Ok, so I just got this email... and I'm pretty sure its a scam, just given the language and the fact that my company doesn't really offer gift baskets --also, what the heck does he mean.. 5 units??

Hello,
With regards to your services and products,I am Rev Chris and would like to place an order for the items listed below. Gift Basket 60 pcs with chocolate,cookies, biscuit and cakes for each basket $50 per Basket. Church anniversary cake white and blue 5 units boxed Cupcakes 100 units Kindly advice pricing,availability and what you can offer ? Looking forward to hear from you..Chris

Let's see - no name of church, no location, not even sure if they are in your delivery area.

Yep, I think you're right.

Theresa

And they want all that for $50..........yeah right.

$50 per basket is reasonable.

This is probably a scam, but if they left a phone number it can't hurt to follow up with them. If they only left an email address (and it doesn't correspond to the domain name of any local churches) then you can probably ignore it. I've gotten similarly worded emails from customers (usually ESL) that turned out to be real orders.

Parsing the email, it looks like they want 60 gift baskets, 5 cakes, and 100 cupcakes.

You have to be careful, they try to get me too but I noticed it was a scam before they could do any damage. Once you tell them that you would take the order they ask you to ship the cakes to them and that they are going to send you a check with extra for the shipping.
Sometimes they even offer some money extra for you troubles.

60 pieces for $50 is reasonable??? Not in my scope of business when you consider the time it takes to put them together along with the cost of ingredients not to mention the time it takes to bake.

That's correct, but I took it to mean 60 pcs in each basket. Even if it's less pieces in each they still want cookies, chocolates, biscuts and an anniversary cake in each plus the cost of the basket, etc. I don't understand the 5 units boxed cupcakes 100 units..........maybe I'm dense but where does that fit in?

It's a scam that is going around. He will try to pay with credit card, then ask you for a cash advance for shipping, then he's gone and you'll be holding $300 worth of baked goods.

I know it's a scam, I just thought the pricing was crazy.

If you're not sure if an email is a scam, just email them back and tell them that you only accept payment in full in advance, cash only, and the exact amount of the order only. No overages, credit cards or checks. You'll never hear from the scammer again (until the next time they email you with something else)

I keep getting emails like this too. The last one was for a wedding cake to be boxed individually for pickup. I google the email address and it turned out to be someone in Australia. These scammer scum are probably googling cake/bakeries or they could be finding us through this website. I have been getting these emails for a couple weeks now. I don't even reply anymore I just delete them.

You know with all the scams going around I often wonder just how many hits they get...but I guess it only takes one to make $200.00 ...not bad for a few hours work........lol...but you would think they would get the wording, spelling and phrases correct.

That's a real order just like my UK lottery winnings, Canadian lottery winnings, and of course, the inheritence left to me by the dying widow of a wealthy businessman b/c she just knows she can trust me to donate it all to charity.

Got the same one today too. Emailed back that I don't give quotes via email only in person. Did not hear back...LOL! Wasn't expecting to either.

well i read this post and notified our cake club..two hours later i get the email!! from a james devaro or something liket hat..earlier i got the one that keeps going around 5 tiered cake happy married life!!!!!!!

You are so right Melvira. I realized that after the second email I got to which I did respond and then it dawned on me and I was like Oh s*** why did I just do that? Lord knows what they could do with just my email address. I don't know where my brain was during all this. Probably reeling from a conversation with somebody over a 3 tier cake to feed 10 people for $25.

The first one I got didn't seem overly fishy, it was someone who was suppose to be a wedding planner wanting info about my services but she didn't indicate where she was from or the name of her company. That should have been a clue. I had thought she might also be a local baker wanting to feel me out about my skill level and prices. This has happened before in email and phone calls.

The second email was the one with the cakes boxed individually with Happy Married Life written on it, (that was the email I responded to). And there have been several since, but I wised up and just hit delete.

Well, you guys know that I love to mess with these guys. I just got the gift basket scam email this morning, but mine was asking for 100 pieces per basket for $50 a basket, so he was greedier than the first guy.

My email address is all over my website, and responding to the scams isn't going to let anyone in on any secrets. It's obviously a live address, and they use programs to harvest email addresses from emails anyway, so I don't worry about that too much. The test with any of the scams is to email them back and tell them that you only take cash in advance and for the exact amount. If it's a scammer they'll never reply to that.

i had responded last night telling them this was a scam and i notified yahoo as wel as my cake group...get a response this morning..

thi sis not what you think..ill pay cash and be happy to come to your shop to pick up order HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOT you will be welcomed by
my pals