How to try to avoid scams and fraud
Examples of Scams
1.They insist that they send you a check of a much higher value than what you had asked for the homestay fee and ask you to wire the balance via money transfer service. The cashier's check is, of course, fake.
2.They might mention their mother or father had died or some other sort of pitiful story.
3.They never give you any exact arrival date or the name of the school in which they are registered.
If you received any of these kinds of emails from someone, please don't contact them any further or give out any financial information such as a bank account number. They are trying to scam you.
Who should I notify about fraud or scam attempts?
Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov
Internet Fraud Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov
Your local police department
Here are several examples of a scam emails sent to HomestayWeb host members
-----------------------------------------------
"A worker for the Holocaust Education Trust in the U.K., residing in London but currently on a business trip to Kenya. He said he was coming to my country (Canada) and was looking for a room.
To jump ahead, he has sent me a cheque and said to cash it and send some
money back from this to his "cashier" who would be shipping his
car and other belongings. It did not make sense at all -- shipping a car
across continents costs more than $3000, and takes much longer than a week!
After I told him that I was unable to accomodate him due to someone else
taking the room, he said that to cash the cheque, and that he would come
to pick it up on the date."
-----------------------------------------------
And another example, "I also received an email before from someone
claiming to be a young woman in Africa, born in Florida, mother deceased
when she was still a child, looking to rent a room.
Her story got me emotionally. But then, I received another email, the exact
same content, from a woman by a different name.
I sent emails to both of them, asking them to clarify -- and have not heard
back since."
-----------------------------------------------
Another example, "They wanted my bank account details to deposit the first months rent into it. However I didn't pass this information on because the person wasn't prepared to give me any details that could be checked about herself. I agree we must be cautious."
-----------------------------------------------
Example, "I have also received many similar emails from a number of different names asking if we take credit card, this scam involves sending them money to an account that would be in excess of the amount paid to us by a fraudulent Credit Card. They ask if we can pay for some (ficticous) third party service, such as Car Hire, etc.,"
Jose, one of our host members, sent this email to other members.
"iam sending yoiu a copy of the modus operandi of the scammers please irculate it among the homestay web members
The end goal is to get the B&B owner to send money to the scammer.
Typically, the scammer will make a booking and overpay for it with either
a credit card or forged check. The scammer will request the balance sent
somewhere, usually by Western Union. Remember, these
scammers are creative and there are many variations on the scam.
The scam works like this:
The scammer will book a room(s) and claim to have no credit card to hold
the room or will have a credit card. They will ask to send a bank draft/certified
check/money order to pay for the room in advance or pay
for it with a credit card. When the check arrives it will be for an amount
greater than the value of the stay or they will ask you to charge the credit
card for an amount greater than the value of the stay. The
scammer will then request the balance sent to a third party ( i.e. a car
rental agency) or returned to the scammer.
Since the bank draft/certified check/money order is drawn on a foreign
bank it may take up to 3 months to learn it is fraudulent. The B&B
owner is now short the amount of the check/wire they sent the scammer and
probably lost bookings since they held a room for the scammer. If the scammer
paid by a credit card it is surely to be disputed by the actual card owner.
The Tells:
* Overseas/International: Typically the guest/agent/scammer will be verseas
or out of country (UK, France...). The reason is authorities rarely pursue
this kind of international crime.
* Urgent: The scammer will be acting in an urgent manner. And will be making
bookings for dates near in the future.
* Long stays or lots of rooms: They will also want long stays and a lot
of rooms. The scammer will also be very vague about the actual number of
guest.
* No rate resistance: They will show little or no rate resistance.
* Flexible on dates: They will be flexible on dates of arrival/departure
and the number of nights booked.
* No interest in location: They don't care about your location, they will
express little or no interest in area attractions.
* Will not address your B&B by name in the first e-mail: The first
e-mail you receive will not address your B&B specifically. It will
be a general e-mail and may not even mention your town or state.
* Grammar, Spelling, and choice of words: The scammer's grammar, spelling
and use of punctuation will be off. When you see the sample e-mails below
you'll notice the spacing is off. "Agency,London" instead
of "Agency, London" We copy them verbatim.
* Doctor's acting as travel agents: Often the scammer making the booking
will present themselves as a doctor. There are two red flags associated
with this. 1) Doctor's generally don't act as travel agents. 2)
Doctor's, especially from England, should have a better command of the
English language.
* Free e-mail account: The e-mail will come from a free e-mail service
like Yahoo! or Hotmail. Legitimate travel agents rarely use free e-mail
accounts.
Suggestion:
If you get one of these remember if it is too good to be true, it probably
is. If you feel it is a legit booking request a deposit by bank transfer
and insist on the balance being paid in person. Whatever
happens, do not send them a check, a money gram, a wire, or bank transfer!!!
If you feel it could be legit it is probably best to rely on your instinct.
Make sure you chat them up. Ask them about the attractions they plan to
see or are interested in. What airport they are flying to.
Who are they flying with. Will they be renting a car. And so on. But it
is probably best to just ignore them.
Here is a list of known scammers. If you have any to add (scams or aliases) read the Actions you can take first.
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:
The scammers do not use their own real name. For the most part they use
made up names and made up or wrong addresses. In some cases they may
assume the identity of another real legitimate person. They may also
claim associations with well know organizations. It is has been brought
to our attention that we could be defaming a legitimate person or business
and suggested we give out general non-specific information. We have decided
to continue supplying details v. general information. If a legitimate
person or business is found listed on this page then please read that
as notification of identity theft. If you are that
person/business please contact us to discuss how we should proceed. If
you believe we have listed someone incorrectly please take the time to
notify us."
-----------------------------------------------
Example, "I have seen many of these scams. ANY offer to pay more than the fee you
ask, and ask you to deduct your part, then pay the balance to the client
is a scam.
It relies on the fact that a cheque can be cancelled up to several weeks
after it "clears." This is not well known.
So you pay in the cheque, deduct your fee, send the balance out.
Normally the amount you pay in is 4 or 5 times greater than your fee.
They then cancel the cheque.
Net result you pay out a large amount, about 4 times as much as you were
expecting to get paid.
You can try to avoid problems by making a clear statement in your first
reply that you DO NOT ACCEPT any payment for a larger amount than you specify.
Alternatively this may be possible if a period of
six weeks is allowed to clear the cheque, and your bank confirms in writing
that the money has definitely cleared, before you make any refund.
I have found though that they take no notice and you still get pestered.
I have found NO offer to be genuine where there is mention of a large amount
to be paid, then a refund made by you."
-----------------------------------------------
Example, "her email is Anny Brent and her email is annyz9@yahoo.com
she wrote:
Hello ,
A Little about me ,I am 26 years old female and I work full time,Monday
through Friday and have weekends off except for once a month. I was born
in Ft. Worth, Texas, but I was brought up in Africa I moved to 16 years
ago after the death of my father, one of my cousin who live and work in
Africa took me there for my studies since my mother cannot take care of
me after my father's demise. I work in a fashion home as a designer director.
I am not really a sports person, BUT I do love Hockey Games. I am a very
out going person and fun to be with. I do play the organ and piano,, and
I do have BOTH piano and organ here at my house. I don't drink , smoke
and I don't do drugs. I like going to movies,, concerts ,, plays, I like
camping, hiking, bike ridding, swimming, and I love to travel.I am a very
dedicated individual who is totally committed to human development, friendly,
very trustworthy and value relationship . . I am presently in Republique
Du Benin, pls let me know your mod!
e of payment ? i will be arriving by August 28th, i don't mind if you can send
me some pictures of the room if available ,,,,
thanks
Anny
After a few emails and my confirmation that she could stay with us, she also told me about her former boss that owed her a large sum of money and aslo asked me to give her my information and to cashed the cheque and then to send her the residual amount. I didn't hear back from her after I told her I wouldn't cash just any body's cheque."
-----------------------------------------------
Over the years we have hosted several homestay students.
We received a response from a lady purporting to be "Mary Williams" in London, England, looking to place her 20 y/o daughter "Caroline" in our area. I didn't want any misunderstanding, so I repetively advised, we lived rural, away from bus route, etc..., but I'd accomodate by doing bus drop off and pick up. She repeatedly emphasized that the most important part was a good family for her daughter to stay with. Then her friend Steve Brown was going to bring us the money, ahead of time, for all 4 months. She provided his phone number as 416-875-0179. SHe asked for my contact info and i provided name, address & phone number. This is all pretty basic stuff and I didn't see any harm with only that info. A homestay student would definitely require that kind of i!
nfo. Then Mary's "grandmom" dies.... things get delayed. Her daughter will be visiting Mary's sister first, then coming to see us.
I actually received a telephone call from "Steve" looking for the amount of $$ to send me, and confirming address. On Friday, we finally received the promised payment, but a little short (they paid $2600 of the $2800 they were supposed to). The certified draft looks very real. ( A friend told me this draft would initially appear to clear my account, and my own institution would probably tell me it's a real draft. Within about 30 days it comes back NSF, and your financial institution tells you YOU'RE screwed. Even tho their own teller tells you it's clean, and it appears to clear, later when it's figured out to be a fraud, you're screwed). I kept wondering when the hook was coming. Well, the same night or next day, we got it! Caroline is in New York, and she has no $$, and needs to leave immediately. Can I wire $$ to a New York place for her, and I'll still have more than the first month's fee. I say sure, but why don't I give poor 'ol Caroline MORE $$, since she's !
so hard up. I also told Mary I'd gladly do it, as soon as she told me WHERE Caroline would be going to school, and also faxed me a copy of her Passport. She seemed to object to the passport and insists she already gave me a pic of Caroline (she hasn't). Also, I asked in 4 seperate emails for the school name. She finally responded with; "Vancouver School". I told her no such school exists.
I always was very suspicious and waiting for the hook. This type of scam can happen in MANY different ways, but there are some common threads. Sometimes, it's a foreign buyer looking to buy your item.
1)Mary Williams emails were written by either someone clever trying to appear to be ESL, or this person is ESL. With a name like Mary Williams I would have expected someone with a clear, concise command of English. This was definitely an ESL person who did NOT speak or understand english fully.
2)Steve Brown sounded Phillipino. Defintely an ESL aswell.
3)Envelope from Steve Brown was typed. No return address, just "Steve Brown" in the top right corner. IF YOU sent a certified cheque for $2600, wouldn't you want to make sure it got returned to you if it didn't reach the inteneded recipient ?
4)ANYTIME EVER someone offers for you to keep a portion of payment, or accidentally overpays you, then asks that you refund a portion...RUN!! THIS IS THE HOOK!!
5)As this scam progressed, it never made sense that they'd want to place a student in a rural area, away from schools, just to be with a good family.
IF your spidey-senses are tingling, there's a good reason for it. BE SUSPICIOUS. Trust your instincts.
6)Share the info to educate others. I have a friend who was defrauded of $10-20K on the sale of an item, using certified cheque as a scam. I have another friend that does MANY homestays and placements (the friend who got us into this) , and I have notified her. She is posting it on a similar Homestay forum.
7)I'm going to notify the RCMP commercial crime/fraud department. Not quite sure where to start, but I'll contact them and figure it out.
Fraudsters are very clever, but in the end, there are always some obvious signs, and its mostly our own greed that allows them to succeed.
-----------------------------------------------
Thank you to all of the host families members that have helped to keep all of us informed of the current scams.
Back to previous page