honey targeted scam?

BjornBee · January 22, 2012, 07:40:49 AM

I got this following email this morning. Have no clue who the person is. I love how they dictate how busness is to be conducted on their terms. And of course this is questionable to say the least. I don't recall ever seeing scams being targeted towards beekeepers and honey. 40 gallons at 60 pounds per gallon means 2400 one pound party favors. That is many guests. Anyways, what do you think of this email?

>>>>>

Hello Dear.....
I will need your service for my wedding, but I would have come in to place the order in person but presently am in the hospital for my breast cancer surgery, but after my wedding I should be stopping by so as to have the privilege to meet you in person for future reference... Till then I look forward meeting you.

So please I will like to order for 40 gallons of honey for my wedding, which are to be repack packing as wedding favor. please kindly get back to me with the total cost plus tax, and you should let me know how soon you can have the order ready for pick up. Once I have your reply for the total cost, I will remit my credit card for you to charge through for the total cost. And I will have a carrier pick them up from your store.

Please also reply along with your full address for pick up and entry point, either front door or back door, so I can instruction the carrier with the direction for the pick up. Hope to hear from you soonest.
Thanks and God bless.
Mary.

texjim · January 22, 2012, 07:57:26 AM

you could reply back wanting more info on them. then try and find out if the name and address match up. don't do anything and see if she/he tries and contacts you again. good luck..

JackM · January 22, 2012, 08:58:29 AM

I think I would find a way to start a dialogue with her, ask simple questions, one at a time. She wants to meet, so have her come and choose the repackage material. I think she is trying to say what she is trying to purchase clearly. But it also looks/has a scam feel to it.

mountainstories · January 22, 2012, 09:06:44 AM

I received the same e-mail. When I read the quantity - 40 gallons, and looked at some of the grammar, I knew it was a scam. Also, it was obviously sent to multiple addresses. I figure they hacked or compiled from some bee website to get addresses.

Intheswamp · January 22, 2012, 10:07:29 AM

SCAM. Price does not matter to them. They will give you "their" credit card number as payment. They will email/fax you shipping tags. UPS/FedEx/etc pick-up the merchandise the very next day. A few days later you will be greeted with a charge back from the credit card company. Also, the shipping company will get ripped off for the freight. The merchandise will be delivered to a residence that doesn't know squat...at least they act like they don't. The households will be supported by government assistance in many/most cases. They are pretty slick operators.

These scams originated from a program for the deaf and dumb where the deaf/dumb person contacted a telephone operator via the internet...the person would type in a number and the operator would dial the number. Once connected the operator would "talk" for the person by repeating what the person typed. Many times the operator knew that a scam was taking place *but* was not allowed to warn the recipient for fear of being fired...the operator could *only* relay what the sender typed in. The fact that the operator could not warm the victim was a BIG gripe of the operators for years...I see a note on a forum that they've changes the rules/laws, but I'm not sure if this is addressed or not. I've handled a couple of these calls, still got some emailed UPS tags at the office from one encounter...and some phone calls from some thankful cardholders.

Play with them BB. Respond with a price several times higher than normal price. Act like you're ignorant. When they give you a credit card # tell them you have to use the same phone line to run it...they will call or email you back to see if it went through. When they contact you tell them it rejected....they've got another one they'll give you. Once you get several numbers, call the credit card companies and report the card numbers being used. When the scumbags call back simply tell them it went through that time...they'll probably send you the shipping tags then. By then hopefully the credit cards have been cancelled...at least saving those owners some grief...just don't ship anything to them. ;)

On one of the ones I messed with (this was over the phone using Relay) the sheriff discovered a residential house with a woman and lots of kids and piles of boxes of clothing. The woman spoke in broken English but it sounded like she got a few dollars for each box she received and that "somebody" would pick the boxes up occasionally. Nothing ever came of this being as I don't believe anybody ever tried to pick up the boxes of clothing.

In my case, they were trying to buy 20-30 tires....they could have went to the local tire dealer and purchased them for 1/2 the price I quoted them *and* wouldn't have had to pay $20 a piece shipping. :roll: I understand that the normal targets (in the past) were camera stores and jewelry stores...normal, easy to move merchandise.

http://forum1.aimoo.com/relayscams/Nigerian-Scams-1-23687

http://www.scamorama.com/deaf_relay.html

Basically same scam, just using a different form of communication...directly by email.

Best wishes,
Ed

wildbeekeeper · January 22, 2012, 10:40:56 AM

Yup I got the same email...... wish it was serious and that I had 40 gallons of honey left to sell them! But I suspected a scam as well - interesting to find out how and where they got our email addresses as the email I got it on is used only for my bee business!

wildbeekeeper · January 22, 2012, 10:41:23 AM

Yup I got the same email...... wish it was serious and that I had 40 gallons of honey left to sell them! But I suspected a scam as well - interesting to find out how and where they got our email addresses as the email I got it on is used only for my bee business!

LoriMNnice · January 22, 2012, 11:28:07 AM

I got the same e-mail but it was for a puppy I was selling and they wanted money by western union...And because I was bored I strung the scammer on for about a week and a half.

I told them I didn't have a a phone # cuz I was hearing impaired. I bet the scammer went to the western union office about 3-4 times looking for their money wire :)

when I got bored with them I sent them the police department phone #(non-emergency) and boy were they mad LOL they sent me a threatening e-mail cussing me out etc. I laughed so hard and then I posted the whole e-mail convo on Craigslist lol.

I used a fake name and that name was Imnot Anidiot signed all my emails that too and they never caught on lol.

Intheswamp · January 22, 2012, 11:50:17 AM

I've used Guy Chugud before.....maybe he's kin to Imnot Anidiot. :-D

Ed

sc-bee · January 23, 2012, 02:00:08 AM

Same e-mail I usually don't open e-mail I if I don't know the sender or at least a legit company. I have to admit the honey sales pitch enticed me to look.

njoylife10 · January 23, 2012, 05:36:20 PM

Got the same email.

Rex Smith · January 23, 2012, 05:58:25 PM

I regularly get similar emails for my day-job business.

I usually ignore the emails - but occasionally, I'll get a wild hair, and play with them. Tell them that I only accept payment in clams, or in eucalyptus leaves or something stupid.. but I only accept payment in-person, at or before delivery, and will not ship.

Rex "Hawk" S.

divemaster1963 · January 23, 2012, 10:15:03 PM

Oh how I would love to get them to pick it up. tell them that you will run the card when they pickup. just give them the address of the detective division of the local police and advise them of it. they love doing stings that get people like this. specially if they are on a lull with cases.

Jim134 · January 23, 2012, 10:38:44 PM

Quote from: BjornBee on January 22, 2012, 07:40:49 AM
I got this following email this morning. Have no clue who the person is. I love how they dictate how busness is to be conducted on their terms. And of course this is questionable to say the least. I don't recall ever seeing scams being targeted towards beekeepers and honey. 40 gallons at 60 pounds per gallon means 2400 one pound party favors. That is many guests. Anyways, what do you think of this email?

:? Honey 60 pounds per gallon :? May be 5 gallons is 60 pounds

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

BjornBee · January 23, 2012, 11:47:20 PM

Quote from: Jim 134 on January 23, 2012, 10:38:44 PM
Quote from: BjornBee on January 22, 2012, 07:40:49 AM
I got this following email this morning. Have no clue who the person is. I love how they dictate how busness is to be conducted on their terms. And of course this is questionable to say the least. I don't recall ever seeing scams being targeted towards beekeepers and honey. 40 gallons at 60 pounds per gallon means 2400 one pound party favors. That is many guests. Anyways, what do you think of this email?

:? Honey 60 pounds per gallon :? May be 5 gallons is 60 pounds

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

Jim....shhhhhh. :-X It sound better the other way. ;)

beekeeperookie · January 25, 2012, 11:05:24 PM

I hope the carrier is not riding a bike :-D

joker1656 · January 25, 2012, 11:14:38 PM

Quote from: BjornBee on January 22, 2012, 07:40:49 AM
I got this following email this morning. Have no clue who the person is. I love how they dictate how busness is to be conducted on their terms. And of course this is questionable to say the least. I don't recall ever seeing scams being targeted towards beekeepers and honey. 40 gallons at 60 pounds per gallon means 2400 one pound party favors. That is many guests. Anyways, what do you think of this email?

>>>>>

Hello Dear.....
I will need your service for my wedding, but I would have come in to place the order in person but presently am in the hospital for my breast cancer surgery, but after my wedding I should be stopping by so as to have the privilege to meet you in person for future reference... Till then I look forward meeting you.

So please I will like to order for 40 gallons of honey for my wedding, which are to be repack packing as wedding favor. please kindly get back to me with the total cost plus tax, and you should let me know how soon you can have the order ready for pick up. Once I have your reply for the total cost, I will remit my credit card for you to charge through for the total cost. And I will have a carrier pick them up from your store.

Please also reply along with your full address for pick up and entry point, either front door or back door, so I can instruction the carrier with the direction for the pick up. Hope to hear from you soonest.
Thanks and God bless.
Mary.

I haven't been on here in quite awhile. I am starting to get a little bit of an itch for Spring, so I popped on. It is kind of interesting, because I too had the exact same email a few days ago. I did not even consider that others might have.

It is a scam. I would not give them any info on your physical address. I would not respond in any way. The wording reminds me of the Nigerian email scams. You can do what you want, but it is literally word for word the same email that I received. Stay safe.