Is This One Of Those Hoax Emails??????

Decorating By sbcakes Updated 9 Nov 2009 , 4:54am by cadopo

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sbcakes Posted 17 Mar 2008 , 5:03pm
post #1 of 47

I have ready many posts here on CC about this kind of request...
I just got a phone call from one of those relay phone calls. It was a man who is interested in a cake for April 9. The call got disconnected at the end of the call...less then 5 minutes later, I got this email-

Thanks for the relay phone conversation,which i just called your store regarding a cake orderâ¦well I will like you to bake me a chocolate or a strawberry cake of 5 tier that can serve approximately 300 guest or more , and I want the cake to be decorated with pink roses and the cake should be covered in fondant or in butter cream, and let there be an inscription be writing on one as âHAPPY MARRIAGE LIFEâ and i want you to pack them in different boxes after ready for pick up.. And I want you to have the cake ready for pick-up on 1st April 2008, 10 o clock A.M. So let me know if you can fill in the date for me ???? . Reply me back and let me know if you can fill in the date for me....??? then i can forward all the details and the picture sample of what i will like
you to bake for me.
Thanks and God bless.
Mike Williamsâ¦â¦â¦â¦.

Is this a hoax???????

46 replies
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KHalstead Posted 17 Mar 2008 , 5:22pm
post #2 of 47

my gut says yes............but you never know.......I would tell him for a cake that size you really have to meet with the person to design it! Maybe that will help you figure out if it's the real deal or not!

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beachcakes Posted 17 Mar 2008 , 6:25pm
post #3 of 47

Gee, sounds fishy to me!

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rezzygirl Posted 17 Mar 2008 , 6:34pm
post #4 of 47

Yes, that is a hoax. The âHAPPY MARRIAGE LIFEâ part is a red flag that has been in just about all of the hoax emails.

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momtwoboyz Posted 17 Mar 2008 , 9:05pm
post #5 of 47

Relay calls are usually from people who use TDD...they can't speak and/or hear so they type to a "relay center" who will call you and ask the questions and relay your answers back to the person. My first call I was so confused, but I checked it out. I would check it out if you have a call back # to double check. It's better to be safe than sorry and out so much time and $$.

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SaraO Posted 17 Mar 2008 , 10:19pm
post #6 of 47

Also, he wants it for April 1st. April Fool's Day!!! I agree that you should tell him you will have to meet with him. Also, get a downpayment to hold the date. Or, if you just get the feeling it's a hoax tell him no thanks!

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ThatsHowTcakesRolls Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 12:59am
post #7 of 47

This exact same situation happened to me today. I didn't think it was a scam at first. I have used this service before for hearing impaired phone calls. Then I got the EXACT same e-mail you did....I deleted it right away. But I am angry that I have lost those minutes of my life and I will never get them back! icon_evil.gif

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summernoelle Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:04am
post #8 of 47

I"ve gotten that one. It's a Nigerian scam.

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thecakemaker Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:04am
post #9 of 47

I'm with SaraO - i'm thinking April Fools joke. If you're not sure - get the $$$ up front before you start - or at least enough to cover your costs.

Good luck!
Debbie

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panipuri Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:06am
post #10 of 47

Sorry to say I received the exact same email - word for word about a month ago ( different date requirement) and I am on the opposite end of the country. - I just emailed that I do not accept orders unless it is in person and paid in full ahead of time. They emailed saying they were physically not able etc etc - I just said sorry and I dont accept your order. Hope this helps someone out there - and the initial contact was made by the relay phone ( i forget what it is called)
Elaine

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VICKY_V Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:09am
post #11 of 47

i would say it is. they want to pick up a cake on the 1st for the 9th. that dont sound right to me.

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deanwithana Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:16am
post #12 of 47

Now why in the world would someone want to scam on a cake???? My DH always says there is a scam for every occasion....I guess he is right!!!

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sbcakes Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:19am
post #13 of 47

I am REALLY P***** off that people would seriously waste their time and my time with this crap!!! He must of went to the PA people today!!!
I sent him this email back...

Dear Mike,
I will certainly be able to accommodate this request, I do have that date available-but I will need payment in full of $825 when you are ready to place the order. Thanks so much! Have a nice day!

Hmmmm-it is strange that I haven't heard back from the guy!!! I should report him to the police!

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terrylee Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:19am
post #14 of 47

Dont take the bait......Sounds very fishy to me too....To many demands......No mention of $$$ and the dates ?????

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Simplydelicious Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:49am
post #15 of 47

I also got this email and below is the information that I asked them for. It turned out to be fake and I never got another email from them. So this is a very fake request.

If you want you can send me the information on the credit card, the following is what I require:

Copy of front and back of credit card

Copy of picture ID

Credit card number written out along with the security number on the back

The Name of the bank card is issued through.



Hello ,

Thanks for the quotation, i want the cake to be bake with gumpast, handmade, I just wanna use the moment to let you know that i will be sending down a private shipping agent to pickup the cakes from your location to my wedding reception. they will come with refrigerated Van, so i will be given you my credit card details to process for the sum of $1,862.50 (cake $1262.50 + $600.00 shipping fees) So let me know if you are ready to proceed, kindly provide me your address for the pickup so i can give it to the shipping co. Let me know so i can send you the credit card details in the next email asap.

Attached is a picture of what i want the cake to be look like, kinly get back to me as soon as possible. Thanks once again.

God Bless you.

Alex.


<[email protected]> wrote:
Do you want the flowers to be gumpast, handmade or do you want them to be buttercream? I would prefer to deliver the cake so that I can ensure that everything gets placed properly and that if there happens to be any damage I can fix it then. Also, do you want fondant pearls or buttercream pearls around the bottom of each cake. Do you have a picture of the cake you want it to look like?

The approximate cost of the cake will be:

CAKE $4.25 per serving X 250 = $1062.50
FLOWERS Gumpaste $175.00 Flower Topper and flowers cascading down the front of the cake
SUPPORTS $25.00
DELIVERY (optional) $50.00

TOTAL CAKE COST W/DELIVERY $1312.50
TOTAL CAKE COST W/O DELIVERY $1262.50

Please give me a call as soon as possible as the date is coming up soon. We can discuss exactly what you want and method of payment.

----- Original Message ----
From: Alex Bryant <[email protected]>

Sent: Saturday, March 8, 2008 7:52:56 AM
Subject: Re: Simply Delicious - Request For Callback


Hello

How are you doing, how is everything with you, thanks for getting back to me, could you pls give me the cost of the cake?? i will call you as soon as possible.

Thanks and God bless.
Alex.



<[email protected]> wrote:
Please give me a call in regards to the cake order that you want to place. I should be able to do it, but I do need to speak to you first.

Thank you,


----- Original Message ----
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]

Sent: Thursday, March 6, 2008 1:21:25 PM
Subject: Simply Delicious - Request For Callback

The form below was submited by from Ip address: 67.201.38.199 on 03/06/2008 at 01:21 pm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Alex bryant
Email: [email protected]
Company:
Address:
City-State:
Zip:
Phone: 206-202-4678
Referral:
Message: Good day,

I would like to place an order for my up coming wedding, well I will like you to bake me a strawberry cake of 4 tier that can serve approximately 250 guest, and I want the cake to be decorated with pink roses and the cake should be covered in fondant, handmade floral and packed a box and let the inscription be writing on one as (HAPPY MARRIED LIFE). And I want you to have the cake ready for pick-up on 22nd of MARCH. Let me know if you can fill in the date??

I await your reply soon.

Thanks and God bless.
Alex.
submit: Submit






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dahir Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 2:33am
post #16 of 47

How strange, I also received the exact same e-mail on March 6th and it was creepy. Same stuff: 5 Tiers, Pink Roses, covered in fondant, "Happy Married Life" on one tier, Seperate boxes for each tier and of course the shipper to pick it up at my doorsteps. I do not have a website so this came to my personal e-mail. I did not respond either. The addres it came from was: [email protected] with a reply to address of [email protected] (hope this helps ).
I hope this helps someone out there.
Beware Ladies, this is a scam!
Tracy

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ldbaker Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 1:25pm
post #17 of 47

I received the same email and I quoted them a ridiculous price of $3,000 and they still wanted the cake. I told them we'd have to pass on this cake.

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ccr03 Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 2:02pm
post #18 of 47

So are the signs of really being a 'business' is that you get scam offers? Because if it is, then I guess I should be flattered!

A week or two after I did my first bridal show I got a call from "operator 12345" on behalf of some girl who wanted a 5-tier cake and to respond to her at email [email protected] or something like that. Didn't think much of it since I had a couple of other inquiries that week. Well I emailed her and haven't heard a single thing.

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loriana Posted 18 Mar 2008 , 3:44pm
post #19 of 47

OK I am probably going to get everyone mad with my scolding:

To everyone:
1) Do not, do not, do not answer these emails!! Not even once. If you do, you are considered a "live contact" and other scammers pay the first scammers for email addresses of "live contacts". Do your research and you will read all about this.

2) We bill people for our time, right? Our efforts, our time, etc... so why are some of you folks wasting your *precious* time even composing an email back to these scammers? Think carefully folks! Wouldn't you rather spend 5 extra minutes on a real customer or your families or sipping a coffee than fishing for a possible order that your gut instinct tells you is a scam?

3) In some of your examples, I see fraud written all over these from the first. Wake up call!:
a. refrigerated van for pickup.... hello? noone does this...
b. broken English. Almost always scammers from other countries.
c. no *immediate* contact information beyond an email address. I have never seen a real custome not provide even a first and last name and phone number before discussing price
d. speaking of price... who does this without discussing details. Always a scam if they offer $1500 + from the get-go without real real details.
e. offering $600 for shipping or delivery when they are sending someone to pickup?

Anyway.... please ladies and gents... do not respond to these types of things. Even if you are desperate for a big order. You are just perpetrating the need to hire these people for $.30 an hour in other countries like the Phillipines, Nigeria, Lesotho, thumbsdown.gif

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shelleythecakelady Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 12:03am
post #20 of 47

I too received that email from an Alex Bryant.
I am glad to hear that others have heard of it!
It is a shame people don't have better things to do with their time!
Shelley

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Monkess Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 4:33am
post #21 of 47

Scamsters! Sheesh...by now one would think they are set to give up or get a life!

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Janette Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 4:46am
post #22 of 47

This subject needs to come up every now and then to warn bakers.

I've received strange e-mails but pick up that somethings not right and delete.

Like the Bride that wanted individual cakes for her 200 guest. She was 2 hrs away. Really, there is no bakers closer to you than that, the red flag goes up.

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aliciag829 Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 4:46am
post #23 of 47

loriana is right. And you should definetely put their email address on your "block" list. This reminds me of another thread that was on here a couple weeks ago. I wish I could find it....hmmm....

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madras650 Posted 8 Sep 2009 , 4:01pm
post #24 of 47

I just received the exact e mail today, word for word. I knew it was a hoax from the first sentence.

This person must have NO LIFE!

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costumeczar Posted 8 Sep 2009 , 5:01pm
post #25 of 47

I got the same thing today, too. They must be on their 6-week cake cycle, after bothering people in other businesses for a while.

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loriana Posted 8 Sep 2009 , 5:33pm
post #26 of 47

Old but good post. Again, ignore these people or you heap more upon yourself in the future plus feed a negative economy for this junk! thumbs_up.gif

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cylstrial Posted 8 Sep 2009 , 6:49pm
post #27 of 47

[quote="sbcakes". And I want you to have the cake ready for pick-up on 1st April 2008, 10 o clock A.M.

Is this a hoax???????[/quote]

Happy Marriage Life is definitely a hoax.

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CutiePieCakes-Ontario Posted 9 Sep 2009 , 1:28am
post #28 of 47

Happy Marriage Life ???

April 1, 2008 ??? 2008.

RUN, FOREST, RUN!!!

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indydebi Posted 9 Sep 2009 , 1:59am
post #29 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by cylstrial

Happy Marriage Life is definitely a hoax.



Definitely.

It's not just cakes now. I rec'd one that was written as if they thought I was a wedding planner. I forwarded it to my wedding planner friend and congratulated her since her part of the wedding industry had just been inducted into the wedding scammer hall of fame! icon_lol.gif

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chefjulie Posted 9 Sep 2009 , 2:13am
post #30 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by CutiePieCakes-Ontario

Happy Marriage Life ???

April 1, 2008 ??? 2008.

RUN, FOREST, RUN!!!




Check the original date of this post! It's from last year! (or maybe even '07...)

Still good information, though thumbs_up.gif

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