# Am I being scammed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816 "2020-05-31T23:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816/21 "2020-06-01T18:22:46Z")
Another one agreeing it’s a scam. I literally didn’t read past “he favor i need from you is regarding the videographer service but i will be glad if you can help me to send his fee to him after you’ve deduct”. He’ll send you the money for your services and the other person’s services, you give the video guy his portion and you’re on the hook for the entire thing. At my store, we’ve had the same one a few times. People will call up asking for a huge order of widgets. They won’t bat an eye at the price I quote and then they tell me they’re going to send me a check and instruct me to take out what they owe me and give the rest to the truck driver that’s going to pick it up. They still insist on this even when I tell them we’ll deliver it for free. The last time I got this scam it was via a TTY call (other person was ‘deaf’ and going through a service). I assume that’s was simply to make it more difficult for me to figure out who they were after I realize I was scammed. In any case, I hung up in the middle of the call when I knew what was going on. About two days later a friend of mine that owns a business up the road from me, got the same exact call. I don’t think he went through with it, but he was convinced it was real, at least until I explained to him that the exact same thing, including the TTY call had just happened to me. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816/22 "2020-06-01T19:02:12Z")
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck… ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816/23 "2020-06-02T18:34:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m in the wedding industry as a photographer, and, yes, we get hit a lot by these types of scams. I find them pretty obvious, and yours is definitely one of them. Expect to get more, and if you have your number listed, expect to get the occasional text from scammers. The odd English is a red flag, the “God Bless You” at the end also flags it for me and, of course, the whole financial transaction, which is an age-old scam, usually done with cashier’s checks, but looks like they’ve expanded to credit cards. As you do more work and interact with wedding clients more, you’ll get a sense of how normal clients talk and how scammers talk. That said, I have had Nigerian clients with that style of writing, so I have to be careful not dismiss out-of-hand, but if you get to email #2 and they’re requesting a convoluted financial transaction, no. > > For me, it’s always somebody requesting something other than a wedding, like a family reunion, a birthday party, etc. And they seem to be willing to throw any amount of money at it, and the event details are very vague. My favorite one was from about 10 years ago where they actually did give the address of the event, but apparently didn’t do their research on Chicago’s streets, as the address they gave, were it to exist, would be at least a mile into Lake Michigan. Ah, thanks. I was wondering if the wedding industry was a common target. The whole reason I created this thread was because I didn’t want to pass up a gig that may have been legit. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816/24 "2020-06-06T21:12:11Z")
Won’t ONE of you “potential scammees” PLEASE take the time to mess with these crooks? Think of your audience, desperately in need of entertainment, sequestered here in Dopeville. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816/25 "2020-06-06T21:30:45Z")
Google “scambaiting.” There are many who DO mess with these crooks, for entertainment and retribution. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816/26 "2020-06-06T21:38:17Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Won’t ONE of you “potential scammees” PLEASE take the time to mess with these crooks? > > Think of your audience, desperately in need of entertainment, sequestered here in Dopeville. I do. I just don’t get many calls. I’m usually good for 15-20 min. worth of fun. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816/27 "2020-06-06T23:15:08Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Anytime someone pays you extra for something and asks you to refund the extra part of the payment, it’s a scam. Pretty much this. > [@Musicat](#): > > Google “scambaiting.” There are many who DO mess with these crooks, for entertainment and retribution. [419 Eater](https://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm) is one of the finest such sites on the web! 😃 Unfortunately their archives have gotten a little screwed up over time and not all of these classic links work (some just redirect to the main page) but others do. For instance, the classic [Church of the Holy Cow (part 2)](https://www.419eater.com/html/ojukwu_damisa.htm) or the [Church of the Painted Breast](https://www.419eater.com/html/joe_eboh.htm). Also check out some of the extremely bad Photoshop work in the Trophy Room. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-scammed/854816.md?page=1)