FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Pretend Customers
I wonder if all businesses that use the internet as their primary marketing tool have to put up with as many attempted scams as I seem to have to. Back in 1997, Bradford band Terrorvision wrote about the dilemmas of having a 'Pretend Best Friend' - well here in 2006 all I seem to have enquiries from half the time are pretend customers!
In the interests of political correctness I shouldn't really say it... but the first indication I have that an email about my services is not genuinely someone passionate about taking up music lessons or needing a pianist for their wedding is the standard of English in which it is written. Take today's (real) example of an email sent to me, allegedly to enquire about piano lessons :
Well, clearly this person does not have the best grasp of the English language ever but we can't blame him for that - it's just that all of the scam emails I get seem to be written in broken English, incredibly blunt and often immediately requesting bank details, full address etc. Now, I think I'm a fair person so I always give these people chance to show me that they are genuinely interested in the services I offer but 9/10 times that I respond with more information about the piano lessons I give, these people come back to with the suggestion that they will transfer a large sum of money into my personal bank account so that I can be paid for a given period of tuition, the remaining balance I am *instructed!* to transfer back into another account (even when I have specifically stated that I do not deal in large sums of money so only accept sterling cash or cheques from British banks with guarantee cards, my contact has come straight back offering me up to £3,500 to put the transaction through my account). Failing this, a telephone number is provided for me to call, always turning out to be a high-charge, foreign number that's routed through a standard UK 07 mobile number.
Now, it's clear to me that these people are pulling a scam, either coaxing me to call a number that turns out to cost the caller £5 or more to dial, or else trying to bribe me into 'cleaning' up money (that's probably related to some other criminal activity) by allowing it to pass through my account, risking my reputation and possibly my freedom. Other details these people seem very keen to gain are personal addresses etc, presumably for the purpose of identity fraud. So, it's not altogether surprising that I'm getting increasingly weary of emails that are of this ilk.
My point is, though, that these people are out there trying to rip me and you off by whatever means they see fit, including passing themselves off as customers to a business in a field as inoffensive as musical tuition. I am now receiving on average 2 or 3 emails per week authored by people who are happy to waste my valuable time and efforts for their own financial gain through criminal activities and attempts to launder money. As a customer-facing business, I have to sensitive to the different needs of any potential customer but it's also sad but true to say that I need to be very careful about who I even bother to deal with, for the reasons stipulated above. The internet is a great marketing tool and it has brought me lots of work over the last few months, but it is also the single biggest threat to our freedom and safety, so must be used cautiously.
In the interests of political correctness I shouldn't really say it... but the first indication I have that an email about my services is not genuinely someone passionate about taking up music lessons or needing a pianist for their wedding is the standard of English in which it is written. Take today's (real) example of an email sent to me, allegedly to enquire about piano lessons :
Hello,
I am Mr.Derrick Lampard
I was ask to contact you on piano leason Well my son Mark is coming to stay with his freindfor some couple of month in West Yorkshire UK and he lovesto Play piano. i want you to help me teaching him how to play piano lesson.However you are based on recomendation from a google directories,So Note:my son Mark is just a beginner. so plaese kindly teach him well. So kindly let me know your charges cost per week's ,inother for me to arrange for his payment before he travells down to your side. i have even made preparation for his
personal equipment he will be using privately durning his stay and bring back to USA when he is going.
Please Advise back on
1. How many week will he use...
2. weekly charge's will and payment method ( Let me
know if you will accept usa bank cheque
I look up to your reply regarding that.
Regards
Mr Derrick.
Well, clearly this person does not have the best grasp of the English language ever but we can't blame him for that - it's just that all of the scam emails I get seem to be written in broken English, incredibly blunt and often immediately requesting bank details, full address etc. Now, I think I'm a fair person so I always give these people chance to show me that they are genuinely interested in the services I offer but 9/10 times that I respond with more information about the piano lessons I give, these people come back to with the suggestion that they will transfer a large sum of money into my personal bank account so that I can be paid for a given period of tuition, the remaining balance I am *instructed!* to transfer back into another account (even when I have specifically stated that I do not deal in large sums of money so only accept sterling cash or cheques from British banks with guarantee cards, my contact has come straight back offering me up to £3,500 to put the transaction through my account). Failing this, a telephone number is provided for me to call, always turning out to be a high-charge, foreign number that's routed through a standard UK 07 mobile number.
Now, it's clear to me that these people are pulling a scam, either coaxing me to call a number that turns out to cost the caller £5 or more to dial, or else trying to bribe me into 'cleaning' up money (that's probably related to some other criminal activity) by allowing it to pass through my account, risking my reputation and possibly my freedom. Other details these people seem very keen to gain are personal addresses etc, presumably for the purpose of identity fraud. So, it's not altogether surprising that I'm getting increasingly weary of emails that are of this ilk.
My point is, though, that these people are out there trying to rip me and you off by whatever means they see fit, including passing themselves off as customers to a business in a field as inoffensive as musical tuition. I am now receiving on average 2 or 3 emails per week authored by people who are happy to waste my valuable time and efforts for their own financial gain through criminal activities and attempts to launder money. As a customer-facing business, I have to sensitive to the different needs of any potential customer but it's also sad but true to say that I need to be very careful about who I even bother to deal with, for the reasons stipulated above. The internet is a great marketing tool and it has brought me lots of work over the last few months, but it is also the single biggest threat to our freedom and safety, so must be used cautiously.
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Its what is commonly known as a 419 scam, very popular in Nigeria and Ivory Coast to mention a few places.
It is actually very serious, so others should BEWARE.Check out www.419eater.com for more info. Do not reply to these messages or give away personal details either.
Lots of people have fallen for these scams and they operate on sites like ebay. Simply there will be some problem so they will offer to pay some money into your bank, usually a cheque that will be fake. You pay them the difference via western union and then find a few weeks later you bank is whatever the cheque was for (usually a few grand) lighter.
Its a very popular scam, and they work in big gangs with contacts all over the world, including this country where the police do fuck all about it.
In South Africa there is a special police unit who DO actually do something about these things.
Anyway check out the website link I have provided, these people would love to hear from you as they do something called 'scam baiting' they keep these guys busy (and to hillarious effect many of the times) to stop others being scammed.
I will add to that NEVER to buy ANYTHING EVER over the net from Nigeria, to be on the safe side avoid Africa all together. You will find your email will have come from an internet cafe in Nigeria (not the USA as they suggest in the email).
Also I have a new website www.rikcopley.net/home
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It is actually very serious, so others should BEWARE.Check out www.419eater.com for more info. Do not reply to these messages or give away personal details either.
Lots of people have fallen for these scams and they operate on sites like ebay. Simply there will be some problem so they will offer to pay some money into your bank, usually a cheque that will be fake. You pay them the difference via western union and then find a few weeks later you bank is whatever the cheque was for (usually a few grand) lighter.
Its a very popular scam, and they work in big gangs with contacts all over the world, including this country where the police do fuck all about it.
In South Africa there is a special police unit who DO actually do something about these things.
Anyway check out the website link I have provided, these people would love to hear from you as they do something called 'scam baiting' they keep these guys busy (and to hillarious effect many of the times) to stop others being scammed.
I will add to that NEVER to buy ANYTHING EVER over the net from Nigeria, to be on the safe side avoid Africa all together. You will find your email will have come from an internet cafe in Nigeria (not the USA as they suggest in the email).
Also I have a new website www.rikcopley.net/home
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