So I get an e-mail yesterday from a gentleman up in Miami...outside my normal removal range but in broken english he explains he is having emergency surgery done on his ears to correct hearing loss and is in the process of buying a house but the house he is buying has bees in it and he needs an estimate on removal and repair. I feel sorry for him so I exchange a few e-mails back and forth.....takes like 6 e-mails back and forth to get the full story since his English isn't very good and I am having to run them through a spanglish translator to make sense of them. In any event he is in the hospital and we wont be able to meet no wife, kids, or any friends who can meet with me....just the realtor who is selling him the house....and he wants to help him and is willing to give me his credit card info without me ever having seen the job.....the alarm bells started going off....He then goes on to ask if he can pay me in full up front for whatever my estimate is on the card and that I pay the realtor his "fee" for allowing me access to do the removal....and here is the best part....part of the closing commission on the sale of the home.... in cash once I have the monies from the credit card transaction in my account. I felt myself slowly slipping into the twilight zone.
I feel bad for the guy if this is legit but seriously do not want to get myself entwined in this...You cant make this stuff up....
Thank you Beesource swarm removal listings.....thats the second crackpot call I have received off that site LOL
So I laid it out with my questions about all of this and my reluctance to enter into any credit card hankey panky and I got crickets back....seems like an awful lot of effort to put into a scam...or someone is playing a prank on me. In any event just wanted to share the weirdness that is Miami.
Thanks for the thorough description of what they emailed. These scams follow the same sort of pattern and if you see one, it's easier to spot the next. What Iddee said in another thread....If it feels off, get out now. Very true.
Thanks for sharing. Nice warning.
Pay the realtor for access. That is a good one. He is the real person that needs the work done.
Jim
Send it to the local police force.
Maybe they can set up a sting. :oops:
Jim
I deal with realtors a lot
I have the billing payed by them only
Even if they are managing the property. I do t deal with owners not in residence. They have to show authorization to make decsions before I preform work.
John