By the way, scammers DO read. Especially the bosses of the 'industry'. So I think it is not a good idea to openly discuss how we recognize them for what they are. This would be like providing them with a manual of which mistakes to avoid en how to seem more realistic.
Apropos Sheila W-B's thread on ' genuine bookings?( sadly, most requests emanating from Africa seem to be bogus ) does anyone have a solution to taking booking deposits from countries that rarely use / have stopped using cheques?
Paypal or credit cards seem to be the obvious way but the charges thus incurred can be proportionally quite high for small enterprises. As for international money transfers I feel nervous about giving bank account details to strangers – it is exactly what our West African entrepreneurs are after!
Any bright ideas? Thanks, John @ www.centrefrancevacances.com
I work in a hotel and we are inundated with scams like this. Things to look for are when they do not mention your property, location or even country by name,just say "your place". They basically do a massive mail drop and hope! They usually ask you to arrange transport,visits etc and offer advance payment, always overpaying and asking for a refund on the difference. You never see the original payment because it is not honoured, so you lose out, when you refund . Email addresses normally a name and 2 numbers at gmail.com or yahoo.com. Mind you, the West African phone number is a giveaway. they may give you a UK number which is a number which diverts to an African premium rate number. We get loads of requests for groups of newly ordained Greek priests etc., that's a favourite. If you are not sure there is a website where gite and hotel owners register scams. I keep a file at work of all scams and the same names pop up regularly. Obviously I can't post it, for legal reasons.
Hi,
As a French native speaker, I can tell you that the style is very suspicious ! Only the name seems to be real and I think it is someone else's.
The scammers are not not always looking for money. Part of the time, they look for information that can get them some money. So, DON'T GIVE ANY INFORMATION about your chambre d'hôte, as it could be used to scam someone else.
There's a very simpel method to make sure you don't lose money. Just don't send them any! You can let the whole spiel play out, and when they decide not to come after all, ask you to send (a portion of) the money back, just wait. Stop reacting. They will send messages that will start sounding more and more desperate as the deadline for opposition to the paiment comes closer. With dying family members, terrible accidents and lots of spelling mistakes (the standard repertoire being well behind). And then one day it will all just stop.
He's asking if you take payment by virement, which should be (or is at my bank) pretty much irrevocable. Ask for full cash payment at booking -- he's in Africa, so he won't be surprised by that if he's legit, since essentially everyone he contacts thinks he's a scammer (just read the comments here).
OTOH, his French is bad. Maybe it's a second language, but from 22 it should be better than that.
I'd send the info, ask him to virer de l'argent by a date certain, then forget it if he doesn't.
Please be very aware, this is most definitely a scam. Do not reply. You will lose your hard earned cash!
Not a chance in hell Mark. This is a scam, without doubt.
James, this does not resemble a 419 scam as described in the link you provided. There is a chance this is a genuine request for business. If the party prepays and the money is cashed before the stay, surely that would be ok?
Hi
I would look into other forms of payment, such as Google, which functions in a similar fashion to Paypal but may have different payback conditions. I would definitely be wary of being paid from other accounts with other names. Otherwise, many people find it normal to have a to and fro of contacts before entering into transactions, so a few emails back and forth would not strike me as strange.
Looks like a scam, I get many of that type for my massage business.
A few warning signals for me are:
- It's a big order.
- They want to prepay.
- They don't specify where they're going (just saying your location, without even specifying what country you're in or region or city).
- Phone number (+225: CI) is the Ivory Coast
- His address doesn't state that it's in the Ivory Coast (Like the phone number) and Bamako is the capital of Mali!Usually when you type your address when going abroad, you'd at least write a line with the country under the address.
The thing they do is to wire the money/send a cheque, but they'll send an amount that's larger than the price by "accident" and then ask you to refund the difference. Thing is, their wiring/cheque hasn't been cleared and if you're not careful, you'll send them money and their payment bounce.
A good way to check these things too is to do a google search on the e-mail address and name. The scammers send out to lots of people and many are good at posting warnings.
Hope this helps!
No trouble Sheila, I quite enjoy it.
I just replied with some gibberish, I'll keep you updated!
j
Thank you so much for all your trouble James. Sending big virtual hug and large glass of whatever you're having. xxx
Here is how you tell.
10 minutes ago I sent him this email;
2 minutes ago I received this reply;
Hello Thank you for the interest which you carry me. That said I still
come back to you to reconfirm my belonging to your estate.
Regarding the settlement I will do by bank transfer so I beg you to
send me email invoice Overall the stay and the lease not to mention a
rib for payment because I intend to settle the amount in one full
rental.
THIERRY VIGNON
Address: Republic Square, Boulevard Mitterrand
11 475 bp Bamako11
Phone: 0022 566 832 361
I am still waiting for booking information.
sincerely
___________
It's a standard 419 scam
Ignore it or just mess with them, they work in a call center scamming people all day long.
Well done, Eagle Eyes Johnson! He's still making the same mistake, writing in French but putting "Mr" before his name!
Arnaques is the key word there Hayley.
Hi C, and thanks for that. I never googled myself - going to try that now! And thanks to Mr. H, purveyor of fine tables AND CHAIRS, and all the other stuff! xx
Sorry! Only just got round to this. So... I check all SFN applications and one of the things I do is google the actual email address. In my case cat@kingswharf.net. It shows that I have an online profile which can be referenced, who I've worked for and all kinds of other stuff.... (!)
In your mans case, there was zilch. (I tried it) Which equates to dodgy....
ps: learnt this from the social media god, pro photographer, purveyor of fine tables and one time private eye (really), Mr H himself, enough said!
xx
Thanks Finn, but it is still not secure is it? As per my query earlier, someone could pay by PayPal 2 months in advance, come and receive the course and the accommodation, and has up to 13 months from the date of payment to take the money back, even though they have received all the services? Or am I reading your earlier post incorrectly?