gardenbug8's Blog

WARNING! I GOT SCAMMED.
May 7, 2008 | 7:53 PM PST
Tag: Scam

Last Thursday, a friend from my church gave me an email address for an application for a part-time job working at home.  So, I did apply for the job and got an answer back that after completing their background check, I was accepted.  My job is to accept by mail money orders, travelers checks, etc. cash these checks and wire transfer the money to the company’s representative.  The company’s name is Arts on Tiles.  It is a legitimate company in the UK but the scammer took their name and all company information on their job proposal that was emailed to me.  I checked the website and sure enough, the UK Company exists with the same address, phone number and company information is the same on the email sent to me.  So, my thought was that the job offer is legit based on the website information exactly the same as the job offer to me.  So that was Thursday and by Friday, I received an express UPS envelope with 3 American Express travelers checks worth a total of $1,500.  In my excitement, I went to my bank, cashed the checks, and wire $1,267 to the scammer.  That is net of my supposedly 10% commission and $83 Western Union transfer fee.  Wow, I made easy money of $150 just working at home and waiting for the mail.  

 

 

Yesterday, I received another UPS mail with $1,000 in travelers checks.  It is then that I got curious and suspicious because the senders of the two UPS mail I received are from the same address although different names but the handwriting on the envelope is exactly the same.  My curious mind then thought, gee, why do these senders have to go through me and I do the wire transfer?  Why can’t they not do it themselves?  I compared the serial numbers on the checks and they are almost in sequence.  So I called American Express fraud department and sure enough all 5 travelers checks of $500 each are counterfeit.  So I am out $1,350 as I only kept $150 of the first 3 checks. OUCH.   I am sure that my bank will get back to me when they find out that the checks are fake and I will surely be held responsible.   I would have been out another $900 if I did not get suspicious.  So the moral of the story my friends is this – if it is too good to be true, it is not true.

 

I emailed the scammer today, and told him that I forgive him and that to me, it is only money and I can live with that.  But can he live with himself for defrauding people?  Sooner or later, the karma comes back to you.  If the law does not get him, then when it is his time to leave this earth, the Lord will take care of that.  I often wonder too how people can turn so bad.  Is it genes?  Upbringing? Poverty?  Whatever, I am so glad that I have my garden to go to when I feel blue.  The blooms in my garden at least wiped away some of the OUCH.  So my warning to you my gardening friends, be careful.  There are so many people out there to pick your pockets of your hard earned money.  Gee, I wonder how many plants I won’t be able to buy with this loss.  I could have bought 50 clematis or so with this money.  Well, at least, I am hoping to  be harvesting tomatoes, corn, squash and cilantro this year for free.