This is a long post, and I’m not
prettying it up with pictures. However, I do feel the message is important.
I recently met the darker side of
internet business. As a freelance editor and writer, it is my duty to perform
full diligence on each potential client asking for services from me…and I
ignored every safety precaution on the planet. I got scammed for over $2,400
because I got in a hurry.
I have been called stupid by a
very good colleague of mine, and I’m sure a slew of others who just didn’t want
to say it to my face. Maybe I deserve it; but you certainly don’t. Don’t allow
yourself to get scammed by a supposed client. Read below to get some tips.
The Scam Setup
First, I received an unsolicited
email saying the client had found my information on guru.com, where I do have a
profile made for finding business. The client wanted me to do some editing, the
email asked how much I would charge for a 500 word document to be fully edited.
I responded with my fee, and
explained that I required half of my fee upfront, paid through Paypal. The
following email stated that the amount was within the client’s budget; but that
they had been scammed by another editor who took their money and ran when they
used Paypal. Instead, they would send a cashier’s check for half of my fee. So
far, so good, right?
When I received the check, it was
not for half of my fee, instead, it read two thousand plus dollars over what I
was expecting. My gut told me something was wrong, so I contacted my client.
They claimed that I had received the full amount of a donation for their charity
by accident. Could I please cash the check, withdraw my fee (plus $100 for
handling the situation), and send the rest by wire transfer to the charity’s
event organizer?
Despite things feeling wrong, I
did as instructed. I’m an honest person; and I didn’t want to be responsible
for all of that money. Two days after I sent the money to the event organizer,
my bank sent me a letter stating the check I had cashed had been returned for
being fraudulent. How are you going to pay back this rather large amount of
money, Mr. Neal?
Everything I Did Wrong
You can implement a caution
strategy to just about anything. Screening potential clients is no different;
but you have to take the time to
actually screen them. When it comes to the internet, you must not assume
anybody is who they say they are. Facebook aside (assuming you know this
person, their account hasn’t been hacked, etc. etc.), anonymity is the name of
the game on the internet. Anybody…can be anybody.
1: Accepting
Everything at Face Value
I let this client get under my
skin by feeling sorry for them that they had been scammed. Surely if they got
scammed, they aren’t trying to scam me, right? WRONG. I’m not saying you need
to be an asshole, or dead in your soul to conduct business. What I am saying is
don’t let sob stories cause you to neglect your personal protection. Do
everything you can to verify this person. Remember, just because the email
shows a name, doesn’t make it real.
2: Allowing My
Payment Options to Be Sidelined
My second, and biggest, mistake
was stating that my payment plan is A, but allowing them to talk me into using
payment plan D. I was in the right to demand payment by Paypal. I nulled my self-protection
when I agreed to accepting a cashier’s check. NEVER ACCEPT CHECKS FROM SOMEONE
YOU DON’T KNOW ON THE INTERNET. Never, ever let a potential client steer you
away from your preferred method of payment. They don’t own you, or your
business. You get to say no. And,
nobody else is there to do it for you. YOU have to stand up for your safety,
your credit, your honor, and your reputation. I didn’t, and look at what I’m
writing now.
3: Assuming the
Check is Real
Now this probably sounds like the
biggest mistake, but really it’s a continuation of number 2. By accepting their
payment method, you almost immediately trust whatever comes in the mail. That’s
your payday, after all. Now, I did not know that a bank could verify
authenticity of a check until after the scam was over. Now that I do, if I
ever accept a check again I just feel even more the dipshit for falling for
all of this.
Anyway, the breakdown is this. I
received a check for thousands of dollars, when my fee was less than one
hundred dollars. TEAR THAT BITCH INTO TINY, TINY PIECES THAT THE CSI MIAMI TEAM
COULDN’T PUT BACK TOGETHER IN A YEAR. Trust me, that thing is caustic, and it’s
going to cost you money. It sure cost me.
4: Following
Directions/ Doing Extra Footwork
Wait James, what do you mean you
made a mistake by following directions? Well, you remember that check I
received for thousands? I almost stopped the scam right here. Almost. When the
check was for thousands of dollars, I dropped it on the counter, jumped on my
phone and texted my client. They’re reply was so soft-spoken though: Calm down. There was a mistake and our donor
sent the full donation to you. Just cash the check, and then transfer the money
to PERSON X after deducting your fee. For taking care of this mistake for the
company, my superiors are allowing me to give you an extra $100.
Oh. A clerical error. That happens
in real life, right? Except, I wasn’t thinking that a donor would never send a
full donation amount to an entity that’s not even part of the charity. That
check would be donated TO THE COMPANY. I wasn’t thinking that my client’s name
hadn’t appeared on the USPS sender’s note. I wasn’t thinking that I was being
scammed because all I was really thinking about is HUH. This is my paycheck right here in my hands; and all I have to do
to be able to use it is cash it and take a little trip to send some money
elsewhere.
Yep. It was a paycheck all right…for
somebody else.
Watch Your Back
Believe me, in retrospect, it’s so
easy to see the stupidity. Which is why my colleague secretly laughs at me
while his bank account’s not sitting
in the negatives. Okay, I don’t know that for a fact; but I’m pretty damn sure.
Anyway, if the check doesn’t come directly from your client, or the company
they work for, it’s a fraud. If that check is for more than your fee, it’s a
fraud. And if it’s not, your client will be extremely grateful that you sent
the check back to them without cashing it. Deadlines are deadlines, but nobody
likes losing money. If you have to step out of your bank to anywhere but home
(or wherever it is you write) to finish the payment part of the transaction,
it’s a scam.
The only thing I ended up being
able to do about the situation, after talking with my bank, the local
prosecuting attorney, and the sheriff’s department, is visit this website:
www.ic3.gov
Here, you may file a complaint and
take a look at
a multitude of
possible scams and frauds. While there’s no guarantee your fraud case will
be solved, it will help the FBI track online cases of fraudulent activity; and
that may help somebody else down the road.
Last but not least, don’t quit
what you’re doing. You may be called stupid for falling for such scams; but it’s
more likely you merely had a moment of weakness or desperation. Learn from it;
and don’t let somebody else take advantage of you. Thanks for reading, and good
luck out there.
