Tutor Scam on CRAIGSLIST .com ad makers doctor the truth for profit, destroying heritage of trust

slumberingpaladin 3 months ago

You can add the email addresses to your list of scammers.

I perform volunteer moderation on a dating site, and can instantly recognize what we call "scammer grammar".

]I had posted on craigslist to give backgammon lessons, and received this reply.

I'll give a few examples below.

First, expanded headers

from Kendra Brandy kendraandbrandy@gmail.com via craigslist.org

reply-to Kendra Brandy larrygay2@gmail.com

Hello,

How are you doing today and How is the Weather also?. I just want to know if the tutor

lesson still available for my son, He is 15 years old and his name is David, I want you to

calculate the cost of 2 hours per day for two days in a week for the whole a Month

which is 16 hours per month and email me back the total cost....Awaiting for your quick

response. Best Regard.

=======================================================

Notice the random capitalization, a hallmark of scammer grammar.

Second, why would the weather be of any interest?

Third, they never specify WHAT the lesson is about.

I replied, wanting to see what they said next.

My reply -- I charge $180 for a 2 hour lesson, payable in cash at the start of the lesson.

8 lessons would be $1440.

Tell me about David and his prior game experience. --

The following has slightly different address headers, as well as the "son" is a year older.They are asking for information so they can "write me a check", when I clearly specified that I only take cash.

from Laura George larrygay2@gmail.com

date Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 12:13 AM

subject Re: Backgammon Lessons (Your home or office)

Thanks for getting back to me and everything sound good to me, Am

Laura George by name, my son is coming for an holiday in your (CITY), His

name is David and is 16 years old .I want him to be busy in the time

of the day, because am in Spain for business trip i will be back in 2

months Time that is why i want him to be lesson,..Am okay with your

price and i have decided to let him attend your lesson and he will be

coming 2 hour in a day, also get back to me with your own convenient

time and day you want my son to be coming in 2 days in a week and i

haves Someone (Nanny) that will always drives him down to your lesson

center..I will be happy if you can help my son because my son is

highly interested in your tutor lesson ..Make sure you check your

email often if there is any emergency or important notice

Kindly get back to me with your information below to be on the check.....

First name...................

Last name.....................

Door step street address...............

City..........................

State.........................

Zip/Postal code...............

Home phone....................

Cell phone.....................

Hope to read back from you with the details requested

Laura.

==================================================================

"Laura" has not written back.

Grateful Voice teacher 3 months ago

Oh! I almost forgot. The Mans name was Dr. Alen Robbert. Craig handle " Lord456789" and he likes to quote the Bible in every Email. Interesting isn't? How easy it is to Assume someone is "Okay" based on if they have say they have a high level of Education, quote Religious stuff and are willing to allegedly give you a lot of money. lol

A Grateful Voice Teacher 3 months ago

Thank you SO much for posting this. I put an ad up for teaching at my Studio and, I promptly received an answer from a Gentleman who said his Daughter need a Voice tutor for the Month. She was visiting from the U.K and wanted lessons 3 days a week 2 hours a day. His email was choppy and written in broken English but I thought it was because he was not a Native of the USA. I come across that a lot. Anyway, he just asked me 2 seconds ago to send my info so a currier can send me a Check. I decided to check to see if he was a real guy and I found this! So Thanks again, you really saved the day. :-) I will be suspicious of Grass that looks greener in the future.

KB 4 months ago

Thanks so much guys for sharing your experiences. I have recently gotten a similar email. I have shared my apt address and my mobile phone number, I'm wondering if I'm exposed to the scammer or am I safe as long as I don't wire the check?

This article has definitely saved me!

Scammer Detector 5 months ago

I recently responded to an ad to tutor French. The scenario, similar to some posted above, went as follows: a man needed a tutor for his young son who was supposed to travel to Paris for Christmas. The man claimed to be a marine and to be located "onshore" (instead of offshore!!!). I was asked to provide my full names and address b/c he wanted to send me a check to cover for the class in advance. The check in question was to carry EXCESS FUNDS that for his son's NANNY. The excess funds will have to be transfered to the nanny. Etc. No details were provided about the son's age, language level, linguistic needs, etc.

The author of the scam went by the name of Joey Shands and his email address is joeyshands@rocketmail.com

Mike 7 months ago

A friend of mine found this article for me after I told him about that weirdo who now clearly is a scam artist. Haven't received a check..yet..but unfortunately gave that person my address. Am I in danger of an identity theft already, or just if I would cash a check?

lis 7 months ago

Thank you!!!! I would've been scammed, although I thought something was a little off which is why I goggled him, but he went by a different name Michael Gruny. He gave very little info about his daughter and spoke mostly of money which I guess is motivating to most people, but I don't think he realizes that tutors or people in the education field are interested in the money (Most of us and maybe just a little). Also I found it odd that if he had all this money to give to someone he has never met, let along trust his daughter with, had drivers for his daughter etc. he must hold a very high position. But after reading his long email that had misspellings and misplaced words I wondered what kind of job he had. Not that my grammar or spelling is great, but hey that’s not my specialty.

Beth 8 months ago

I had someone approach my tutoring ad exactly the same way. Her son was visiting for a month and needed tutoring. She was emailing me desperately and quickly and really wanted to mail me a cashier's check, and completely stopped emailing once I indicated that there had been "problems with checks from overseas". Haven't heard from her since.

not falling for that 8 months ago

This is the ad I responded to:

TUTOR (South coast)

Date: 2011-09-09, 8:25PM EDT

Reply to: job-btu63-2590907935@craigslist.org

Wanted dependable/responsible someone that can tutor our child Part time, who is 10yrs old daughter. We need someone that is matured, have working experience from any field to take care of her in terms of impacting knowledge and morals and such person must have good background check. Send your resume/reply for preview

PostingID: 2590907935

The email I received on Sept. 14th:

Michael Gruny gruny.michael@yahoo.com

Thanks for replying back to my online job posting, requiring the tutorial service for my daughter, I would like to make a tutoring arrangement between you and my daughter starting 10th Oct 2011 and I would like you to tutor her within a period of 12 weeks, on a schedule basis of 4hrs Daily and 5 times weekly.I am paying you the first week teaching payment before she will be coming so that you can ensure you are hired for this job and also can get the necessary materials and tools ready upon her arrival. I am paying the weekly wages in advace with $440. I would like to use these medium to inform you that my Daughter don't live in the USA, She would be flying from Mexico to the USA because she is spending sometimes here, I want you to teach her English Langauge or (and) Mathematics for 4th grader during this period of staying in the USA, if there is need to extend your services, an amendment would be made to your salary depending on how good you are with her. The Local Library would be your meeting place with her, She would be dropped off/picked up by his driver during the hours of teaching.

Payment Terms & Condition:

You would be receiving a Certified check from my financial in USA, since i am off to Mexico to pick her back to the USA and making payments from Mexico wont be honored in a bank in the USA, These check would be made out for the cost of the tutorial services you are rendering and for the materials and tools needed for my

Daughter. Regarding this. I hope i can trust you with these payments, as the payment would be made out in excess to cover the first week payment for you and also for materials and tools needed to tutor her, so all you have to do is deposit the payment at your bank when it get to you for it to clear and deduct your part for the services and the remainder would be use to purchase the materials and tools needed for her. So hope i can trust you that you will teach my Son good academics and some moral respects so that he can be good to herself in the future and that she can be proud of you, i hope i can count on you for the tutorial and the money to be sent to you.

I look forward to read a detailed message from you containing the following information, if you are OK with my arrangements, terms and

condition.

FULL NAME:

HOME ADDRESS (no P.O.Box please):

CITY:

STATE:

ZIP CODE:

CELL PHONE:

HOME PHONE:

GENDER:

AGE:

PRESENT JOB STATUS/POSITION:

EMAIL:

Thanks for your Understanding.

Michael

The second I read his email, I knew something dodgy was going down. I'm slightly worried because I sent him my resume when I responded to the ad. I can only hope he didn't look at it.

Natalie 9 months ago

Same thing happened to me. Replied to a tutor posting, Ithaca, NY. Correspondence with a HENRY DAVIDS. Almost the exact same email as on this site... math tutor for his son "John". Time went by and I figured it wasn't real, but then I did receive a check in the mail with instructions on what to do (cash it, send money to "nanny"). Did not follow them! Shredded the check, thanks to this blog! All seems so stupid now...it was obviously a scam! But I'm just glad I didn't follow through with any of the actions he told me to. Still pretty shaken up about it though...

olderandwiser38 9 months ago

Well, here we go again...I responded to a different ad for a tutor, this one was for a math tutor and I thought it was an ad from a tutoring service. So, I'm posting it here. Olderandwiser, again.

I will say upfront, before posting the ad and his message to me, that this guy 'Ben Brian' is asking for a photo in addition to the typical full name, address, and phone #. The photo is particularly worrisome to me. That could be used to forge a fake ID.

The ad posted on craigslist:

Summer Maths Tutor Are Needed

Date: 2011-08-02, 2:54PM EDT

Reply to: benbrian2011@gmail.com

Math Tutors are needed.

Tutor Doctor need tutors to work in students homes or local libraries for Summer and Fall programs. Tutor Doctor offers One-on-one tutoring.

We are looking for teachers with experience in teaching reading to elementary school students especially for rising 3rd and 4th graders.

PostingID: 2526386549

The response I got:

Hi There,

Thanks for responding to my ADS on Craigslist.I'm Ben Brian by

name but I'm currently working on a contract in Subang Jaya, Malaysia

with my wife and my son.My son (Julian) will be coming for a vacation

in the US & close to your location.I want him to be busy with his

study while having fun also.Therefore,i want to know if he can always

come to you for lesson on Math.If this is possible,am offering you $60

per hour & he will be coming to your Place for 2 hour,twice in a week

(Wednesday & Friday) for 2 weeks.I'll have someone that will always

drive him down to your Place or library in your neighborhood.I mean a

Nanny,and Julian is 12 year old and he hardly excel in Math.As stated

earlier,I'm offering you $60 per hour & you'll be teaching Julian for

2 hour twice in a week,for 2 weeks which makes the total of your money

to $480 and I'll include additional $20 in case you need to buy some

textbook for the tutorial.

Julian is new to this,so you just have to be patient with

him.I've informed Julian about this & he's happy to start as soon as

he get to the US.Please understand that am going to pay you for 2

weeks which is $480 plus $20 for textbook and my client will be

sending you my check which you're to deduct your own money & you're to

send the rest of the money to Julian nanny so that they can use the

money to get accommodation close to your location and any other

arrangement needed.kindly get back to me with your full information so

that the payment can be issue out on your name as soon as possible.I

need the following information

*Your Full Name

*Your Residential Address with State,zipcodeand city (NOT P.O BOX )

*Your Phone Number

*Your Picture so that i can show Johnson

I'll have Julian picture e-mail to you for recognition as soon as i

hear back from you.Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation &

understanding.I'll be looking forward to hearing back from you as soon

as possible.

Regards.

There are legitimate tutoring jobs out there--I am positive of that! I just don't seem to be finding them. Maybe I should not look for them on craigslist anymore.

So you can add 'Ben Brian' to the list of tutor scammers now!

olderandwiser38 9 months ago

I got a new one for you... joessf48@yahoo.com.

Full name is Joe Youssef. He is using craigslist to find a tutor for his fifth grade son.

This is the ad on craigslist:

Tutor Needed Asap (maine)

Date: 2011-07-21, 10:15PM EDT

Reply to: job-tnzqx-2506777901@craigslist.org

We need reliable, energetic, motivated, entusiastic person to

become Tutor to assist in Creating

euthusiasm in english for my son,Please send your resume if you have interest in teaching my son. Applicat show be 18 years above.

• Location: maine

• Compensation: $60/hr

• This is a part-time job.

PostingID: 2506777901

This is the email he sent me: (I enclosed it in quotes)

"Thanks for replying back to my online job posting, requiring the

tutorial service for my Son, I would like to make a tutoring

arrangement between you and my son starting 5th August 2011 and I

would like you to tutor him within a period of 7 weeks, on a schedule

basis of 4hr Daily, 4 times weekly.I am paying you the first week

teaching payment before she will be coming so that you can ensure you

are hired for this job and i am paying the weekly wages in advace with

$510. I would like to use these medium to inform you that my Son don't

live in the US if you could remember i mention that in my posting, he

would be flying from Japan to the US because i need to get him back

home because i fear for the disaster that are happening in Japan, I

want you to teach him English Langauge or (and) Mathematics for 5th

grader during this period of staying in the US, if there is need to

extend your services, an amendment would be made to your salary

depending on how good you are with him. The Local Library would be

your meeting place with him, he would be dropped off/picked up by his

nanny during the hours of teaching.

Payment Terms & Condition:

You would be receiving a Certified check from my financial in US,

since i am off to japan to pick him back to the US and making payments

from japan wont be honored in a bank in the US, These check would be

made out for the cost of the tutorial services you are rendering, and

also for the living expense, nanny fees for my

Son. Regarding this. I hope i can trust you with these payments, as

the payment would be made out in excess to cover the first week

payment for you and also for his nanny too, so all you have to do is

cash the payment when it get to you deduct your part for the services

and the remainder would be use to purchase moneypak reload pin from

walmart and further instructions would be given to you on what to do

with the moneypak reload pin you bought at walmart. The Nanny who

would be contacting you with futher arrangements and instructions

regarding pickup/drop off of my Son to the library where you would

always teach him. So hope i can trust you that you will teach my Son

good academics and some moral respects so that he can be good to

himself in the future and that he can be proud of you, i hope i can

count on you for the tutorial and the money to be sent to you.

I look forward to read a detailed message from you containing the

following information, if you are OK with my arrangements, terms and

condition.

FULL NAME:

MAILING ADDRESS (no P.O.Box please):

CITY:

STATE:

ZIP CODE:

CELL PHONE:

HOME PHONE:

GENDER:

PRESENT JOB STATUS/POSITION:

EMAIL:

Thanks for your Understanding.

Joe "

It is listed under July 21st, education jobs. Location is 'Maine'.

I sent him my resume a few days ago. I haven't heard back from him. I sent him a quick email last night that I do not accept the job. I'm guessing I'll get a check from him this week for at least $510. I'm going to report this like others on here have done. Hopefully he is caught and put out of business very soon.

I'm lucky I told a close friend about this job I applied for. She was very suspicious and researched it. She came up with this (HubPages) web site and sent it to me via email. After reading a few paragraphs I knew I had fallen for a scam.

Thomas 10 months ago

I got an email today from John Robertoc. Broken english, something odd about it made me google his name. Glad I did. Here's the email:

Can you tutor my daughter (Juliet) on your field ? i will like you to

get back to me asap.....THANKS

Chaz 10 months ago

I put an ad for french lessons about 1 month ago.

The only answers I got were from scammers.

Here is a list of names you gotta be careful with :

Allison McQuinn, Brian Adams, John Robertoc, Ethan Robert, Mary Williams/William Scott, Robert Paul.

Always look at the email adresse also, sometimes they are really weird.

Tawnster 11 months ago

Good Morning Applicant ,

I have received your resume message which is quite okay by me. My

Sister will be coming from (CANADA because we reside here) and she

will be moving

on 22nd of June 2011. she is 36 Years of age. 140lbs and 5.8ft. She

speaks English fluently.We really need you to be honest and trust

worthy in this Position. The work basis/duties are below.

- You are to be checking on My Sister at least 4 times in a week for

proper caring and to know how well about her health and i think you

have little medical experience ?

- You will be earning $500 weekly handling this job properly.

- You will be driving her to hospital when she is needed for medical

check up which should be

at least once in a month and if you don't know how to drive, you will

hire a car for her.

-- Your working days will be 4 days in a week but must not be random

it must be either monday,wednesday,friday and sunday or any convinient

4 days .You

will have to prescribe the convenient hrs during each of this days

which will not affect your other regular work incase you have one as

this will be a part

time work for you and if you want to live with her in the house for

other assistance there will be no problem.

So kindly provide me with the requested information below so that we can

ensure the housing agent get her an apartment which will be more

closer to your house and I hope about 6 miles will not be too far for you.

Also we will be paying you the first week wages upfront via a

Certified Check because you will help her to get some medical tools

like one touch basic machine,acu-check machine and test trips in any

nearest pharmacy store around.

So I want you to feed me back with the following details so that we

can ensure you are ready for the work.

1. Full Name

2. Mailing Address (not P.O Box )

3. City

4. State and Zip Code

5. home Phone Number

6. Cell phone number

7.Age, Sex .

I will give you her living address once

the rental agent find her a suitable house. Will be awaiting your

email soonest and we can proceed as you can understand that the date

is getting approach.

Thanks.

Thanks so much for responding back and i really appreciate it.So since

i can trust you on you taking care of my sister. So i believe you can

take care of things for her and i believe she is in good hands .So you

will receive the payment of $3500 and once you receive the payment

and get it cashed. You will be deducting your first week wages of

($500) that I already promised and the rest of the fund will be

transfer by Money Gram to the rental agent for the new apartment she

will be staying in your area.I will be sending the information of the

rental agent to you after you receive the payment,I am entrusting you

on this payment that will be coming to you and I will need your full

trust along this line because I must ensure of your honesty and full

satisfactory of your well being. So let me know if i can trust you

with this..

NOTE.....That the payment will be sent Via Ups 0r Fed-Ex courier

service which i will provide the tracking number afterward it is sent.

Yes you get it right .. So you will deduct $500 then send the

remaining to the Rental Agent via western union so you will deduct the

western union charges from the $3000

So keep me updated immediaely you received the payment because it has

been mailed out already

Regards

Dave the Math Tutor 11 months ago

For some time now I've been the Tutor Coordinator for the Math Club at California State University in Sacramento. The Math Club has long maintained a referral list of local math tutors, and 4 or 5 years back we started posting it online. Since doing that, every tutor on the list has received scam solicitations of the type you describe, multiple times each year, signed with a variety of different names. It's pretty annoying, but the good part about these scams is that they're easy to avoid by following one simple rule: DO NOT AGREE TO ANY ARRANGEMENT THAT REQUIRES YOU TO FORWARD A PAYMENT ON TO A THIRD PARTY. I've never yet seen a legitimate offer that requires such an arrangement, they're all scams. It's a shame that there are so many scam artists out there, but with a little caution we can avoid falling prey to them.

Ash 11 months ago

I almost fell for it. It was the same cookie cutter response for a tutoring job. I was so excited because it would be great pay, etc. and it seemed legit. Before I responded with my info, I searched his name and didn't find anything and as me and the guy went back and forth in emails, I noticed little weird things. He said he lived in the same area and wanted me to tutor his son at the local library but he didn't seem to know which library after I told him there were two in the area. I think he just searched it and found one while the other was fake. The bad part is that by the time I realized something was fishy, I had already sent him my resume as well as my name, address, home and cell number, sex, and the name of the company I work for, and position. I came across this site (and others) about these scams and so I quickly sent him one email saying I accidently gave him the wrong info since I recently moved and then a second email saying that something had come up and that I could no longer teach his son. It was weird though because he didn't ask to a wire transfer, just that I set up a Greendot pack. I don't know what he will do with my information but I feel dumb for almost fully buying into the scam. I hope he hasn't already filled out a check and is sending it. I definitely won't go further! His "name" is Anthony Walterman and email is: Waltermananthony@yahoo.com. Which by the way, Yahoo! "certified" his email so I don't know. I'm just worried as to what they can or will do with my info. I heard they could steal my identity this way. I'm only 20 and I don't need that!

Jared 12 months ago

I posted an ad to tutor people in photoshop, web design, flash, etc. First response I got was from johnrobertoc, or John Robertoc. "Can you tutor my daughter (Juliet) on your field ? i will like you to get back to me asap.....THANKS"

I requested basic information in the ad, such as a general location and what you're interested in learning. Since his message was so short and vague ("your field" sounds like it could be spammed to anyone in the lessons section), I googled his very fake email address. No results for "lissytom0111111@gmail.com" or "lissytom0111111". His display name brought me here where someone else had already been scammed by him. Upon further inspection of the full header of the email, his actual email address is BANLkTimoKPau7QYOKxvbsHnjSgDRN1WSUA@mail.gmail.com

which sounds totally legit, I know. Deleting email now. :)

been there done that 13 months ago

I was trying to sell a teak umbrella on craigs list for $100 and got a check from a very reputable comp out of NY. FOR $2850! I have a degree in investigative journalism, so i found out "that was not a valid check, the bank was valid, but you can investigate the routing number online very easy. it did not match. I also did not like the idea that the guy emailing me had a different name from the one that sent the check, so i looked into that too. AND , I called the company and warned them and found out it has happened a lot and bothered them of course and is not hurting their reputation. One thing for sure. Most of these issues are coming from Africa and Nigeria. That I know. Just look for broken language and send money back.... NO GOOD! I just responded for a tutoring position, and guess what... the NANNY money was to be sent from me. I saw where one guy caught on to it, told them he cashed the check, it's in the bank, and if you want the money.... come and get it, but it aint gonna be easy!!!

Jeremey 13 months ago

Have you come across anything regarding 'inheritance' scams? Just thought maybe with your investigative abilities something may have crossed your desk!

GooSe 13 months ago

I wanted to let you know that I almost fell for a similar one but it was for driving a 16 yr old boy around for an art tour. I looking for part time work as well, responded to a part time driver ad w/ my resume (oh no). It tooks 4 days for a response but it was by email and from a completely different email address. Being a network technician this got my attention because it was in my junk mail folder. He wanted me to drive his son around town for an art tour for 2 hours anyday out of Mon Wed Friday or weekends. He would send me a check for $2,508.31, $450 was for me and rest for bodyguards. Since I was already suspicous I google craigslist scam and found your article. I am not going to even respond to the email and see what happens. Unfortunately my cell phone number was posted on my resume, however I have not recieved a call.

Thank you for the interesting and informative read tonight. Good luck and be safe out there.

Jeremey 14 months ago

You are truly multi-talented!

Math Tutor 15 months ago

As a tutor myself, I see these scams all the time. A little CL twist on the classic Nigerian Scam. Those that don't know about this type of thing, are easily taken advantage of.

LML 15 months ago

My friend was SOOOOOO CLOSE to be scammed...she hasnt received the check yet...I listened what she said and searched "tutor fraud" online...here we go ...she is in the exact same situation your daughter was in...the email came from "malcommx00011@yahoo.com". Thanks so much for sharing and investigating~!

tonymac04 15 months ago

Thanks for this informative Hub. I am horrified by the number of scams on the internet which rob people of their hard-earned cash. I get almost daily emails about "business opportunity" and the like which I nhow routinely delete without even opening them.

Also noticed the duplicated text which the previous commenter has mentioned.

Thanks for an interesting and useful read.

Love and peace

Tony

hillrider 17 months ago

Having scrolled (I admit) through the majority of the above text I can say I have seen similar ads posted in our local Craigslist and wondered just who would be sending money to someone to pay another individual and trust that they would certainly do so ? I can't imagine anyone wanting a stranger in control of their finances for them. Don't hand my money to anyone but me. Because it just seems so blatantly ridiculous I scoffed that anyone would fall prey.

My reason for having taken the time to read your blog and skim the comments is simple morbid curiosity. I am unable to look away, anymore than I can during a horror flick when someone is being stalked from behind.

Fortunately at the cinema the bleeding is done on the screen. Unless the cost of the ticket is taken into account LOL ...

This hub has received replies so similar in scope that you can almost imagine there is a "BAD GUY" university one could attend and major in 'Dirt-bag Dealings 101'.

Preying upon another's desperation is the second easiest source of fodder for scam artists. The first being our own greed.

May I ask if you have considered starting a BULLETIN board and posting it anywhere? This could allow for readers of differing yet similar scams to post their stories and information. A collection such as you have amassed on just this one sites small little corner is extensive. And yet in 18 months it appears to have not decreased, the last reply being only ten days ago.

In my days I have learned one fact - Cockroaches hate the light. Be pro-active. Collecting replies has established that nothing or at the least NOT ENOUGH is being done to stop it. If you can't get the scammer's to stop there is another other way.

Take the approach of these same scam artists and blanket Craigslist with "job offers". In the employment ad place warnings and backlink your posts to this or other BULLETIN boards across the globe. I can't guarantee this will eliminate the scam or the efforts to create a new scam. It will however make Craigslist stand up and take notice when every single board has an ad for work labeled "HUNT DOWN SCAMMERS AND GET PAID !"

*( Be sure to provide a disclaimer of some sort to denote that payment is in gratitude. For most this will be enough.) I can almost guarantee you will get more response than you will be prepared to respond to.

From there your creative abilities can avail you whatever else you decide. I would make it known what has happened briefly and concisely. I would link it to sites that show similar scams and openly solicit more material for your quest. You WILL get attention, people hate to be scammed, the witch hunt would be on. Suggest that when people seek employment through their local Craigslist or other online source they look for possible connections to existing ploys and provide either a search feature or alphabetize entries for ease of locating/matching emails; known scams; etc.

I think what you have amassed shows there is a nedd for someone to do something. It may not be you but I have given you some ideas and perhaps you will consider creating another hub or someone will. And just maybe people will read and not simply look at the warning signs before they touch the wet paint ...

Thanks for the blog it got me to thinking about solutions. One usually exists if we are willing to make the effort.

spikellie 17 months ago

I received a response to a tutoring ad and it was similar to this but from a different name. It was from a MIKE BRISTOW. Email address was Mbristow122@gmail.com. I thought it sounded very strange so I googled tutoring for CraigsList and found this post. I thought I would share it so that others new this name also. I didn't respond to this email at all. Should it be reported somewhere else???

The email is as follows:

Hello, Thanks for replying back to my online job posting, requiring yourtutorial service for my daughter. I would like to make a tutoring arrangement between you and mydaughter from the month of December 2010 and June 2010, i would likeyou to tutor her within a period of 1 month, on a schedule basis of 1hr Daily, 3 times weekly, totaling 12times in a month and i am willingto pay $40/hr. I would like to use this medium to inform you that my daughter don'tlive in the US, she would be flying from the UK to the US, I want youto teach her during her 6 months stay in the US, if there is need toextend your services,an amendment would be made to your salary. she would be dropped off/picked up by her nanny during the hours ofteaching at any location you want the tutoring to take place in yourarea. You would be receiving a check drawn from a bank in the US, from mybusiness associate in the US, since i am from UK and right now am inCuba on a business trip, the payments won't be honored in any bankthere in UK or here in Cuba. This check would be made out for the costof the tutorial services you are rendering, and also for their flighttickets. Regarding this- I hope i can trust you with these payments, as thepayment would be made out in excess, so all you have to do is depositand cash the payment at your bank, deduct your tutorial service fee,which should be $40 per hour X 12 Times a Month = $480 i would includean additional $100 for run around fee and any text book you might beneeding- so $580 is what you deduct from the check you receive,whatever the remaining balance is after deduction of the $580 go aheadand deduct Money Gram or Western union transfer sending charges forsending out the remainder to the nanny who would be contacting youwith further arrangements and instructions regarding pickup/drop offof my daughter to where you would always teach her. So i hope i cantrust you that you will teach my daughter good academics and the moneyto be sent to the nanny. I look forward to read a detailed message from you containing thefollowing information, if you are OK with my arrangements. Full Name.Mailing Address including Zip Codes ( no PO Box pls ).Cell No ( If Available ).Home No.Gender.Best Time to Call. N.B My Daughter's name is Christine, she understand English, canwrite and read fluently i just need her writing skills upgraded. Thanks for your Understanding.Mike

RB 18 months ago

I too had dealings with a monica cynthia (monicacynthia_lagaaaaaa@yahoo.com). I was looking to sublease my apartment after I moved out of state and was in such a rush to find someone I overlooked many of the signs. She claimed to be a student and she would be attending john's hopkins for her masters (the closest school to the apartment i was looking to sublet) but that she was currently in Hawaii doing some sort of school related research and her phone had been turned off for the duration, which is when I should have been suspicious. She said her father would be paying for everything and that he sent a check but he got confused and thought I was some sort of car dealer and sent money to me for the car, which she wanted me to wire to the car dealer and that it was so urgent that I get the car dealer the money because they apparently thought she was lying about wanting to buy a car and needed the money quick. The funny thing is is that the original check was lost in the mail and 3 weeks later I finally got her to send another check, thinking if she could send a second check to me she could separate the two payments, but no. In addition she never mentioned again how urgent it was that I wire the money to the car dealers until the second check had been sent. Before I got the check I googled her name and e-mail address and found this, and a few other sites, warning against her, as well as the whole overpayment scams. I received the second check last night, for 4,000 (well over my 800 dollar rent/security deposit fee) which I will be destroying after I report it.

Arg 18 months ago

Thank you for this posting I just got a weird email I google it and I saw this article. We should always post this things. YOu save me

AlisonBrooklyn 18 months ago

My martial arts and fitness school received an email from the same address monicacynthia_lagaaaaaa@yahoo.com looking for classes for a boy (or maybe a girl) and offering to pay whatever we wanted to charge. I responded politely, but it "smelled bad" so I googled the email address and found your post. Thanks for verifying what I suspected. So these folks have now branched out into trying to scam fitness schools. Alison

gina 19 months ago

anyone else notice that the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, "signed" the check?!?!? google his signature, if you don't believe me. too funny...

Chrystalline 19 months ago

scamvictim, your bank should have a scan of the check itself, which they should be able to produce when law enforcement asks for it. Can't do anything about the envelope, I'm afraid.

Report it to the FBI:

http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams/e-scams

There's an image link on the right to file an electronic report; give them all the information you have. Realistically, I wouldn't expect to get your money back (I've never heard of scam victims getting their money back), but perhaps the FBI will be able to get the scammers (if they're even in US jurisdiction). They should get in touch with you to give you the next steps, if there's anything else for you to do.

About the money you now owe your bank, talk to the bank about the scam. Every bank has a fraud department, and they should be able to talk to you about what options are available to you as a victim. If nothing else, they should be able to work out some form of loan/payment schedule that will allow you to fix your credit with them. There might be some form of protection for you, but I can't know what your bank has.

It wouldn't hurt to contact the credit reporting agencies and ask them to temporarily flag your account. You only have to request it at one, and they will notify the other two: Equifax.com, Experian.com, and Transunion.com This will alert them to contact you if someone tries to open new accounts using your personal information.

A note about credit reports - by law, each agency is required to allow you one free report per year. If you space them out, you never need to pay for a report (ie, get one every four months by using the next company in the list so that by the time you come back around to the first company, it's been a whole year). Sites that hype your free credit reports are trying to hook you into paying them for some kind of monitoring service.

It is highly unlikely that you will be accosted at home; they only want your personal information for financial purposes (sending you the check, and possibly identity theft). They're usually either money laundering or simply stealing. Granted, that's not encouraging, but you shouldn't be afraid they'll show up at your door to take you away.

I fell for this back in 2006 when it was the "Be the check handler in the US for our business" variation. I asked for a copy of their catalog to prove they were the actual business they claimed to be, because it sounded too good to be true, and since they ignored that request, I cut them off before sending them any money. Since I hadn't lost anything, I never heard back from the FBI (other than the automated message from the complaint filing), but it was shortly after that when Craigslist started posting warnings about never responding to "jobs" that involve Western Union. Like everyone else, I felt pretty stupid to have sent as much information as I did, but I felt the need to offer what advice I can, based on what I've learned.

AD 20 months ago

Good thing I did a search on the internet before I gave this guy my mailing information. Looking through the postings, it appears "junior" is now 16 years old and his father, "Sir Usain Kanimodo", is arranging for him to learn Oracle (strange for a 16 year old to want to learn this!) from me so he will be busy during his one month stay here. If you want to add this name to your list, that's fine but I think these names are somehow generated from a list or some other automated way to keep you off track. Thanks for the heads up. I'd rather nip this in the bud before it becomes a huge problem for me and others.

AD

Ben Brown 20 months ago

Thank you! I was approached with this on Craigslist and like you thought it sounded weird. When I googled Dr Sylvester Moore the only result I got was your blog; just what I needed!

Thanks,

Ben

scamvictim:( 20 months ago

Hi storytellers....I was desperate for a tutoring job and unfortunately got scammed... I now owe $1250 to my bank.

How did you resolve the scam issue regarding your daughter? Could you kindly give me some advice? I'm just a grad student (like your daughter) and I do not have the funds to cover this! I still have all the correspondence between myself and the scammer.

I unfortunately don't have a copy of the check they mailed to me nor the envelope they mailed to me (I stupidly threw it out).

I also almost got caught up in another tutoring scam, but they have a picture of me (not a very good one since it isn't too representative of me...) and my current address and my full name. How could this harm me? I haven't given them any other pertinent information.

Any advice you can give would be terrific. Please! :) I'm really scared about even going outside for fear of getting kidnapped or something (too many movies).

Christina T. 20 months ago

I've been receiving emails from the same email that Natalie mentioned: mickysilver01@aol.com Only this time he/she was offering me "their house" to stay in free of rent while I handle some of their client's accounts. He/she also kept requesting my contact info. So far they only have my name and phone number. I refused to enclose my residential address because I wanted to do much more "research" on this person and their "too good to be true offer." I am relieved now that I typed in their email address and came across Natalie's story relating to the same scam artist I was just dealing with. So sad and it makes me angry, but it was a lesson learned!

damien 20 months ago

scammer: Kate

Email: calvin.curtis10@yahoo.com

Here is his response:

Thanks for replying back to our online job posting, requiring your tutor service for my Daughter, I would like to make a tutoring arrangement between you and my Daughter for the month of Sep 25 2010, I would like you to tutor her within a period of 4 weeks, on a schedule basis of 1hr Daily, 4 times weekly.We are paying you the first week teaching payment before she will be coming so that you can ensure you are hired for this work and we pay the weekly wages of $500. I would like to use these medium to inform you that my Daughter don't live in the US, she would be flying from Sweden to the US, I want you to teach her English during this period of staying in the US, if there is need to extend your services, an amendment would be made to your salary. The Local Library would be your meeting place with her, she would be dropped off/picked up by her

nanny during the hours of teaching.

Payment Terms & Condition:

You would be receiving a Certified check that will be purchased from any bank in US from my business associates in the US, since i am from Sweden and Sweden payments wont be honored in a bank in the US, These check would be made out for the cost of the tutorial services you are rendering, and also for the living expense, nanny fees of my

Daughter. Regarding this. I hope i can trust you with these payments, as the payment would be made out in excess, so all you have to do is cash the payment, deduct your part for the services, and send the remainder to the Nanny who would be contacting you with futher arrangements and instructions regarding pickup/drop off of my Daughter to the library where you would always teach her. So hope i can trust you that you will teach my Daughter good academics and some moral respects so that they can be good to their self in the future, i hope i

can count on you for the tutorial and the money to be sent to the Nanny.

I look forward to read a detailed message from you containing the following information, if you are OK with my arrangements, terms and

condition.

FULL NAME:

MAILING ADDRESS (no P.O.Box please):

CITY:

STATE:

ZIP CODE:

CELL PHONE:

HOME PHONE:

GENDER:

BEST TIME TO CALL:

PRESENT JOB STATUS/POSITION:

EMAIL:

Thanks for your Understanding.

Kate

Sunflower 20 months ago

Last week I received emails from a Monica Cynthia about tutoring her son. Similar story. She tells me her son, David, is coming to my area for vacation while she is away on business trip in the UK. She wants him to be tutored for one month. Unaware of these scames, I agreed and gave her my information, after that she mentioned about the nanny who'd be coming with her son and wanted me to wire the extra money to the nanny from a check she'd be sending me. I started to feel very uncomfortable. A $2950 check came and I destroyed it. She used two emails:

monicacynthia_lagaaaaaa@yahoo.com

and

jbisuw37@gmail.com

Natalie 20 months ago

i forgot to mention henry cone as well, now its just getting hard to determine who is real and who is not

Natalie 20 months ago

I was hit by a scammer for a piano lessons teacher, it just seemed weird that i got two messages that were word for word the same but two different names

Hi,

Let me know if you are available to tutor my Son great

things and how much it will cost for a minimum time of 3hrs per week.

then i got this one which just sounded fishy from the start

Hi,

Good day,How are you today?My name is Micky Silver,I want to know if you will be available for my service....

Let me know if you are available to tutor my Son on any of this list.. piano lesson,jazz lesson or maths or writting of english(essay) or guitar lesson and how much it will cost for per week.

I wait patiently for your respond.

i mean why would you mention any other subjects if i wrote only piano tutor???

the names are -MICKY SILVER email name-mickysilver01@aol.com, Dr. sharon her email was under the name Loveth Hallmark which seemed weird and the last guy is Dr. Michael which the email name under micsimmon68@aol.com

I got the whole nanny situation and holidays oh and the whole resume deal..i looked up scammers bcuz i saw two of the same messages and that kinda freaked me out so goodluck to everyone don't get caught in a scam

goodstewardfinancial 21 months ago

Here are some names I was approached with:

Dr. Sylvester Moore

Pattie Robbert

Dr James Robbert

This is why I only take cash and PayPal for my tutoring services, although I have yet to have any legitimate student pay with PayPal.

pg 21 months ago

I am a piano teacher. At least 3 times a year I get a similar e-mail stating a parent want to send a child for 3 months lessons, and pay in advance. Without knowledge of this person and without a referral, it is obvious a scam. Also, as stated before, illiterate writing is a red flag. Our Music Teachers' Association has also put out a warning about this type of Scam. After someone cashes a check, and then refunds part of the money, the bank finds out the check is not good and the teacher is responsible for the money. I don't think Craigslist is any more a vulnerable source for scam artists than anywhere one can locate you on the internet. Just be careful out there!

Annoyed 21 months ago

Thanks for the info, please add Michael Gruny.

ladybug  21 months ago

OMG!!! I totally got tricked too! I feel so stupid! I found the tutor ad on Craigslist last night, emailed the ad, and received a response this morning and have been emailing each other back and forth. His name is Roger and his email address is: roger9090n@juno.com,

roger9090n@gmail.com.

I gave him my address and everything! When my bf got home, I told him about my new tutoring gig and his face dropped and started yelling at me! He said it was a fraud and that I should have not given my home address out.

SHOULD I BE WORRIED that I gave my address out?

After feeling stupid that I got scammed, I immediately googled "tutoring scams" and found this lovely website. And after reading all these stories, I wanted to kick myself even more!!! So I emailed "Roger" and told him something came up and that I was not able to tutor his son anymore.

What do I do now? Should I be scared? What if I receive a check like some people have? What's the next step?

hgshamp 21 months ago

All terribly disgusting....

Add "David Coleman" of England to that list...

Hello,

Thanks for your interest in the tutor job. My name is David Coleman. Me and my family are relocating from England to the US this month, my 12 yrs old Daughter (Christine), my only family would be coming with me to continue her studies in the state, I would like you to help her in the follows subjects; Mathematics, English (writing and essay), Science and History. She is a 5th grader, very brilliant, sharp and smart little girl. You are expected to tutor her 1hr per day, and 3 times per week, that is you are having to work with her for 3hrs total a week, the tutoring can take place in our house, your house or any nearest library (Morning or Afternoon) As we are moving to your locality but we have not reached final agreement with the landlord of the house so i would let you know on our address as time goes. My Daughter would be the first to be in the state because I have to clear all my business transactions and will join her later in this August. I got a good and responsible nanny that will take proper care of her and also to always drive her down to the location of the lesson.

So please Kindly get back to me with the following:

1. Your charges per hour.

2. Total charges for first month that she will be taught one hour per day-3 times a week.

3. Full Name:

Address: (Not P.O. Box)

City, State & Zip code:

Cell phone number:

Home phone number:

4. Alternate e-Mail:

5. Age:

Will be waiting to read your mail soon.

Very Respectful

David Coleman

T: +44 703 594 5167

my email: dcoleman6070@live.com

Av 21 months ago

I received the same job opportunity and accepted the offer. The person told me that he'll be mailing the check and that I can take my rates off of the check and give the rest to the nanny who will be coming with his son to United States. Just today, I received a check for $3900 and the instructions ask me to contact the sender right away. I realized that this was a scam, but was waiting for some kind of proof. I plan on sending the check and the details that I received with the check to the concerned authorities and if this person is found, he'll be charged with fraud and prosecuted by IRS.

katiem2 22 months ago

Good work and thanks for the heads up, my daughter is just 14 but she too tutors and it's good to know about such things down the road! Peace :)

Sadie 22 months ago

Please add John Robertoc to the list. Unfortunately, the check has already been sent to me. Once I saw that he was sending a large check and wanted me to western union the difference, I knew it was a scam. I will either rip it up or take it to the local FBI field office, though after reading others stories, I'm not sure that they will be able to do anything. Plus, I am too embarrassed to tell them that I was fooled like this. This is the first time I have posted on Craig's list, and I was naive about it. Like some of the others here, I am worried that he knows where I live. But, chances are he/she doesn't even live in the US and is only interested in money scams, not murders. I'm just so embarrrased that this happened to me.

Nate 22 months ago

this is a very similar scam and thought you would find it helpful...things dont add up

by 2 people

Michael Bright

and pete stewert

Hello Nathan.. You will need to kindly go ahead and have the cashed

deposited.. and check back with the bank by Friday.. The check will be

cleared for you and kindly make sure you follow my instruction and get

back to me asap..

Hello,

Thanks for the prompt response and i will love to make an instant

purchase. My Office will be mailing (overnight) a certified check

from my account to cover the cost with an extra $50 for the best

offer, while you hold on my behalf. Once you have this, my mover will

come for the pick up at your place. I will be needing the following

information to issue out the payment . . .

1.Name to be on the check

2.Home address

3.Telephone

4.zip Code

Please note that the payment will be overnight by my Office to your

address and its bound to be delivered within 2 days. I have taken a

close look at the advert and am completely satisfied, i really need

this and would appreciates that you help save this till the payment

arrives. Furthermore do remove the posting as am definitely buying it

from you and it would be sad for me to have the payment in the mail

only to be alerted it as been sold when the check does arrives. Am A

Respectful Buyer On CL,

Regards.

Hello,

How are you doing? Am very sorry for the late response, I was out of state on a business trip and i don't have access to mail for some time and the UPS also delay the Payment But i was told everything was resolved now.. Am really glad getting back to you today, I want you to understand that the deal is on as the Account department has posted the payment already and which will be deliver to you thru ups courier this morning with the UPS Tracking Numbers..(1Z91W4844192534150),but there was a slight error i guess we can handle with care,instead of the actual amount $160 for the ((Natural Gas Space Heater) it was misinterpreted that my secretary said the check was made out for $1945,45

The Account department claimed that i requested that a check of $1945,45to be sent to you but i know quite well i made a request for just $160 for the ((Natural Gas Space Heater)It wasa terrible mistake and it has been sent out to your address and it would be deliver to you this morning before i was alerted about this,since you receive the check please cash it at once and deduct the money for your item plus extra $30 which is a gift for you for keeping the item for me. The excess fund should please be sent to my Shipping agent via Money Gram or western union,this fund will be use in off setting the cost of the shipment he as undertaken for me recently. He will be needing a part of that to come over to your place for the pick up.Please let me know at once if i can trust you to have the excess funds sent to my Mover because i have lots of goods to be picked up for me aside my transaction with you.I will be expecting your email with a confirmation on this issue at once,so as soon as you deduct your money and the extra $50 for your running around and get the rest funds sent back to my shipper You should get the balance money sent to the shipping agent by Money Gram or western union money transfer so that they can come for the pickup as planned by tonight or tomorrow morning.

I will be waiting for your swift response,and pls note that all the transfer charges should be deducted from the total amount of money you are to wire and not from your personal purse.

Bellow is the shipper information..

Receiver's Name..Sree N Koneru

Address....197 leroy St,

City ......Binghamton

State......Ny

Zip Code.... 13905

And make sure you get back to me with the western union details as soon as you get the money send today. such as ...

sender's name

Amount sent after western union charges

MTCN number

That are the information the shipper ask me to send to the to confirm the payment via western union

October Daniels 22 months ago

Thanks for your quick response! I'm going to my bank tomorrow and reporting this person's information (and apparently, that of their accomplice[s]) to whatever authorities they think fit. It seems absolutely to be the same man you have all described, this time using the name "Engr. Andrew Tall."

Fraudulent or not, something about tearing up a $980.00 money order in my name breaks my heart.

Perhaps I'll reply and tell the man that I am going ahead and cashing it, being sure to add that I really needed it to afford my ailing daughter's medication--without which, she cannot survive.

...although, I don't actually have one. :-)

October Daniels 22 months ago

The exact same man tried to scam me. Want me to post his e-mails? They're nearly copy-and-paste similar.

At the beginning of this summer, I made arrangements with a man who claimed to be moving from England to my location. I was to tutor his son, who was supposed to arrive here in late July. The man claimed he did not have living arrangements finalized yet, but would let me know as soon as he did. He only told me that the son would be living with a trustworthy nanny, and that he would mail me a check covering an undisclosed period of tutoring hours. No details were given: not how long I was to tutor his son, on what dates I would be doing so, or where they would be living. He only said he'd be mailing a check.

Well, weeks later, suddenly this son is a lovable 14-year old daughter named Christi, and that the check is in the mail. I asked for further details, as his e-mails continued to be nearly incomprehensible, and received none.

Today, I received an international money order for $980.00, signed by an illegible hand clearly not belonging to the name I was in contact with, with no attached information. I e-mailed the man I had corresponded with, asking if the money order was from him. He responded enthusiastically, claiming to have e-mailed me last week (he had not) with details that I was to cash the money order IMMEDIATELY (with emphasis on the immediately) and forward all but $200 of it to the nanny, who, for some reason, is in Colorado, and not Maine, where I reside. This time, he thanked me for agreeing to tutor his son, Armstrong, who needed the money today for his medication and plane tickets.

What should I do with the money order? Can he possibly abuse my address and information?

H P Roychoudhury 22 months ago

It is a great lesson, how scams originate and how to tackle it.

TooObvious 22 months ago

hey! thanks for posting this! I already knew it was a scam, but i wanted to see if anyone had said anything about it. About your daughter, how'd she lose $600??

Anyways, add Michael Freeman to your list. He emailed me saying:

Good day to you,i am in need of a tutor for my 7th grader nephew,in

following subjects...

ENGLISH,SOCIAL STUDIES,MATHEMATICS,SCIENCE,ART,COMPUTERS,FAMILY AND

CONSUMER SCIENCE,YOUTH AND THE FAMILY,GUIDANCE/CAREER

EXPLORATION,HEALTH,MUSIC,PHYSICAL EDUCATION,TECHNOLOGY

EDUCATION................

Please get me posted with 2 subjects you could tutor,price per hour

and area of residence

_________________________________

I laughed and decided to play along. I told him to put down a phone number where i can reach him, and that i can tutor in technology and guidance (the two weirdest ones) he then responded with:

Hello ,

Thank you for the email,i want my nephew for the English and Maths

tutorial as he seems to be having difficulties in those areas of his

academics, thanks for responding to the the offer,I have made contacts

with him concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which he told me

is okay by him and i want you to know that i am going to pay for 1

month, $40.00/hr (which i have in mind) And i am planning that you

will be teaching him 3 times a week,which is 1hr per day,so get back

to me with the total fee for the subjects and when you will be

available to teach him during the week.

We don't live in the states,we live in Philipines,so my nephew will

be coming to the United States for last week of this month through to

next month and i want him to study more.he is going to be staying in a

rented apartment with a nanny he is familiar with since he was a child

when we still live in Europe.i am also going to be coming to the US,

but he is going to come ahead of me because i want to go on a

business trip to Spain soon,i don't want him to be idle while i am

away,so he would be doing fine with is Guardian/nanny before my

arrival.

I want you to know that i will be sending you the payment inform of

money orders/check for the tutorial while i will also want you to

please help me pay the Nanny that will take care of him while he is

there for the lesson,i would have sent it separately to you and the

nanny but because she is not from the USA, she isnt familiar with the

banking system there. so as soon as you get the money orders/check

cashed you will deduct cost of tutoring and Please send the remaining

balance to my nanny that will be taking care of the kid.

The information of the nanny will be giving to you later. Regarding

this, kindly send your full information to receive the payment so it

can be made out on-time.After which we would both agree on the

schedule for the Tutoring and all the text book he would be needing.

So hope i can trust you that you will tutor my nephew good academics

so that he can be good for himself in the future,i hope i can count on

you for the tutorial and the money to be sent to the Guardian.

Thanks and waiting to read from you. kindly get back to me with the

necessary details needed such as to issue out the payment and sending

it to you.

NAME:

ADDRESS:

CITY:

ZIP CODE:

CONTACT PHONE NUMBER:(no postal address pls)

DIRECT PHONE NUMBER.

Will be waiting to read your mail soon.

Regards,

Mike

_________________________________

I was like.. oh my goodness. What. An. Idiot. I mean seriously, if you're gonna scam someone... at least have the BRAINS to actually RESPOND TO THEM. Not to just copy and paste some stupid message. After i read that, i decided i was done with him and cussed him out saying that i lived on "123 You wish street". I wonder if he'd send a check there... hmmm..

ldaisycow 23 months ago

I almost fell for the same scam, but the contact was forwarded to me from my AVON rep.account. This is why I thought it was legit. I just got the check this morning with very similar e-mails. I caught on to it as soon as I saw the amount of the check, $1,500.00 for a $300.00 order. All different names except for the person who was the contact. But Peter Gandlova on the check and also Michelle Alfaw. I still have the check and am debating going to the authorities after googling all these names and th bank which is now out of business.

Bummed 23 months ago

I also had an encounter with Mrs. Deborah DeYang. I received the check, deposited it, and sent the money transfer today. I then got a terrible feeling in my stomach, and googled her name. Thanks to your blog, I knew I was fooled! I was able to cancel the money transfer, and I contacted my bank in time for there to be no financial damage to me. I am returning the cash (the amount was for $2750) and filing a report with the bank tomorrow morning, and luckily, I have an "in" with my local police department, who specializes in cyber crimes =). I will keep you all posted of what happens!

David 23 months ago

Thank you for the post. I also received a check from a John Scott, again with very broken English. The check looked very similar to yours except it was from Netkrom Technologies. I found it funny that the check came from Albuquerque New Mexico(stamped on envelope) and they wanted me to transfer the money to the nanny in New Mexico. The family was supposed to be located in Denmark.

Alexi 23 months ago

Thank YOU, Storytellersrus

mubragus 23 months ago

Sorry--typo there, first time scammers and very very BAD at it. Lol. I hope no one is falling for their act.

Mubragus 23 months ago

Etude, that all is on my check as well. The typing in the right hand corner also has a grammatical error/typo, where there's a period rather than a comma right in the middle of a sentence. Maybe these were first time scammers and very very mad at it. I also had those three different names. I googled all of them to see if they were real people being identity-frauded, but came up with very little. Peter Gandlova didn't produce any results on google, so i assume that's made up. I did come up with a Michelle Alfaro, and an April Carter who lived in the area where the envelop was mailed from--but I figured that was a coincidence with the common name. All the other details you've listed match my own.

Anyways, I guess I'm ready to put this to bed. I went into major detective mode.

etude 23 months ago

OH! And I'm keeping the USPS envelope it came it because the sender has another name: April Carter who apparently lives in Georgia. Nonsense.

etude 23 months ago

Mubragus, I just got my check yesterday. It is absolutely ludicrous how many errors there are. The check is issues from Security National Bank. The name on the check (Remitter) is someone by the name of Peter Gandlova, and then the signature is someone else, Michelle Alfaw (?? can't read it clearly ??). Ridiculous. I'm going to take this down to the police as well, with print-outs of my e-mail exchanges with "Mrs. Deborah DeYang". Ugh.

Mubragus 23 months ago

Has anyone else received a check from Deyang? I just got mine... I'd love to compare notes/sloppiness. There are typos on mine, and it's also written for 300 more than she said she'd write it for in the email. Also, the check contains no address for a bank, although the routing number exists and is traceable to the bank it purports to be from. Anyways, I guess i'll call the police tomorrow and hand it over to them. This just makes me feel unclean, holding a counterfeit check.

Alexi 23 months ago

Great. I also got the Deborah Deyang emails. Thanks for the heads up. Sheesh. Evil people.

Mubragus 23 months ago

Yes! And I wonder who is really behind this. I mean, I personally excused her broken English because I thought she was a Chinese woman. When I write in foreign/non native languages, I'm sure I sound something like that too... overly polite but assertive, with some weird typos and grammatical errors. But now, I'm wondering if the person behind the scam just can't speak English. I've been searching this a little further, and some of the scams are people from the UK, etc--and if I got a broken English email from the UK, I'd certainly be very suspicious. I hope no one actually falls for this.

Stortellersrus: supposedly, the check is being delivered today. Do I have a duty to contact the name it's been issued from and tell them they're part of an identity fraud scam?

Kal 23 months ago

I'm an English tutor already and almost fell for this. As soon as I heard I'd have to cash the check and send money to someone, I had to laugh! I came close to falling for this scam, though, and wish I'd googled it a bit sooner. I'm glad you added the names Deyang and Mensch to the list. Thanks!

mubragus 23 months ago

Sorry, one last detail. What really tipped me off is that the so called nanny, Albert Mensch, lives in PA. We're on the west coast. I don't want to disclose too much, but how does the nanny who'd be taking care of him here need a wire transfer to PA. And a name like Albert MENSCH. It sounds like Officer Friendly.

Mubragus 23 months ago

Hi, just posted. Thanks for the warning. I thought I should do my civic duty and send a copy of the fishy email Mrs. Deyang has sent me. That way, if anyone googles key words of it, it'll come up here. I think (I'm guessing) the scam is very similar to yours. Do we contact the police or the FBI?

I began to feel unsettled about all of this when she couldn't get me in contact/tell me details about her son. Anyways, here is the copy of her last email--the one that made me feel really queezy and prompted me to do a google search... and led me to your page. What do I do now? I gave her my address.

How are you today?.I just got in contact with my office client in the state , I was informed that the payment will be delivered to you this morning at 12noon your time via USPS mail delivery. Am sorry for my late response to your last email,we are making other arrangement needed for Mike to leave soon.

I got a confirmation that the payment will be deliver to your house today at noon via usps mail delivery .Kindly go ahead and deposit the check in your bank for verification so that you can have the check cashed. The financial Dpt of the company i work for issued all my payment on one check, they said that is a protocol they have to follow, that they can't issue out two check payment, so you will be getting a check payment of $2,450 instead of a check payment of $650.The payment is for Mike tutor and also part for the nanny.

A sorry about all this and i want you to help me out here, you're going to deduct your own payment for your service which is $600 plus $50 for textbook, then another the $50 for the stress of cashing the check, making a total of $700 that goes to you out of the fund.

You're going to send the rest of the money to my son's nanny Mr. Albert through WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER because he need to get the money on time, this are already out of schedules as i planned with him, he is going to take care of my son on his stay in the state and will bring Mike to the tutorial location all the time ...Below you'll find the information you're going to send the balance of the fund to via western union money transfer .

Receiver's Name : ALBERT MENSCH

Address : 520 W MAIN ST

BLOOMSBURG

PA 17815

Note : You will have to pay the western union transfer charges out from the Nanny fund, then you get back to me with the money transfer code : MTCN # (10 digit on the receipt).The western union transfer details you will send to me after you transfer rest of the fund to Nanny are:

SENDERS NAME AND ADDRESS

EXACT AMOUNT SENT

MTCN NUMBER { 10 DGITS}

Below is the payment summary:

Tutor Fees ----- $600

Textbook ------ $50

Compensation---- $50

Nanny's fund---- You are to send the rest money to nanny via western union {minus western union transfer details you will be requested to pay at western union place}.

Kindly e-mail me the transfer info as soon as you send the money to him so that i can forward it to him .He can make all the necessary arrangement before my son's arrive to the state.

Kindly e-mail your schedule also so that I'll know when you're going to start the tutorial and I'll be able to inform the nanny about the time he'll need to bring Mike to the tutorial location .

Thank you once again for your kind gesture and co-operation...I look forward to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Regards.

Deborah DeYang.

N:B I've also included Mike picture.

Mubragus 23 months ago

I got the Mrs. Deborah Deyang email as well. Word for word, verbatim. Now they're trying to get me to send almost two thousand dollars to the nanny. Yeah.

Valerie 23 months ago

I also just got tricked by the Deborah DeYang scam. I also have already sent her my home address - so now I will know to ignore anything I receive from her. Thanks everyone for posting about this so that I know not to go any farther into this.

tricked 23 months ago

I got that exact email last night from Deborah Deyang. I thought it was a little fishy. I'm so glad I googled "her" name.

J 23 months ago

Here's a new name for you : Deborah Deyang

I feel so stupid for having fallen for this. Please assure me that nothing bad will come from having sent them my home address...besides a bad check. I keep having awful visions of people knocking on my door in the middle of the night.....

"Hello,

Thanks for responding to my ADS on Craigslist.org. Am Deborah DeYang,Widow and a director to my late husband company here in Malaysia.My son name is Mike, his 16 years of age , My son has a mixed culture because am a Chinese woman and his Dad (late ) was American, Mike want to learn how to speak good English , he can speak English a little due to the once his Dad thought him when he was a life .

Mike is my world and the only child i have for now , since he as made up his mind to learn more on how to speak good English , have also made up my mind that i will give him all that he need to get the right English tutorial he may need .

I need a very good and sound English teacher for Mike , he will be coming for vacation in US & close to your location. I want him to be busy with his English tutorial while having fun also.I will like to know if you will be able to take him on and teach him how to speak and write a very good English grammar. If this is possible,am offering you $50 per hour , You will be teaching him for 3hour in a day ,twice in a week and for 2 weeks.

I already make an arrangement with a nanny for him , Mike will be staying with the nanny when he get to he state , i can also make a transportation arrangement with a driver that will be dropping him off at the location to the tutorial or any library in your neighborhood. I will like to know the 2 days you will given him tutorial , it all depend on your own schedules and where you will like to be using for he tutorial , maybe a library , your home or any other place , let me know .

As stated earlier,am offering you $50 per hour & you'll be teaching him for 3 hour twice in a week,for 2 weeks which makes the total of your money to be $600 and I'll include additional $50 in case you may need to buy any textbook for the tutorial.

His will be new to this,so you just have to be patient with him.I've informed him about this & he's happy to start as soon as he get to the state, Please understand that am going to pay you for 2 weeks which is $600 plus $50 for textbook and my office client in the state will be sending you the paycheck .

kindly get back to me with your full information so that the paycheck can be issue out on your name as soon as possible.

*Your Full Name _____

*Your Residential Address (NOT P.O BOX )___

*City __________

*State _________

*Zip code _______

*Your Phone Number ___

*Your Picture can also help , i will have to show it to Mike

* Age _____

I'll have Mike picture e-mail to you for recognition as soon as i hear back from you.

Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation & understanding.I'll be looking forward to hear back from you as soon as possible.

Regards

Mrs Deborah DeYang.

N:B Mike speaks English but i want him to improve & Please let me know , the days you can fix him in , he will be getting to US on June 21st Monday ,for the subject,i want you to focus on English composition and Grammar tutorial .

not sure? 2 years ago

I am just wondering, I've been contacted many times like this before, for many kinds of jobs--babysitting, cleaning, tutoring, etc. They would be asking for my contact information, addresses and what not, so they can send me checks in advance to see how serious they are, etc.

But what I've read on craigslist is that these are fake checks and they make you cash them and give them the money but when it fails to clear, you are held responsible for it. Some even end up in jail!

Maybe I shouldn't have posted an ad on craigslist looking for some extra jobs (need money for college). 'Cause now many people are contacting me and I'm not sure which ones are real and which ones aren't.. Can you help me with it? How can I tell if the offers are real?

Thanks! Have a wonderful day!

Teresa C 2 years ago

In October 2009 I purchased a legitimate tutoring franchise named Tutor Doctor. What is sad, is last week I received the same exact email initiated from the UK.

Your blog assisted me in not pursuing this client further so I want to 'Thank You'.

Also, I also want to ensure the readers of this blog that Tutor Doctor is a legitimate tutoring firm in the USA, Canada and England. We just do not hyphenate our name. You are more than welcome to visit my NJ website at www.newjerseytutordoctor.com or the corporate website at www.tutordoctor.com

Betsy 2 years ago

Please add Madden Parker to your list of names. I got a word-for-word email like your daughter's just today for computer training. Spoke of the 14 year old boy on vacation. Thanks for posting this.

Almostscammed 2 years ago

I forgot to mention in my previous comment. The primary reason that the second set me off was that it was sent from a different email from the first. The first email was sent from:

loganlee00111@yahoo.com

The second email, however, was sent from:

loganlee111@yahoo.com

My listing for tutoring was on a webpage for university students. These scamming criminals are low enough to target college students and I hope they get caught soon.

Almostscammed 2 years ago

Hello Tutor,

Are you available to tutor my daughter in French get back to to me with your details..

Logan Lee

That was the first email I received. It sounds normal except I didn't list French as a subject I could tutor in. So I emailed "Logan Lee" back and told him I couldn't tutor his daughter. Then I received the following email:

Hello [Name]

Good day,thanks for the mail and information provided.I need a math tutor for my daughter ,i really want my daughter to be taught by you.Sandra is 15yrs old and easily catch up.Although,i understand you are in the USA but I've arranged with a caregiver in USA that my child is coming to stay with her for his period of tutoring and she had agreed with me. I want you to get back to me with following details:

1)your present residence address and tel #

2)total cost of tutoring for 2 months (1 hour per day 3 days /week)

3)your year of teaching experience

Payment via cashier's check,looking

forward to hearing from you soonest.

Regards to you and your family

God Bless

Logan Lee.

I got this unsettling feeling when I read this email and decided to look up tutoring scams. I just received this email two days ago and I felt so stupid emailing him with my email address. In fact, this second email was in the exact same format as the email on this other webpage:

http://www.thetutorblog.com/2009/11/tutors-look-ou

Watch out everyone, I can't believe this scamming scheme had been going on for so long...

John H 2 years ago

Hon. romario jenodo

This guy tried to scam me if you getan email from his

send it to interpol

Tutor-Guy 2 years ago

Yes, Nigerian Scams at Craigslist are annoying and dangerous. Working for www.tutorz.com I've met many people who fall pray to these scams on Craigslist. On our site we screen all tutoring requests and forward only those which are safe and genuine.

rocknrodeogirl 2 years ago

These scams are so annoying. They have so many out there too, it's hard to trust anything on CL. I've seen them with jobs, cars, and when I'm selling horses. A.N.N.O.Y.I.N.G. But, a good lesson for your daughter, right?

Goobs82 2 years ago

So, i just found this scam out, and i currently have the check in my possession with my name on it. I most definitely will not do what Jerse Smith wants me to do, but what do i do now? Do i call the police? This guy has my information including my telephone number and address? Should i be really scared?

ndahse 2 years ago

Craig's List is not the only place one might pick up a scam of this nature. I was looking for a JV opportunity for a work from home opportunity and posted my information on a site that promised to connect me to angel investors and joint venture opportunities.

Its a a good opportunity and I guess scammers are willing to take on anybody. I got a $68,000 cashier's check in the mail. There was nothing to explain what they wanted for the money, just a note that gave contact information and advised me not to try to cash the check until it was 'activated'. i called right away. (I shudder to think that somewhere these jerks have my information).

I was to wait until they 'activated' the check, deposit it or cash it and send the bulk of the money to an address they would provide when I had the cash in hand.

I took it to the bank where cooler heads prevailed and was told that they hold the proceeds from all suspicious checks until the funds are received from the bank the check is drawn on. It took two weeks and cost me $85 dollars to find that the check had been stolen from a reputable company and the funds were not only not coming to me but the case was referred to the FBI. I got a form to fill out and many thanks for being honest but, nobody actually did anything.

If you get an email from Nigeria, just toss it. Your relatives did not leave you millions of dollars to 'keep out of the hands of the current regime'. It is a scam.

Thank you for telling someone about the Craig's List scams ... they recommend that you work for people you know and try to stay local to avoid scams.

As to Chauffeur Service I think they might be asking if its a good idea to use the same set of numbers for a webboard and a bank account. If I'm right, the answer is no it is not safe.

Chauffeur Service 2 years ago

If we use the password for the bank account as same as general webboard. That should be very dangerous.

Chauffeur Service 2 years ago

To prevent this, we have to consider using the same password for websites that should not be the same

David 2 years ago

So glad I searched for this guy's name and found this page... does this email look familiar to anyone?

Thanks for replying to me Ad and so sorry for not getting back to you

so sooner.Well My name is Hon. Romario Jenodo , Am from united

state

but currently based in Jamaica with my wife and children,my son will

be coming for an holiday in U.S,and i want him to be busy throughout..

Therefore, i just want to know may be he can always come to you and

teach him great things on every morning , afternoon or evening on

bass lesson . If this is possible,i will want you to back to me

with the cost of your teaching for a month which can start as soon as

he get to the state..he should be in the state very soon and will

be coming to your house or meet at your nearest library for 1 hour

each morning or afternoon or evening, I have someone that will

always drive him down to your house.. My son name is junior ,he is

14 years old. I will want you to calculate 1 hour per day for

Monday, Wednesday,Friday for the whole 1 MONTH,and get back to me so

that we can arrange on payment.Kindly get back to me with......

TOTAL CHARGES FOR 1 MONTH THAT HE WILL BE TAUGHT 3 TIMES PER

WEEK.. Thanks and waiting to read from you soon.

Hon. Jenodo................

Jacqui_S 2 years ago

I wish I had found this 2 weeks ago. I got scammed over high end antique furniture, not only on Craigslist but also on Kijiji. I, unfortunately didn't have enough sense to figure it out until it was too late. My question is this...when you present these fraudulant checks to your bank and request that they call the issuing bank to verify funds and validity and they do. Then the checks are returned as fraudulant. You then call the issuing bank and the people that the accounts belong to and they are fully aware that there are MULTIPLE checks in amounts totalling TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars in fraud circulating on their accounts. Why didn't they mention this information during the first phone call from my bank? Why are the accounts still open? Why won't the FBI assist? WHY DO I HAVE TO TAKE A LOAN, although offered by my bank at zero interest, to make these checks good? Are the large banks, such as JP Morgan Chase in NY in on these frauds??? Where is my justice to be found? I can guarantee this won't happen to me again, but I am paying dearly for my ignorance and stupidity.

Elizabeth 2 years ago

If you click the little box with the arrow next to my name, it will take you to my blog. :)

http://parisperspective.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-ex

Elizabeth 2 years ago

More about my story

Elizabeth 2 years ago

Thank you so much for creating this hub! I too have received e-mails from Charles Mai (simmchm@gmail.com) and Hon. Romario Jenodo (hon.jenodo4@googlemail.com). I've actually received a fake check from Charles Mai which I handed over to the fraud department at my bank, so I can guarantee that he is a scammer. Thanks to this hub, I looked into the signature on the check and I believe it's a case of identity theft. I found the woman's e-mail address, so I'll let you know if I get a response from her. Also, I looked into the address that I was supposed to wire money to. It's a farm, and I e-mailed the owner who seems legit. Maybe someone is working with him who is assisting Charles Mai? I don't know, but this hub inspired me to try to find out!

Cris 2 years ago

I'm so glad I read this! I just received this e-mail in response to an ad I placed on Craigslist for tutoring from a "Charles Mai" simmchm@gmail.com that I felt just didn't look right:

Hello,

I would like to know if you can take my daughter on English.Am

are looking for a teacher (college student preferred but not

necessary) who can tutor and monitor my daughter Barbra.

I won't be responding!

Another tutor scam I received on craigslist 2 years ago

I received 3 emails from this person in response to my tutoring service post on craigslist. It's a scam. Be careful!!!

Email 1: hello,please kindly get back to me if u are still available to tutor

my son on this lesson...

Take care....

Email 2: Thanks for replying to me Ad and so sorry for not getting back to you

so sooner.Well My name is Hon. Romario Jenodo , Am from united state

but currently based in Jamaica with my wife and children,my son will

be coming for an holiday in U.S,and i want him to be busy throughout..

Therefore, i just want to know may be he can always come to you and

teach him great things on every morning , afternoon or evening on

Fashion Design lesson . If this is possible,i will want you to back to me

with the cost of your teaching for a month which can start as soon as

he get to the state..he should be in the state very soon and will

be coming to your house or meet at your nearest library for 1 hour

each morning or afternoon or evening, I have someone that will

always drive him down to your house.. My son name is junior ,he is

14 years old. I will want you to calculate 1 hour per day for

Monday, Wednesday,Friday for the whole 1 MONTH,and get back to me so

that we can arrange on payment.Kindly get back to me with......

TOTAL CHARGES FOR 1 MONTH THAT HE WILL BE TAUGHT 3 TIMES PER

WEEK.. Thanks and waiting to read from you soon.

Hon. Jenodo................

Email 3: Well my son is still new at this.so you just have to start from the

beginning with him,i will also ask him to bring other materials needed

so if there is any hand book needed just let me know with the charges

for it OK, my son will be coming down there..I have make contacts with

my son concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which he told me is

alright by him and that he will be making arrangement for his arrival

any moment from now to commence .So I want you to know that i am going

to pay for a month payment like you said which is $xxx and also i

want you to know that i will instruct my client in the state and will

be sending you my salary payment,so the rest of the fund will be used

to get accommodation beside your location and any other arrangement

for the lesson,So as soon as you get the payment then you will have

it process and deduct your cost of tutoring for a month, and send

remaining funds to my nanny so that he can relocate my son

accommodation to your nearest address for him to attend the lesson in

the appropriate time.i think i can trust you with the remainder of

the funds since you are going to be my son tutor.Regarding this

kindly get back to me with your full information to receive the

payment where its will be made out in time....

Your full name ................................

Your full address,apt # with zip code.......................

Your phone number for contact................................

Thanks and waiting to read from you soon

Warmest Regards............

Bre 2 years ago

Beware of Charles Mai! Craigslist scammer! he sent me the following email:

Hello,

Thanks for your prompt response and your interest,My name is Charles

Mai and seeking for a reliable,responsible and energetic nanny for my

daughter Barbra which is presently living with her mum in SPAIN and

Barbra mum is very ill(sick) which is why i want her to move down to

you area soon as for i am a very busy business man,i want her to stay

with a guardian(tutor) there in state,which i will be moving down here

my self soon,you will be taking care of her daily Monday through

Friday at your convenient hours(3 hours) which Her Tutor teacher will

bring her down to your location and she will pick her up later,i want

you to get back to me with your available hours,so i need an

experience,God fearing and caring nanny that can understand the well

being of a child to take care of her for the weeks till her mum is

back on her feet (probably month).

She is cool,gentle bright and talented girl of age 8 and i will send

her picture so she will be moving down here this month, i want you to

make yourself available for the hours and concerning the price,i am

offering $450 per week for a period of 1 to 2 months and additional

30 bucks for yourself every week and for my child care.I want you to

get back to me so i can be assured i have someone to take care of her

for me.

As regards the payment, my client will issue a Check payment,that

will cover your upfront salary and her English tutor teacher, in which

you will be of help by deduct your first MONTH payment as upfront

salary and the remaining balance will be remitted to her Tutor teacher

as regards as her own tutor salary to help improve my daughter English

reading writing and communication skills.

I will greatly appreciate if you be delighted in accepting this

offer and I look forward to having a better service from you.Kindly

get back asap with the information below required,Thus,Further

proceedings can take place and look forward to reading from you.

FULL NAME:

MAILING ADDRESS (no P.O.Box please):

CITY:

STATE:

ZIP CODE:

CELL PHONE:

HOME PHONE:

GENDER:

D.O.B:

MARITAL

STATUS:

PRESENT JOB:

BEST TIME TO CALL:

EMAIL:Will be waiting to read your mail soon.

REGARDS

Charles.

I was stupid enought to reply with my information, then I knew it was a scam by the next email....

Hello Breana,

I can see that you have all it takes to be my

daughter Nanny due to your experience...As stated in my previous

email, my daughter is a really talented excited girl to stay with,and

all you need do is just to understand her well being... I want to

notify you about the payment for the care of my daughter and i want

to inform you about the total sum of $2650 in cashier check which

you would be receiving in couple of days,

Please for the nature of your job and for the good relationship

between Yourself and my daughter i would want to entrust you with this

money because as i am not around at this moment. I would have liked to

take care of all this myself but since the payment would be coming to

you from my associates , i want you to please kindly Cash the money

and deduct YOUR care fee for a month as we have already agreed and

send the remaining to her tutor teacher for her to bring her Across

and also for tutor fund and feeding maintenance before i come over

next month.I hope i can count on you with this and i would be looking

forward to see on my arrival and I hope she would be in good

hands.Thank you and God bless ,I would send you the tracking number of

the courier the payment was sent by as soon as i get am able to call

them. Hope to read from you soon.

Thanks,

Charles.

Be careful People!

karllie 2 years ago

Thx for posting the article re/ Mr Kanimodo. Within 24 hours of posting my tutoring ad on cl, I received a response from him. I live in the sacramento, ca area.

Sarah 2 years ago

I'm so glad I found this thread! I was searching for info on Charles Mai after becoming suspicious about our upcoming "tutoring"arrangements for his daughter Barbra. What a jerk! I wrote to him in a previous email that he needed to address my suspicions about the payment arrangements, etc., before he sent me any money, and he totally disregarded my email and wrote that he went ahead and sent it! After reading this thread, I just emailed him back telling him not to contact me anymore and telling him I would return his check, unopened, if I receive it....

Kyle Woodall 2 years ago

Thank you so much! I responded to a Craigslist ad that sounds so similar to this. I received three money orders for $850 right off the bat. It looked very suspicious. The other thing that caught my eye was the fact they wanted me to send a western union money order out to the nanny that lives in MO, while I live in Florida.

here is the correspondence I had with this person. Beware my fellow tutors and teachers!!!

Hi There,

Thank you for the email and really appreciate your consistency .Well Dennis is still new to this so you just have to start with him, so if there is any hand book needed for the lesson just let me know with the charges for it ok.

Am glad the way you have kept me posted on the (tutoring) and more so I have accepted your offer and its ok by me,I have make contacts with my Son concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which he told me is ok by him and that he will like to come as soon as possible for the lesson to commence.

So I want you to know that i am going to pay for a month lesson which is $400 like you said and i want you to know that my client will be sending you my salary payment.Also i want you to know that the rest of the money will be used to get accommodation beside your location and any other arrangement for the lesson. So as soon as you get the check

payment then you will cash it and deduct your cost of tutoring of the lesson for a month and send remaining balance to my Son's Nanny via

Regarding this kindly get back to me with your full information to receive the check so that payment can be able to made out in time:-

First Name :

Middle Name :

Last Name :

Address Line 2 :

City :

State :

Zip Code :

Home Phone :

Cell Phone :

I have instructed Dennis to get some of his picture for me so i can mail them to you for recognition .Thanks you in the anticipation of your understanding and waiting to read from you soon.

Best Regards

David Kene.

Delsie 2 years ago

OMG I cant believe it guess what I got the same type of response when I answered an ad on Craigslist about a month ago. The scammers are still out there it just sounded so strange.It stuck in my head so I did not reply to any more of the responses I got from the person and yes the grammer was terrible.Thank You great hub Storytellersus

justin g 2 years ago

Hey all,

This is still going on -- now under the name Greg Belak.

Full e-mail follows:

Hello,

Thank you for the email, i want my son who is Raymond Belak by name for

the tutorial. He is 11 yrs and friendly, he is gentle and handsome and ready to

learn whatever you can teach him , he lives with his mother in Philippine and i want

him to come to the states and spend their holiday with his mother cause she is

coming over there to do some medical reasearch so that he can learn more about good

Mathematics, English and foreign language very well as that is where he needs extra

tutoring because i do not want him to be behind his mates. I hope you will be able

to take care of him and tutor him well. I have made contacts with my wife and my

boy concerning the arrangements of the tutoring and it's ok by them.

ABOUT THE TUTOR AND TIME:

You will be teaching him 3 times a week , 2 hours a day which will be 6 hours a

week, i am going to pay for the first two weeks which will be ($540) just for you

to know how serious it is. Also i want you to know that they will arrive in the

states by Nov 16. So i want you to tell me the days you will be available during

the week and also the time, so i will know your full schedule for the 6 hours in a

week. Also let me know the best library around you that will be comfortable to meet

you, so that i can contact the nanny that i have employed to cater for my family and

watch after my kid. The nanny will be bringing him there, i want him to study more

about what they needs to know while they are in the states and he speaks a little

bit of English but not too perfect. So you will be patient to explain and teach him.

I live in Kent London due to my work Status for 7 years now and i gave birth to

them before my wife took them along to

Philippine 3 years ago, so i believe he can speak a little bit but not too Fluent.

Then you can email me back with time schedule for the 3 days, remember 2 and half

hours a day.

PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT:

Am a very busy type, i work in a factory & i work a lot , so I

want you to know that i will be sending you the payment in form of Money Order for

your payment, which you will get the payment soon. Also i will send you a tracking

number of the payment package and I will mail the payment to you as overnight

deliver because i don't want any delay about this tutoring , i want my kid to start

the tutoring as soon as you can help ok. Moreso i will be needing your TRUST AND

FAVOR in the part of the nanny that will be bringing him to you at the library

location you will provide. Also the nanny will be taking care of the house feeding

and other things. I have already contacted a nanny that will arrive immediatley we

confirm you as his tutor, and will be in charge of this.. So i will be sending you

a Money Order of $2775.51, so you will take out $540 and send the total sum of

$2,235 to the nanny via Money gram

transfer which i will be giving you the nanny name and address where you will be

sending the money to as soon as you get the Money Order cleared at your bank.You

may be wondering why the nanny money is much, Just that she will be feeding and

taking care of my kid while they will reside in a hotel near you with her for the

period they will be staying and the nanny will also hire a Driver to be bringing

him to you & the nanny will be paying the driver as well from the money, I hope you

can understand this now. So i will want you to email me your full name and address

for the Money Order to be delivered to you as soon as it's been processed so please

do email me your full correct address and don't send a p o box, so that the payment

won't get lost ....

HERE ARE THE DETAILS I WANT YOU TO EMAIL BACK SO THAT THE MONEY ORDERS CAN GET TO YOU:

First name.....................

Last name....................

Address Line 1(No Po Box).................

City.........................

State.........................

Zip/Postal code..............

Age...........................

Home phone...................

Cell phone...................

Current position in Occupation...........

I hope all these arrangements 're okay with you , if so do email back as

soon as possible so that i can make the arrangement for the Money Orders. Don't make

any mistake when sending your details, because i don't want the payment to get lost,

also i believe you will be good to teach my son and am sure he will also be happy to

learn though he loves to play a little, but he listen to corrections and he is easy

to teach. you can call me on this No +447035967194

Regards,

Greg Belak

he used the email address: jam.loo00@rocketmail.com

Truth From Truth 2 years ago

good post

I was not sure of craig list before

J-ART 2 years ago

wow... good story! good hub!

LazarDRod 2 years ago

That was an excellent story! I was just kind of skimming it but I ended up reading it the whole way through. Whatever happened with that check? Did you destroy it?

Martin V 2 years ago

great hub!

Lysh 2 years ago

This is REALLY excellent, Storytellerus, that you have this hubpage. Sometimes I get emails from a Craigslist ad I post and Google the name/email address and come up with not much. I'm usually a pretty good detective. Anyways, I got an email from that Sir Usian whatever from my violin tutor post about his son needing a tutor. I live in LA, so I'm thinking maybe there could be a Sir that lives here, but his email still didn't seem right.

Anyways, thanks so much for having this and updating it with all the scammer names!

Piano Teacher 2 years ago

I just got a Craigslist response to my piano teaching ad and it looked very odd. I mean his response was so retarded that I was about to delete it; I get enough frustration from trying to communicate with legitimate foreigners that barely speak english and this guy was so obviously fake...I mean 'sir usain kanimodo'; give me a break ! 'Sir Idiot' might be a more believable name. Just for fun, I thought I would I google the name. That is how I ended up here. It is sad, because I remember 15 years ago (before ebay) doing business with people that I met on newsgroups for music gear and never got a bad deal.

Now I assume it is a scam until I prove it otherwise...I always run an intellius check to make sure the name shows up before I send a response to anyone responding to my ads on Craigslist. If it is for a roommate I run a state criminal record check on intellius for $15. Too bad...Just a sign of the times.

positivechange 2 years ago

Dear Storetellersrus and the rest of the posters here,

Thank you for the great information. I received the same type of e-mail from sirusainkanimodo@gmail.com, and couldn't believe I was stupid enough to even consider it as a valid request. Great detective work, and thank you for saving me a lot of time and money!

Dave 2 years ago

Googled his name "usain Kanimodo" and found your post. I just got one of those emails after advertising lessons on Craigslist. Thanks for sharing

Annapolis tutor and Charles Mai 2 years ago

I think I'm going to request the student's name, grade, and school attending in my ads, with the comment that it will help weed out scammers quickly.

I received the same message from a Charles Mai [simmchm4@gmail.com] recently (Oct 26 2009).

I responded: Apparently, you think tutors are pretty stupid and make easy victims. Clearly, whatever conscience you were born with no longer exists. I pray that eventually you will receive the bad kharma you so richly deserve.

Hello,

Oh!Am glad to have your response to my Ad,my daughter Barbra will be coming for her holiday in Annapolis area and i want her enroll for a English lesson due to her poor performance in her last grade,she is heading for her first high school learning after her holiday here in the United Kingdom where i work now due to my company's transfer from the state, If this is possible,i will want you to back to me with the cost for a month which can start as soon as she gets to the state,she should be in the state very soon and will be coming to your place for a hour each morning or evening, I have someone that will always drive her down to your place.She is aged 15 with a little experience.I will want you to calculate a hour per day for Mondays,Wednesdays & Saturdays for a month reply me so that we can arrange on payment.you free to ask me any question ,Kindly get back to me with your total charge for a month if she is to be taken thrice a week.

Thanks in Anticipation,

Charles.

victor 2 years ago

Really a wonderful hub

Anonymous 2 years ago

oops, for some reason the email didn't come out. It was:

"sirkanimodo1@gmail.com"

Thanks!

Anonymous 2 years ago

Here's the rest of the information that guy sent/ with specific names & email address he used:

from sir usain kanimodo

date Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 6:43 PM

subject URGENT : English Teacher/ Tutor Available

Anonymous 2 years ago

Storytellersrus, wow, thank you thank you thank you!! I was a victim of the EXACT same scam you were! After I received the exact same email, I had a feeling something was fishy. So I did a Google search & came-up on this website. Thank God! How funny, they used the same location of Jamaica, etc., This time, here are the name changes/ specifics that this 'man' wrote back to me (after the same email you received):

"Well my son is still new at this.so you just have to start from the

beginning with him,i will also ask him to bring other materials needed

so if there is any hand book needed just let me know with the charges

for it OK, my son will be coming down there..I have make contacts with

my son concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which he told me is

alright by him and that he will be making arrangement for his arrival

any moment from now to commence .So I want you to know that i am going

to pay for a month payment like you said which is $360 and also i

want you to know that i will instruct my client in the state and will

be sending you my salary payment,so the rest of the fund will be used

to get accommodation beside your location and any other arrangement

for the lesson,So as soon as you get the payment then you will have

it process and deduct your cost of tutoring for a month, and send

remaining funds to my nanny so that he can relocate my son

accommodation to your nearest address for him to attend the lesson in

the appropriate time.i think i can trust you with the remainder of

the funds since you are going to be my son tutor.Regarding this

kindly get back to me with your full information to receive the

payment where its will be made out in time....

Your full name ................................

Your full address,apt # with zip code.......................

Your phone number for contact................................

Thanks and waiting to read from you soon

Warmest Regards............"

"Warmest Regards," yeah right. Sigh, it has been disheartening at times, as I recently finished my master's in education & have been looking for supplemental income. This is about the 2nd or 3rd time I am receiving something non-legit. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to write this out, it really helped me a lot!! God bless you! :D

dogrib 2 years ago

Yah, I figured this guy was a scammer from his first response to my ad: normal people say things in certain ways; for some reason these scammers don't know how to write like normal people. So I googled him and lo and behold: came up with your post.

blogburg 2 years ago

Wow that is some seriously scary stuff. Well told story though :)

KyonSOS23 2 years ago

Good Story. it example in our real life.

Liga718 2 years ago

PS: Not sure if anyone already said this, but the Internet Crime Complaint Center (http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx) is recommended on Craigslist as a place to report scams - might be a good place to start. Having the check they sent you and all related emails should get you somewhere.

Liga718 2 years ago

THANK GOD FOR GOOGLE! I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am that you made this hub page! The exact same thing that happened to Runner 09 just happened to me (same person: Fierle Judd). I am really interested in working in education, and this job seemed like a great way to make some money while getting to teach - so I stupidly sent my resume, contact info and all (4 years of a top-tier university and no common sense). I'm supposed to be getting a check soon and starting to "tutor" on Monday. But everything about my interaction with this person had started to give me the creeps (and, just like you, my parents were concerned), so I googled his name and, low and behold, I found your hub page. Needless to say, I'll be writing back to this Judd person and saying I'm not available to tutor anymore, and then giving any checks I receive over to the police. My parents also have a very good friend in the FBI - so, though she may not be able to help, I'll certainly be forwarding all of this info on to her.

Thank you so much for taking the time and energy to ensure this doesn't happen to others. As a recent college grad trying to support myself, it would have been a MAJOR bummer to fall victim to this scam. I'm just glad I at least had a momentary flash of common sense and googled to find your page!

emievil 2 years ago

Darn! You can't simply trust anybody these days, especially online. Reminded me of the time (long ago) when I was stupid enough to give my details through text to somebody who says he has something for me. When I refused to go with it, he texted back my info in a threatening manner. It was kind of frightening but I refused to be frightened because I thought that if they will really use that info against me, they will not threaten me through text, rather they will do real harm physically (my address was there) or financially (so was my bank account number). Thanks for this hub, it's a great warning for people out there. =)

StevenCavendish 2 years ago

Great story. The comments from all of the others with similar experiences are definitely worth reading as well.

Thanks for sharing this.

another tutor 2 years ago

Boy, I'm glad I found your page: I just got contacted by this Charles Mai individual. I was stupid enough to send him my resume, but luckily I removed my address and phone number information before I sent it: so he's only got my name and e-mail address.

But now I'll know to be (even) more paranoid about these things.

Thanks, all!

Megan 2 years ago

i got scammed.=[ ill explain later

BlueGreenBull 2 years ago

Ah, the ol' over checking scam...

I really hope everything turns out ok. I wish you catch the bastard too but that's highly unlikely :(

google biz kit 2 years ago

its really sad that many people are been scamed from many people

diet 2 years ago

hey they are making mails and claming to give you money but this all are farud and its nor nice

Steve R McDowell 2 years ago

It's the typical "I send a bad/stolen check for more than I claim I owe you, then you send me the difference back" scenario. It's obvious what happens if it's a stolen check, but if it's a bad check, people don't always understand what happens. If it's a bad check and it bounces, you are responsible for the money you got from that bad check even if you've already withdrawn it and sent it off somewhere else.

Scams are dangerous. Everybody needs to be careful when dealing with any exchange of money online.

Good hub ^_^

Greta Blalock 2 years ago

Update: I posted an ad on CL offering to tutor students in History, writing and Reading skills and was so bombarded by these scam artists that I deleted my ad. So, now we know, it works both ways - they lure people in AND they pursue authentic tutors. What a hassle!

create a page 2 years ago

Thank you so much for writing such an informative hub. I joined hubpages because I love writing and I also hoped to make some money while writing. I have discovered a new purpose for hubpages today, and that is to expose scams. This is very important to me, because as a business owner over 90% of my clients have found me through craigslist. I need to be more careful, so thank you so much.

johnnyfr 2 years ago

Nice one for letting us all know.

I really dislike the attitude of "we can't help as nobody lost any money". So, what happens to the next guy who does lose money? Is that fair? I think not!

Runner09 2 years ago

THANK YOU SO MUCH for warning me about this....I too was enticed by the prospect of earning over $2,000 for just a few short weeks of tutoring. I emailed my resume to "Fierle Judd" and when he responded, some of the things he said seemed a little strange and I suspected a scam, so I decided to google his name and I found this website. I feel relieved to at least know that it's not legitimate, so I will not cash the check even if he sends it to me(I emailed him back letting him know I won't be able to take the job because of schedule conflicts). Would you recommend taking the check to the police if I do get one?? I'm afraid now that he has my address, I may still be in danger....

azlizzie 2 years ago

I also have gotten these emails and I asked a few quesions in a first response, but did send my resume with the very first response to the Cragslist ad. Can someone tell me what I should do?

Anon 2 years ago

Just happened to me too. Mail was from Fierle judd

Cake 2 years ago

OMG, this crap is STILL going on, I read about it a few weeks ago and as I have been scouring craigslist for tutoring positions I have been weary. In any case, the add I responded to (and mailed my resume to) seemed legit, no mention of money or that they were out of the country, written in perfect english, but lo and behold, I got an email just now....from a scammer, sigh. Now Im all worried that they have my information and everything -_- Thanks for all of the advice though, sad we cant spot them all (even when our eyes are peeled and we're actually paying attention)

Julien 2 years ago

The same thing just happened to me!

If you get an email from a "HOBSON SHARRETTS".. do not respond.

How pathetic.

patful 2 years ago

One scam letter came from "Fierle judd" (fierlej02@gmail.com) Another came from Nicholas Patterson (acmebricknich@gmail.com)

I'm wondering if all three are the same person. The emails are probably phony, too, but for our general information fund, insert these additional creeps.

Thanks for your interest. I had no idea when Robert Anderson first wrote me that I was joining a large club. I have created a folder on my hotmail labeled "Net Scams" where I store the letters from these lowlifes.

patful 2 years ago

I read your hub about the tutor scam today, 9-11. The timing was perfect. Today I received a UPS delivery of a check from a similar creep. (He doesn't know I'm onto him.)

A week or so ago, I answered a craiglist posting for a tutor. I heard from a Robert Anderson in Spain, with a similar pitch as your daughter received. At first I didn't smell anything...but his request to take a check he would send, deduct my tutoring pay and send the rest to an as yet unnamed "nanny" made me wonder.

My daughter in Tampa happened to call, I mentioned the tutoring deal to her and her response was, "Mom, it's a scam. Drop it." Well, that sent me to snopes.com where I learned that the check-cashing thing is an ongoing racket.

I sent a note to abuse@craigslist.com. The response I got from them said, "A human will read this soon. However, get in touch with local law enforcement."

That's what I did. The cop who came to my house said to call him when the check arrived or to bring the check to police station. That's where I'm headed soon.

Ironically, whoever this creep is, he's a glutton for making dirty money. Within a day or two of getting the first scam email, I got a similarly worded email from an alleged Swedish man who had a son for tutoring..same financial deal. Then I got one from another guy (no foreign country mentioned) but he had a daughter for tutoring.

I declined to respond to these two emails.

Thanks for sharing your story about this online disease.

Tutor8 2 years ago

Tutors beware! I received the same email "privatetutor" did above mabout his daughter Barbra and needing tutoring 3x week. The first email I didn't think too much...just an inquiry. He then follows it with the message below. Needless to say, it didn't look right, and after some googling, I found this site and sure enough my thoughts were confirmed...it was a scam trying to be brought to fruition!

You gotta put the warning flag up when his third email talks about his daughter's nanny (who you have no idea is) not being college educated and that he will pay you your money and hers and you pay her for him. Please!

Read and enjoy (or feel sorry for the guy...whatever your pick!)

Hello (name),

Its so nice to have a swift response from you,Well she did have some text books required here,so i will ask her to come along with it.As for your charges per hour $XX and the total for a month tutor amounted to $XXX will be made along with my daughter's nanny payment and other necessary needing such as her accommodation,feeding,transport to the nearest library for your meeting place for the lesson.

I would have prefer letting my daughter's nanny handle the whole payment process and get to you with your tutor charges for a month but she is a non-educated woman and has no bank account to have the check process and get thing done alright,In order not to get things complicated so i urge you to handle the payment process and after you must have confirmed the check cleared and cash then you have your money deducted and get back to her with the rest fund so she can make all necessary arrangement before my daughter's arrival,my daughter's name is Barbra,she loves skipping,visiting the cinema and going to the beach.in order to make her holiday splendid for her makes me want her come for her break back in the state cos she was used to the atmosphere before i got a work transfer to the United Kingdom.I will be so glad if you can be of help for me and my daughter so she learn and improve on her poor performance.

Regarding this kindly effort get back to me with your full information to receive the payment where its will be made out on time.

Your full name .............................. ..........................

Your full address,(NO P.O BOX PLS)

zip code..........................

Your phone number for contact................................

Thanks for your best understanding,

Charles.

tnvrstar 2 years ago

wow! great hub

Greta Blalock 2 years ago

As I said previously, I responded to their posting for a tutor. The response I received seemed odd, so I saved it. Here it is (from nojnieves@aol.com):

Hello,

Thank you for the email,i want my kid for the tutorial. A Girl of 14 yrs, more so for accepting the offer and its okay by me,I have made contacts with my Daughter concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which she told me is ok by her and i want you to know that i am going to pay for 1 month,which should be $40.00/ hr(which i have in mind) And am planning that you will be teaching her 2 times a week,which is 2 hr per week,so get back to me with the total fee for the subject when you will you be available to teach her during the week.Also i want to let you that we don't live in the states, we live in the United Kingdom.

So my Daughter will be coming to the states by Middle of June , 2009 and i want her to study more about what she needs to know while she is in the states.. So i want let you know that i will be sending you the payment inform of Cashiers Check / Money orders for the tutorial , so as soon as you get the cashiers check/ money orders cash you will deduct cost of tutoring of the lesson for one month and you will be sending the remaining balance via Western Union / Money Gram to her guardian that will be taking care of my daughter,i will send you the guardians information to you later. Regarding this, kindly send your full information such as full name as it should be written on the check , address and phone number to receive the payment so it can be made out to you on-time.

So i hope i can trust you that you will teach my Daughter good academics and some moral respects so that they can be good to their self in the future.

I hope i can count on you for the tutorial and the money to be sent to the Guardian.

Thanks and waiting to read from you.

Kindly get back to me with all the necessary details needed such as full name as it should be written on the check, address and telephone.

Look forward to read from you soonest

Regards

John

Greta Blalock 2 years ago

I have been tutoring English as a Second Language for four years. I found this same ad on Craigslist and sent my resume in several months ago. I got the same weird response. I'm not sure what CL can do, other than remove them/flag them. What a shame that people would do this.

Helen Cater 2 years ago

As soon as i read the eamil to your daughter I knew the man in question was not of English speaking origin. This is terribla and it makes you think about your own security. Can't wait to discover the outcome of this, and where the naughty theif lives.

Sexy jonty 2 years ago

Very well written hub .....

very much informative ......

Thank you very much for your great hub, for good advice, good wishes and support. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us.

Can u join my fan club ......

Storyteller's Daughter 2 years ago

Hey everyone!

When I put an ad up on Craigslist, I got emails from a few different emails so I thought I'd post them on here!!

Leonard James: leonardjames100@yahoo.com

Jay Lundery: lundery010@gmail.com

Career at Tutor Doctor: career@tutor-doctor.com

After so many phony emails, I gave up on that. It wasn't worth it! Good luck to everyone :)

AM 2 years ago

TUTOR SCAM ----

The previous scam was sent by this email:

josh_fash101@live.com

AM 2 years ago

TUTOR SCAM ----

FARAWAY PARENT

CHILD ON HOLIDAY

UNUSUALLY GOOD PAY (50 per hour)

PAYMENT BY CHECK-- INCLUDING FEES FOR SOMEONE ELSE YOU

WILL NEED TO PAY LATER

POOR GRAMMAR

EMAILS SEEM WRITTEN BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE (INCONSISTENT

STYLE)

ADDRESSING EMOTIONS (I hope I can entrust that you...

WATCH out for scammers on Craigslist and other sites:

I responded to an ad for a tutor that pays $50 dollars an

hour (already too good to be true) and got this reply:

How you doing ? I received your email now for the tutor I want for my daughter. Let me start with telling you a little about my the nature of the job. You are going to be tutoring my daughter and she is a 7th grader. She is 12 years of age, her name is Sarah. I hope you would be able to cope with her as she is a very playful girl. If yes ,I would like us to proceed with this .I would be paying you $50.00/ hr and you would be taking her 2 times a week. In which each day you would be taking her for 2hrs.So get back to me with the total fee for the subject which is Maths and English Language because I intend paying you altogether for 4 weeks ..I will like to have her tutored in a quite place probably in a library if there is any around you. I do think it is a good idea to meet at a library, it is a quiet atmosphere and has many academic resources should we need to look something up, plus in my experience it is good to get the student out of their house to put them in a focused productive mood and so that distractions won't present themselves... I would like you to draw a schedule when you would be available to teach her in a week and also I would like to know the subjects you would lecture her on each day ( I guess it should be 2 per day.. right ? ).

I would like to make this clear to you, we don't live in the States ,my daughter is coming to the states and i intend to put her in care of a nanny which i will get in dew time. I don't want her to play all along that's the reason I am employing you. She would be coming down in 3 weeks time. I also belief a check is good as a mode of payment.... Get back to me if all stated above is ok with you so that we may proceed from there...

Regards

Josh

privatetutor 2 years ago

Beware of Charles Mai. It could be that Laja Quadri is now also going under the name of Charles Mai. Notice the similarities between the e-mail from laja quadri to storytellersrus (earlier post, above) and Charles Mai's e-mail to me.

"Charles Mai"

Hello,

Oh!Am glad to have your response to my Ad,my daughter Barbra will be coming for her holiday in XXXX area and i want her enroll for a English lesson due to her poor performance in her last grade,she is heading for her first high school learning after her holiday here in the United Kingdom where i work now due to my company's transfer from the state, If this is possible,i will want you to back to me with the cost for a month which can start as soon as she gets to the state, she should be in the state very soon and will be coming to your place for a hour each morning or evening, I have someone that will always drive her down to your place.She is aged 15 with a little experience. I will want you to calculate a hour per day for Mondays,Wednesdays & Saturdays for a month reply me so that we can arrange on payment.you free to ask me any question ,Kindly get back to me with your total charge for a month if she is to be taken thrice a week.

Thanks in Anticipation,

Charles.

Michael Cranstone 2 years ago

I answered an ad on gumtree for a chauffeur and was contacted by Jay Lundery. He said his wife was coming over from america and wanted to be driven around. He offered £500 for 3 times a week. I then got a cheque for £2300 and he asked me to take my money out of it and then arrange the rest to be transferred to another mans acc by Western Union. He said his wife was arriving 13/8/09 I read your article as I googled his name and have now emailed him to say not interested

Michael Cranstone 2 years ago

I have also got scammed

privatetutor 2 years ago

Thanks for posting these - I got a suspicious email from "laja quadri" and googled this name and found these reports. Really appreciate these.

diana1000 2 years ago

Thank you so much for posting this article.

I myself teach English on line and have received 5 similar emails felt something was wrong and did not answer them.

They were identical to what happened to your daughter with the nanny bit as well.

I was nervous to publish as I thought that people would think I was crazy.

You have now given me the courage to go for it in the future.

So many of us just want to make an honest living and we have to put up with all theses crooks around.

I think if we all stick together we may be able to make people aware of the type of person that is praying on us innocents on the net.

Thank you again and no matter how crazy it may seem I will post in future.

Take care of yourself Diana

wmd 2 years ago

Scams like this happen a lot. I work at a bank and see it all the time. Sometimes we catch it in time to prevent our customer from losing any money, but other times they wire money back to the scammer and end up losing a lot.

The sad thing is that there are people willing to go through with the process even after we tell them it is a scam. People are so depserate for easy money that they think theres might be the only true one.

Scams like this are easy to spot if you are vigilant and know that money does not come easy.

Noriko3 2 years ago

Thank you for your story. I'm putting ad to tutoring service on CraigsList about a month. More than 90% of responds are scam. I just got email from laja quadri. I google it and saw your story. Thank you,

gspaulding21 2 years ago

People like you are GREAT! I've been on the receiving end of some scams quite like the one you mentioned here, and had my father and I not looked deeper into things, I'd have been one broke fool. Thank you for your insights and determination on scams - it's people like you that make this world a little easier to live in. :-)

Another Almost-Victim Girl 2 years ago

Hi, Storytellersrus,

How are you?

Yes, definitely. We might be able to save others by sharing this info.

It's really sad people who run Craigslist are not supportive to victims.

I am pretty much sure the guy who scammed your daughter is the same guy who keeps on contacting me. I also found the tutor job on Craigslist. I was also told to teach a 14 year-old boy 3 times a week in the morning.

If you need his phone number and other information the guy gave me, I will email you so that your daughter will get money back. The guy also gave me his associate's phone number and the student's mom's phone number. The guy told me not to call them, though.

Have a wonderfull day, ok?

Another Almost-Victim Girl 2 years ago

Hi, Storytellesurus,

I am really sorry about your daughter's story.

And thank you so much for the information you gave us.

You are a brave mom!!

I'm actually in a same situation.

A friend of mine forwarded a tutor job ad on Craigslist to me.

I actually contacted the agency and a guy told me to teach a 14 years old boy a language which is my major...as your daughtor..

He mostly gave me the job description on the phone but sent me similar information as your daughter got by emails 2-3 times.

He told me not to contact the parent of the 14 year-old boy. I had been wondering why...

Thank you so much for saving me from on a verge of falling for that scam.

If you need the guy's information, I will write you again.

Have a nice weekend!!

Mighty Mom 2 years ago

Craigslist is getting to be a veritable sewer of scamsters, isn't it? It is particularly disheartening that people are out there targeting young people like your daughter. So much to learn about sorting out what's real vs. what's obviously fraudulent. And that poor couple caught in the middle!

Glad you figured it out before your daughter did something like try to cash the check. And that she got a legit tutoring job -- even if it cost her (she did learn a lesson about parking in the lot, tho).

I'm rating this thumbs up for being a giant "heads up" of a hub! MM

BirteEdwards 2 years ago

this has obviously upset you a lot, and rightfully so. You have done yourself and the hub community a great service telling us how scams come about even from a respected place like Craigslist.

You tell it clearly, and most clearly that we must keep our heads screewed on in the right way online or offline.

adamroll13 2 years ago

Heinous scam, it seems like the Internet is full of them. Thank you for showing how this one worked out because I could easily have fallen victim to it myself. It gets to the point where I don't take e-mails from addresess I'm not familiar with. Great Hub!

Blake Flannery 2 years ago

I doesn't take anyone seriously who doent right well inglish. I no trust these peoples.

Cents you right good, please will you send me a check cashier for 5,000 US dollar. I promise male you 1,000,000,0000 back to you in US pennies. By tuesweday. Thonks.