Beware Scammer looking for Photographers

[krbimaging]

I got an E-mail today and it looked really like a Phish or Scam. Come to find out after a brief looking around it is a SCAM. I thought I would post it here in hopes that others will see it if the search Google as well.

The first thing that stands out the name "John Smith" Really???.

I googled the E-mail address ([email protected]) that it came from and found nearly the same message posted on another Photographers Facebook.

Beware....

This is the E-mail:

Greetings!
I am JOHN SMITH from England, I came across your profile after an
effortless search for a professional photographer.We are relocating to my
new house that I just buy in USA.I mean I and my wife and children on July
21st 2015,but I will be celebrating my birthday on August 26th, So I want
your service on my birthday August 26th 2015.

My address which the birthday party will take place is below:
4709 N 76th Pl
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(the scammer inserts an address near you)

That is my house address that I just buy and moving from England to in
USA.
The birthday party will start 12pm to 4pm, so you can arrive the same day
to our house if you like, or you can arrive at our house day for the party,
just let me know which one you wish to do, but my house have adjacent rooms
which you can stay in one of them if you like to come for the day of
party.I invited 30 friends and that is all we are expecting on the day. So
let me know your charges rate for the party including the Airfare or your
transportation amount, and let me know the amount all together, so I can
arrange for the payment in time and you can be able to book the day for my
Birthday Party.

I want you to contact me through my personal email,so i can always receive
your message in time, because am always on it, (GET BACK TO ME THROUGH MY
EMAIL)[email protected] .

l am am attending conference meeting in Cambodia Anytime from Monday to

Sunday.
Thanks.

 

[astroNikon]

Thanks for posting for everyone to see these.

It's a standard scam being sent to any one in any industry .. teachers, music teachers .. or anyone that can cash a foreign check and return an over payment on that foreign check.
I first started seeing this at least in 2009 if not earlier.

 

[vintagesnaps]

But you can go and stay with 30 of the scammer's friends! wouldn't that be fun? lol
I would hope nobody would fall for this.

 

[sm4him]

ANYone who contacts me about ANYthing, and then says they are from X country but will be in my country at some convenient date in the future--I would automatically consider it a likely scam. Add the fact that they are currently in yet a different country, and they get tossed straight into junk mail.

Also, I've always wondered: Is there a rule of some sort that says scammers MUST use the most awkward, poorly written emails possible?
Might as well have flashing lights in the subject line, saying "WARNING! WARNING! Scam email"

 

[Derrel]

Have some fun with the scammer! There is an intgernet era sport and it is called scam-baiting, and it can be immensely fun. I had a BLAST with a Nigerian scammer a few years back. I got him to travel to a faraway Western Union to pick up his "payment", which I told him I was stealing from my employer, the Haliburton Corporation! LOL! That moron had fallen and fallen hard for the line of BS I had spun, and I got him to take an expensive taxi ride to a city some 60 km from where he was at, to go to Western Union. I actually had made a fake W.U. cash transfer receipt and e-mailed it to him. I told him I worked for Haliburton, and was looking for "investment opportunities" from stolen corporate money. Stop by the various web sites, and read some of the easiest ways to dick these scammers around! It **can** be fun!

Welcome to the 419 Eater

 

[Raj_55555]

ANYone who contacts me about ANYthing, and then says they are from X country but will be in my country at some convenient date in the future--I would automatically consider it a likely scam.

I'm from India and I'll certainly be there in your country at some convenient date in the future!

 

[sm4him]

ANYone who contacts me about ANYthing, and then says they are from X country but will be in my country at some convenient date in the future--I would automatically consider it a likely scam.

I'm from India and I'll certainly be there in your country at some convenient date in the future!

Sorry, Raj, unless you just happen to be in Nigeria currently, due to trouble with the French consul, I'm not buying it!
Plus, you are far too well-spoken to be able to pull off a scammer email. In fact, your written English skills are better than many of the native Americans I know!

But if you ever ARE conveniently in my country…we'll get together and write a scam email to some of the other TPFers!! Heehee!

 

[Raj_55555]

Sorry, Raj, unless you just happen to be in Nigeria currently, due to trouble with the French consul, I'm not buying it!
Plus, you are far too well-spoken to be able to pull off a scammer email. In fact, your written English skills are better than many of the native Americans I know!

But if you ever ARE conveniently in my country…we'll get together and write a scam email to some of the other TPFers!! Heehee!

Deal! I'll get the list ready.

 

[pixmedic]

The last 4 scammers I had contact me for craigslist ads I kinda reverse scammed them. I got all of them to spend as much money as I could second day air mailing me their fake money orders (overpaid by a lot of course) then I told them I was out of town for a week and couldn't get my mail. Then when I "got home" spent a few days at work and not able to get to the bank. Then, when they really started hassling me about needing their money western unioned to them so they can pay bills, I tell them I never deposited their fake money order and they aren't getting squat from me.

It's been fun. It's not like they are out much money, but i feel like it's at least a small victory making them spend time and money dealing with me.

I just wonder how many people they actually get to send them money. Must be a lot for them to keep doing it.
The money orders are pretty sophisticated too. They look very real, complete with the money gram logo and perforated side where they tear off the receipt end. I still a few of them, maybe I'll post a pic tomorrow

 

[sm4him]

The last 4 scammers I had contact me for craigslist ads I kinda reverse scammed them. I got all of them to spend as much money as I could second day air mailing me their fake money orders (overpaid by a lot of course) then I told them I was out of town for a week and couldn't get my mail. Then when I "got home" spent a few days at work and not able to get to the bank. Then, when they really started hassling me about needing their money western unioned to them so they can pay bills, I tell them I never deposited their fake money order and they aren't getting squat from me.

It's been fun. It's not like they are out much money, but i feel like it's at least a small victory making them spend time and money dealing with me.

I just wonder how many people they actually get to send them money. Must be a lot for them to keep doing it.
The money orders are pretty sophisticated too. They look very real, complete with the money gram logo and perforated side where they tear off the receipt end. I still a few of them, maybe I'll post a pic tomorrow

I worked with a guy once--an incredibly intelligent, genius-IQ rocket scientist kind of a guy--who sent a Nigerian the bulk of his savings, something on the order of $15,000, even after he'd shown me the emails he was getting and I'd warned him it was a scam.

 

[astroNikon]

ANYone who contacts me about ANYthing, and then says they are from X country but will be in my country at some convenient date in the future--I would automatically consider it a likely scam. Add the fact that they are currently in yet a different country, and they get tossed straight into junk mail.

Also, I've always wondered: Is there a rule of some sort that says scammers MUST use the most awkward, poorly written emails possible?
Might as well have flashing lights in the subject line, saying "WARNING! WARNING! Scam email"

Yeah, buh dearnt 'da peple en Tennessee cuntry speek a ferren languj ?
lol

 

[sm4him]

ANYone who contacts me about ANYthing, and then says they are from X country but will be in my country at some convenient date in the future--I would automatically consider it a likely scam. Add the fact that they are currently in yet a different country, and they get tossed straight into junk mail.

Also, I've always wondered: Is there a rule of some sort that says scammers MUST use the most awkward, poorly written emails possible?
Might as well have flashing lights in the subject line, saying "WARNING! WARNING! Scam email"

Yeah, buh dearnt 'da peple en Tennessee cuntry speek a ferren languj ?
lol

We don't speak whatever ^THAT^ was!

 

[Overread]

Thing is they only need one or two people to fall for it - the sad fact is that once you do fall for it typical human behaviour means that they can drain a LOT of money out of that person. People have (as said above) lost thousands and thousands into these scams. Get $15K from the USA converted into a weaker currency for what amounts to a tiny amount of time replying to emails and collecting the cash is an easy win for them.

The use of broken english even works in their favour because they can make odd requests, yet sound sincere and "fail to understand" or just point blank ignore what you say and write their own reply; so you say you can't do something and they go "I'm glad ot hear you are doing it I expect to see the results soon" which can end up forcing people to do that thing (because they want whatever it is the scammer has promised them).

 

[tirediron]

ANYone who contacts me about ANYthing, and then says they are from X country but will be in my country at some convenient date in the future--I would automatically consider it a likely scam. Add the fact that they are currently in yet a different country, and they get tossed straight into junk mail.

Also, I've always wondered: Is there a rule of some sort that says scammers MUST use the most awkward, poorly written emails possible?
Might as well have flashing lights in the subject line, saying "WARNING! WARNING! Scam email"

"Danger Will Robinson! Danger!"

 

[480sparky]

On another forum I haunt (for electricians), we had someone string one of those scammers along far longer than I ever though possible. Hilarious if you take the time to weed through it.

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