
Imagine my surprise when a special delivery letter showed up the next day containing a check made out to me for $2500.00.
The check was followed by a text telling me to contact them as soon as I’d deposited the check.
I decided to use the ATM at the bank because checks always clear much faster when deposited there. (Mistake #1)
As soon as I made the deposit, I texted them, and they told me to check my email for step-by-step instructions.
While driving home, small warning bells started going off in my head: “Hey, who the hell sends $2500.00 to someone they don’t even know?” However, when I opened the email, their instructions were quite detailed and looked very official.
The first thing they told me to do was when the check cleared in a couple of days, pay myself $200.00 and then go to the closest Walmart and spend $150.00
Then they wanted me to shop at Target and spend another $150.00. Hey, this was gonna be fun; Christmas shopping on their tab.
After shopping at Walmart and Target, they told me to go to Western Union and send a MoneyGram for a thousand dollars to two other “Secret Shoppers.
Then, when all my assigned tasks were completed, I would need to submit a short report to them about how it all went.
It all seemed a little weird, but as long as the check cleared in the next day or so, what did I care?
Getting a little greedy, when I asked how many of these assignments I could expect before Christmas, they said it depends on how quickly you complete this assignment,
but I, of course, wasn’t going to do anything until that check cleared.
Still feeling weird, I forwarded a copy of their instructions to our CFO, Ric Hindes.
Rick said it smelled like a scam, but he couldn’t figure out what they were scamming.
I then decided to run it by my bank manager, and she claimed that it had all the signs of a scam, but had I made the deposit inside, they could have checked with their bank to see if there were sufficient funds to cover it.
However, she explained they weren’t allowed to hold a check for more than 24 hours, which means that the funds would be available the next day at 5 pm.
However, she added, I wouldn’t withdraw any of the money because it could take up to a week to know if the check was good, and you’re responsible for any of the funds you used if it bounces.
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 the thousand-dollar checks to their worker bees before the week was up.
The next day, the pressure from the scammers really started to heat up, but I told them that I wasn’t going to do anything until the check cleared.
The next day, I got 105 texts from them, and they were starting to get nasty.
The claim was that mystery shoppers were waiting for me to complete my assignment so they could start theirs. I calmed them down by saying I would call the bank the next morning to see if the check had cleared yet.
The next day, they were all over me, so I told them that the check had cleared and that I’d withdraw the money on my way home from work.
Stalling, I told them that the bank was closed by the time I got there and because the ATM had a limit on how much I could withdraw, I’d have to do it in the morning.
By the next morning, they were going ballistic, and somehow, the Wal-Mart and Target assignment had fallen by the wayside.
Now, they just wanted me to get the money from the bank and head to Western Union.
Then, when I told them that the bank wouldn’t give me the money because there was something wrong with the check, they freaked out.
They called bullshit because, as they said, there’s no way the bank could know anything about the check yet. (they should know)
I bought some time by saying that I would go back to the bank and demand my money, but instead, I went on the Rich Stevens talk show at WFTL in Fort Lauderdale to talk about the scam.
A lot of folks called in to tell us about their own scam stories, which I hope helped a few people.
The whole time I was on Rich’s show, talking about the scammers, 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 very successful.
Once I finished the show, I told them that I was on my way to the bank and they’d hear from me shortly.
A half-hour later, I texted them that the bank said that you’ll have to reissue the check because something was wrong with this one.
When they said there was no way they would write me another check, I told them that all I could do was try again tomorrow.
Then the texts started slowing down, and I can only guess they were on to me.
The names the scammers used were Wander Thorman and Kevin Pool, and the last text they got from me read, “You can’t scam a scammer, Mo-Fos!
Hey, this just in … Surprise, surprise, the check bounced, which cost me 12 dollars but well worth it not to mention that over 3000 people have read this blog, and we got a radio show out of it too.
Unfortunately, when I texted the bad news about the check bouncing to Wander and Kevin, they never responded. C’mon guys!
Radio Geo’s Media Blog is a politically incorrect inside look at Radio, TV, Music, Movies, Books, Social Media, Politics, and Religion, but mostly Life, primarily written with men in mind.
For a peek at upcoming Blogs or to see some you may have missed, go to GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.
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