I received a request three days ago from a woman?, Beatrice C. in England?, requesting a quote on a wedding cake. I responded with a general estimate thinking she was coming to the USA for her wedding. She wrote back and said the price was fine and she would send me a check and that her wedding planner would pick it up.
That's when bells started going off telling me that this was not real. After two more e-mails requesting her name, address, wedding planners name and telephone and reception location, she told me mid-town England! I responded telling her that she had made a mistake, that I was located in the USA. Received an e-mail this morning stating that she? knew where I was located and that her wedding planner was very expensive and she wanted quality work and that's why she had picked me. I immediately deleted all correspondence with Beatrice C.
I'm sure it was some sort of internet scam. I would never have thought that someone could come up with an idea like this!!!
Wow, Beatrice C. was sure busy last week! Check out this thread in the business section:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-57913-0.html
Just out of curiosity, what possible loss could one incur at the hands of these junk orders? Unless you're giving out your physical location or banking info, I can't see where Beatrice C can possibly benefit financially from this. I'm picturing a lonely shut-in desperate for contact, or possibly, someone with a mental illness and fixation on celebration cakes and those who make them....
Here is some of the loss: most of these scams send you a check or money order for way more than you quoted and then you deposit it into your account even though it is likely to be bogus. When you notify them that they overpaid you, they sweetly ask you to send them a M.O. to make up the difference. YOU lose - they win!!
You guys can report this to the federal trade commission, they have an email address especially for that. Just forward the offending emails to the ftc at, [email protected]
You won't recieve any response but it does report this person to the ftc for further investigation.
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