Vent......internet Scam For Wedding Cake!
Business By kisamarie Updated 7 Feb 2014 , 3:28am by costumeczar
I got that all too talked about email from a "hearing impaired bride" who can only communicate through email, that wanted a quote for a cake, without ever seeing or tasting a thing I have made! So I gave her a crazy quote and she just emailed back, without batting an eye, that she would send me a check for the deposit and meet to sign a contract when she gets back into town. SUCH A LOAD OF CRAP! I told her "Sorry I only take Credit Cards!"
I just really chaps my hide that these criminals are trying to take of small business owners who are doing their best to make a living honestly. What are they trying to do anyway? Get free cake? They need to go to sweet tooth anonymous or something because they have a serious sugar addiction that needs to be addressed!
Waste of time reading these spammers-- I got the same type of order this morning, with no punctuation and English-not-your-first-language type wording, asking for '500 cupcakes what price by each in chocolate or vanilla and buttercream and party planner pickup to be on date you prescribe'
etc.
These go around all the time. Hit 'spam' without a second thought. They are never real. And for the teeny tiny bit of the population who might (?) actually order this way...I guess I'm just going to have to miss out on the sale.
Although today I thought briefly about writing back and saying, "thank you for order they are $1 million a piece and please to send brown square suitcase with proper cash to be pick up by courier I provide at the Safeway in Anytown Idaho please await further instructions"
bwahahahahaHAHAHA
you can tell -I've got too much spare time today ;)
What are they trying to do anyway? Get free cake? They need to go to sweet tooth anonymous or something because they have a serious sugar addiction that needs to be addressed!
What they will do is after you have agreed on everything they will give a credit card number & then ask you to add $xxx to wire to the shipping company for them b/c they will tell you shipper won't take CC. You put $xxx extra on the card & then wire it to the "shipper," then when fraud is discovered and CC company reverse charges, etc you are still out the cash you wired. We almost fell for this at my day job (hearing impaired phone call) but we caught it before any money changed hands. It's crazy the ways people have figured out how to rip you off!
AThe typical scam involved overpaying by a significant amount with a fake check or cashier's check, then requesting a check back for some of the overage while saying you can keep the rest of the overage "for your trouble".
If you suspect a scam, payment should be cash only. It's actually easier to defraud people using credit cards than using checks.
AIf you have some time to kill check out this classic case of a scammer getting his comeuppance.
Also read this (by cc's costumeczar). It's hilarious.
http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2012/05/cake-scams-can-be-fun.html
Also read this (by cc's costumeczar). It's hilarious.
http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2012/05/cake-scams-can-be-fun.html
Why, thank you! I have another one I'm "working with" right now. He wrote the longest run-on sentence I've ever seen. He really, really wants those 500 cupcakes...
I sell AVON and we have scammers that do this too. It's weird. They'll send an email asking for a bunch of the most expensive skin care and fragrance items AVON sells and then payment is always the same as the cake scams. Seems like a waste since even though the stuff they are ordering is expensive it still pales to what they could be getting from other people.
They're not doing it for the products, cakes, or Avon. It's about the cash. I bet that when people actually are foolish enough to fall for the scam the 'courier' never even shows up. They prey on supposedly small businesses because they think they will be naive enough to fall for it, and many are.
AIt's not just businesses that are targeted. The same thing happened to me when I posted a dryer for sale on craigs list. Deaf prospective buyer (so no phone calls) wants to send money for asking price plus $xxx for shipping through their personal courier, etc. I let them send me the fake cashier's check hoping to get a return address to report to the police. The police told me to report it to the BBB. I reported it, but I'm sure nothing became of it.
It's not just businesses that are targeted. The same thing happened to me when I posted a dryer for sale on craigs list. Deaf prospective buyer (so no phone calls) wants to send money for asking price plus $xxx for shipping through their personal courier, etc. I let them send me the fake cashier's check hoping to get a return address to report to the police. The police told me to report it to the BBB. I reported it, but I'm sure nothing became of it.
When I tried to sell my washer and dryer on Craigslist, I got a bunch off the S-E-X emails, saying how they had been looking for me, and wow, what a coincidence it was that I happened to post on CL and how funny Fate is, please check out my website, at WWW.click.here.and.get.a.worm.that.turns.everything.you.click.on.and.every.ad.into.porn.com (that wasn't it, bit that is what happened!!) And then I go back to CL and realize that there was no identifying information, so of course it was fake...
When I tried to sell my washer and dryer on Craigslist, I got a bunch off the S-E-X emails, saying how they had been looking for me, and wow, what a coincidence it was that I happened to post on CL and how funny Fate is, please check out my website, at WWW.click.here.and.get.a.worm.that.turns.everything.you.click.on.and.every.ad.into.porn.com (that wasn't it, bit that is what happened!!) And then I go back to CL and realize that there was no identifying information, so of course it was fake...
I love that web address! The thing is, as long as there are suckers who will fall for it they'll keep trying. Did anyone see that lady onDr. Phil yesterday who refused to believe that her "boyfriend" was a scammer, even after they told her that the name was fake, his passport was fake, he never worked where he said he had, there was no bank account in the Caymans waiting for her, and on and on and on. She just kept saying "I don't believe it, he's real." She was so determined to not be wrong and look stupid that she looked stupid.
If you have time to watch it it's worth seeing, it just shows how people will convince themselves of anything. http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1984
I got one of these last night, the surprising thing was they filled out my whole internet order form (it wasn't just the generic email that I've gotten tons of times). They went to the trouble to fill out about a dozen fields of info! Almost enough to tempt me to play with them... almost :)
And I'm in the camp that just doesn't get the scam. Yes, I get the mechanics of it - you bill them extra, give a courier cash, payment turns out to be fake, etc. But really, for the couple hundred dollars they could potentially get, it seems like a lot of work.
I saw that Dr Phil lady, I couldn't believe she was so adamant. I was actually hoping that when he started talking about that previous guest and the similarities, that they would have had the same phone number or something, because I think maybe that might have been the only thing that convinced her. Her problem was she just didn't think people went to those lengths to scam others, as if $175,000 isn't motivation enough!
These guys are sitting in front of a computer somewhere, and if they get one person a day to fall for it they can clear a decent amount of money. That lady on Dr Phil had sent $186,000 to the scammer,and if he came from Nigeria or Russia, which is where a lot of these guys are, that's a good payday for him. He probably had ten other people suckered in so even if he gets them to send him$1000 a month,that's substantial money for those countries.
i can't believe that anyone falls for it, but I know about it, and there are constant streams of people on here who post asking whether it's a scam or not. Not everyone has seen this kind of thing before. They come up with new methods all the time, too. I got an email last week from a company that wanted to put an ad on my website, and it didn't feel right to me. I bet they were trying to put some kind of virussy ad onmy site that would take people's passwords or something. They were offereing $750 a month, which is outrageously high for a website ad, but I bet there would be people who would be tempted to do it.
It's like that insurance commercial where the girl says, "They can't put anything on the internet that isn't true." Her friend says," Where did you hear that?" The girl says, "On the internet!" Then she says, "This is my Boyfriend, he's French!" "Where did you meet him?" "On the Internet!"
I too have had those emails on Craigslist, I need to start being clever like you guys!
If you have some time to kill check out this classic case of a scammer getting his comeuppance.
http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/
That is awesome!
It's like that insurance commercial where the girl says, "They can't put anything on the internet that isn't true." Her friend says," Where did you hear that?" The girl says, "On the internet!" Then she says, "This is my Boyfriend, he's French!" "Where did you meet him?" "On the Internet!"
I too have had those emails on Craigslist, I need to start being clever like you guys!
Bon-joor! That's my favorite commercial, hahaha!
If you have some time to kill check out this classic case of a scammer getting his comeuppance.
http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/
This is freaking classic!!!! OMG, that scammer must have been sooooo pissed!
This is freaking classic!!!! OMG, that scammer must have been sooooo pissed!
The thing is that he then hacked one of the websites that was involved with the person who scammed the scammer, so that's why you need to watch out with those idiots. I have a fake email account that I use to email them, I never respond from my own account. I love the "Laser!" thing, though.
I got an email from Melissa Walker claiming to be deaf and out of the country. She later emailed that the family member in charge of paying the wedding vendors mistakenly overpaid me. She wanted me to deposit the check and mail her a refund. Then she began texting and insisting via cell phone 646-450-2675. I found this number on facebook when I googled wedding cake scams.
I got an email from Melissa Walker claiming to be deaf and out of the country. She later emailed that the family member in charge of paying the wedding vendors mistakenly overpaid me. She wanted me to deposit the check and mail her a refund. Then she began texting and insisting via cell phone 646-450-2675. I found this number on facebook when I googled wedding cake scams.
So, did you do it?
I got an email from someone who was supposedly the hearing impaired dad of the groom wanting a cake, and then a few days later, one from the supposed MOB wanting the same cake. I replied back asking if she was involved in the wedding from the first email. Did their children perhaps meet at an ASL class and fall in love? :) Funny, I never heard back...
New one we just received
Quote:
New one we just received
Ooh, ooh, ooh, forward it to me and I'll answer them! I haven't received one in ages, I think they put me on their don't email list for a while.
The same here...
"~~Hi, My Name Richard Fleming,I just searched for your contact on internet, when searching for Wedding cakes, me and my fiance will like to visit canada and have our wedding ceremony, and we will need cake for our wedding.(castle wedding cake, 4steps with vanilla flavor.) i think you can render this service for us by making the cake for our beautiful event. Kindly let me know how you work and your availability.we will pick up the cake at your location when the cake is ready. Please get back to me with the price of specified cake and if you require Deposit. event date is 02/18/2014. Best Regards."
I knew right away it is a suspicious e-mail, replied to him to see what he says, gave him a quote and he got back with this....
"~~Perfect, I believe everything is concluded now, the total amount is confirmed also. I need your name and address for 50% upfront payment of the amount to be mailed to you on time inform of Money order or Certified Cheque, so we can be sure that the booking is secure. Waiting to hear from you. Thanks"
I've notice he is emailing to cake decorators in Ontario, Canada right now. Please be aware!
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