I thought I should give you all a heads up on the latest phishing scam that someone tried to sucker me into. I was contacted by someone "in another country" who claimed he wanted me to teach his daughter music lessons this summer while she was staying with a guardian in my town. We agreed upon a price, lesson times, etc. He said he would send me a check above the agreed amount so I could be given my share and pay the guardian for his/her services. He had some story about how it's better for him to write one check rather than two, etc. Hmmm, sounds phishy, so I told him I would not accept checks from foreign banks. He he assured me I would receive a check from a United States bank. He said the check would contain a "little extra" for my trouble and the rest was to be handed to the child's guardian.
I received the check exactly one day before the lessons were to begin. The check appeared to be from a real US bank and was written for thousands more than I expected. I talked to my bank officer about it. He confirmed that it was a fake check and encouraged me to contact the police. He also explained that because the routing numbers on the check were legit, I could actually process the check and receive the cash, but of course, I would be in trouble a couple days later. The bank officer also explained that since most people aren't falling for the Canadian lottery scam anymore, this is the newest phishing scam that targets small business owners and people selling things on Craig's list. What the scammer does is to write a check above the agreed amount, ask you to cash it and give them the balance. You go to the bank, cash the check, they come & collect the product and the extra money while the check is being "routed." After the guy is long gone with the money & the product, you're in trouble for cashing a bad check and owe the bank some money! I was hoping that the local police department would want to set up some sort of sting operation to catch this guy red handed, but they really weren't interested in that. I guess they have bigger fish to fry. So I notified the scammer that I know his check is bogus, have reported him to the authorities and if he tries to contact me to collect money, I will call the police. -- Valerie Wells The Balanced Embouchure Method http://bebabe.wordpress.com/ http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/ _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
