Three Weeks, a Bloody Dog Attack, a Homeless Man, and Serious Threats

It’s been a while since my last attempt to fraud a fraudster. It’s a draining endeavor.

But this last encounter, I believe, makes up for my few months of radio silence. In this last effort, I entertained someone’s three-week attempt to convince me to hand over a set of tires and $2,500.

Three weeks. And I took it farther than I’ve ever taken it before.

And so did he.

His attempt began as most do: a perfect copy and paste of the item, poor grammar, a generic response to my first reply, and the request to accept a cashier’s check.

Then it started to get good:

So, let me get this straight. In the midst of your daughter having bronchi-spasms, you’re looking for a set of two mud tires to put on your truck, and then had your aunt pay for them? And then she accidentally paid me $2,500 for them and sent the check to me?

Good enough for me I guess. Just send me the (money emoji)

Can you figure out how he’s going to try to scam me?  

After the check was unable to be delivered to my desk at work, I decided to give him my home address (it’s public information anyway). After a few more weeks of going back and forth, lo and behold, a check appeared in my mailbox.

Oh yeah, and Jason Allred is my pseudonym

Apparently, this check was coming from the “Administrative Officey” at American National Insurance Company. Besides the egregious typo and the misformatted address, the physical address and corresponding company are actually correct.

Besides him saying nothing about the check coming from a massive insurance company, there were a couple other red flags:

• My own address was spelled incorrectly.
• The routing number for Wells Fargo was incorrect. (On each check, there is a corresponding routing number and an account number. The account number is unique to you, but the routing number coordinates to the bank and its geographical location. Upon doing some research, I quickly found that the routing number for Wells Fargo in Van Wert, Ohio is not “000551089”).

And then came the kicker. He wanted me notify him as soon as I deposited the check. In case you’ve never cashed a check before (I had already learned the hard way), the person who cashes a check that bounces will get the bounce fee-- not the person who wrote the check. His hope was to have me cash the check and wire him the extra cash before I was told the check bounced.

And he thought he had me.

Well, I thought I would take a stab at getting his personal information. But I was unsurprisingly unsuccessful.

Now look at this. You’ll notice he gave me three different names. The first one is supposedly himself, the second is someone else, and the last is the “family doctor”. Within a few short minutes, he had given me three different names and their corresponding account information. We’ll get back to that at the end of this post.

After stringing him along for a few hours, I decided to see how far he would go. So I gave this a shot:

I have to give a shout out to Google Images on this one for bringing up a sad, yet great result of “dog bite neck.” I hope the actual victim ended up okay.

His response? OMG. At least I got some measure of pity. But remember, he’s under the gun. He has to get me to send the money before my check bounces. But also remember my son was just attacked by a large sled dog.

So when he demanded I still deliver the money amidst giving my “son” CPR on the way to the hospital, I became resourceful. I did the only thing I could think of.

Yes, that’s right. I asked a homeless to deliver my money. A homeless man named Aaron. And what was the result? Well, it would be what any sensible homeless man would do if some random guy with a bleeding-out-of-the-neck-and-mouth son handed over $2,500 and kindly asked for it to be transferred through Western Union.

He would buy some cigarettes and a bike.

Upon asking him why a receipt was needed, the the fraudster completely lost it on. He went ALL CAPS on me. ALL CAPS.

In case you didn’t pick that up, you have to the receipt to pick up the money at a Western Union. Did he make that clear?

So, I did what any sensible parent would do when their son is in critical condition in the emergency room. I went back to Wal-Mart to find the homeless man, and let him know I needed the receipt.

The next series of texts are my favorite of the whole conversation. I could start to feel the anger, impatience, and frustration of the fraudster, but could also feel him just trying to play it cool and hold back his anger-- like a parent who is on the brink of blowing a gasket, but instead of losing it, just mumbles short sentences through grimaced teeth.

I tried to push him further. I wanted to see just how far he would go. And he kept going.

I thought he was going to peak once he continued the ALL CAPS, but quickly reminding him of my current health conditions took him out of his ALL CAPS anger mode, and put him back on solid ground.

And with one last push, he lost it. He completely lost it. I knew he was going to abandon his endeavor to fraud me any moment, so I ended it by giving him a taste of his own medicine.

And just like that, he was gone. His three week pursuit, and my cheapest source of free entertainment, were gone.

As I’ve shared this with people, there are several questions I commonly get:

Q: Are you scared he’ll come after you?

No. Not one bit. My uncle is the head of the fraud department of a large credit union, and I speak to him frequently regarding fraudsters and scammers. They’re cowards. They hide behind false IP addresses, false phone numbers, and false names. And as soon as they know their attempt is going to fail, they vanish. And then they move on to the next unsuspecting victim. They will never make a move that puts them into the open.

Q: Why don’t you book him? Isn’t there enough evidence to get him? What about those names and bank accounts he gave you?

For the exact same reason I listed above. I know nothing about him. He’s using a fake phone number (most likely clouded by Google Voice), they spif their GPS locations (some have even used the White House GPS coordinates), and those bank accounts and names are, most likely, stolen accounts and names. These guys build a deep net with several levels of scams. Ellen Vidal, the name he gave me earlier, could easily be his “lover”. It’s quite likely that he’s told her that his friend is going to transfer $2,500 dollars to purchase airfare so he can go out and visit her. He’s most likely asked Ellen to transfer the $2,500 dollars once she gets it. Sadly, Ellen is probably another victim. The web of deceit in these schemes are endless and completely untraceable.

Sadly, it’s almost always about prevention. I figure if I can spend three weeks wasting some fraudster’s time, that’s one or two less people he’s going to have scammed.

And that’s about all I can do.

Perhaps Not Fraud, but Some Comic Relief Definitely Worth Reading

I figure I would venture out and offer some comic relief before my next post about fraud avoidance.

After listing my iPhone 6 on KSL, I received this text within eight minutes:

Now, I couldn't tell yet if this was fraud.  Usually, scammers will not reach out by iPhone. Perhaps it's because iMessage is too connected to Apple ID or potential emails. So there was a higher percentage of this being legit.

However, I wasn't previously unaware that iPhone was now a verb. I guess I have a question for all of us to think about: Do you still iPhone?

 I definitely still iPhone.

At this point, the conversation got a lot more interesting.

I'm not sure I need to say more. Actually, I refuse to say more.

Although short, it was perhaps one of the greatest exchanges I've had in my online selling days.

Can I get $2,000,000 in Nickels and Dimes, Please?

 In light of the popularity of my first post, I've decided to write another on an email scam I received. This one won't need as much dissection and analysis as my last one. You'll know, very quickly, that it's fraud-- unless, of course, the UN is actually handing out $2,000,000 to students on behalf of a tax error.

So check this out: 

Guess what? I was a scammed victim, and I didn't even know it! That is, perhaps, the most clever approach I have seen yet. Let's scam someone by telling them they are a scam victim! 

Well, I had just found out that Peter Godwin, a mysterious man working on my behalf, was going to ensure that I could receive an ATM card with $2,000,000 if I just called that number. Let's remember that I happened to be one of the "lucky beneficiaries" of the United Nations. 

It's because I paid my tithing, isn't it? 

Although I neglected to call the number, I couldn't resist the opportunity of becoming an instant millionaire. So, I replied instantly: 

And with that reply, the inquiry begun. I suppose it's worth noting that I have an alternate email by the name of Jason Allred to protect my personal information. I hope that doesn't indirectly make me a scammer by pretending to be Jason Allred. Jason Allred, if you're out there, I apologize. It was not my intention. 

Within a day, Godwin Peter was ready to ensure I received my money:

Alright, so a couple things to note here. I guess I was no longer speaking with Godwin Peter. I was now receiving emails from Godwin's Peter. Peter had mysteriously transformed into an article of property-- and he was Godwin's. 

Although he signed as "Godwin Peter", I couldn't help but wonder if there had been some sort of mistake-- Peter Godwin maybe? Anyhow, I recognize his dire urgency to get me the money, but I wanted to confirm the money would be there. So after asking if the money would definitely be on the card, he promptly responded: 

Such good news indeed! Not only could I withdraw $5,000 per day for 400 days straight, but I also could use Inner Switch to ensure my ATM was usable anywhere. I quickly Googled Inner Switch, only to find that it was a Hypnotherapy company. A further search revealed that there's no company by that name that does anything of the matter. But heck, I was going to receive 2 million-- I'd go to the same ATM over and over again if I had to (because all ATMs would definitely let me pull $5,000 at one time). 

So, I decided to try to push the envelope a little bit here, and see if I could get a little more information: 

Thankfully, Godwin Peter understood my worry. And the opening sentence to his next response resolved all of my concern: 

Think positively-- that's all I had to do. Perhaps the wisest advice I had ever received from a man I had never met. And sadly, my conversation with Godwin Peter ended after my next inquiry: 

And that's the last I heard from Godwin Peter. 

A True PayPal

Over the course of the past few months, I've had the opportunity to sell hundreds of items on KSl.com, Amazon.com, and eBay.com. While I, in no way, consider myself an expert, I've learned much about the patterns and strategies scammers will use to get your items for free-- or even collect money from you.

While I was fearful at first, I quickly learned these were cowards who only dared interact in the virtual world. After realizing that, my fear quickly dissipated and I became an offensive player in these conversations rather than a fearful defendant. 

And that's when the fun really began. I began engaging in conversations with fraudulent buyers through email, texts, and even phone calls at times. I figure if I can engage them with me, that's less time they'll be spending scamming an unsuspecting victim. 

I figured I would post my latest interaction to help people out there more quickly recognize scammers. Once you learn their strategies, it really isn't too difficult. 

Let's break it down. 

This attempt was one of the more sophisticated attempts, but I knew it was fraud in the first text. 

Often times, the scammer will directly copy and paste your item into their subject line. Who types a text message like this? Nobody. He copy and pasted my exact item into a box, left a space between the template he uses, and sent it over. 

Secondly, the scammer's grammar and English is below average (but above the average of most scammers I've dealt with). While the grammar of most in text messages is poor, you'll often notice abhorring grammar and English in these. That is not to meant to be racial or bias in any way-- it's just a pattern that has become overwhelming clear in the several confrontations I've had. 

I won't break down the entire conversation, but as I said before, this attempt was more elaborate. I engaged in conversation with him for quite a long time, and he was actually negotiating with me. Usually, they will offer to pay it through Paypal in the second message after you confirm it's available. Yet, there were still several flaws with his approach here: 

1. He said he's in St. George. Clever move. He's going to want me to ship it and he's going to want to pay through PayPal. But wait.. What's the zip code? 478. I Googled it, and it came up as an area code in Georgia. Yes, it's possible he moved there from Georgia and kept his area code. Probable? No. Another hint. 
2. Asking you to mail it. As soon as they ask you to mail it, you know it's fraud. They are going to have you ship it to an address, and they're going to want to "pay" you using an online source. 
3. Family reason. In every fraud instance I've seen, they've used some compelling family issue to speed up the process. In the case of selling an Apple Watch, it's almost an urgent birthday gift. And whaddya know? The scammer wants to surprise their brother which means I need to ship it immediately. Right....
4. His grammar is better than most... but still. 

So, to speed things up here, I gave him an email address to sent me a "PayPal payment". If you do this, ensure that you do not take any action until you see the money in your account on PayPal. Within a few minutes, I received a fake email from PayPal, confirming his payment. What were the problems? 

1. The email was sent to my scam folder. I do regular transactions on PayPal, and their emails definitely do not go to my spam folder. 
2. Check the fine print of the email:

I cross-checked this email with the ones I receive from Paypal. PayPal is not going to tell you have to send your package before you receive the payment. The scammer is-- no surprise. Additionally, notice the typos? 

• "This is a security measure taking to ensure the safety"
• "to make sure the buyer get their item"
• "as soon as we credit your your paypal account"

Right, so one of the biggest online merchants misspelled their fine print more than four times? 

So, after I sent him a fake tracking number and he asked me where his package was, this is how I concluded the conversation.

And that's the biggest giveaway right there. As soon as you call them on their bluff, they're gone. Their cowards behind the veil of virtual interaction. They'll run as soon as they know you're onto them, and find the next unsuspecting victim. 

Again, I'm not an expert-- just sharing what I've noticed and observed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.