Obviously a Scam But...

tarnok

So I tutor math and I throw an ad up on craigslist every now and then. I got a response recently that seems scammier than a recently deposed Nigerian prince who wants to sell me a bridge in Brooklyn. But the thing is, I can't figure out what the angle is. Here are the emails we exchanged with some bits redacted to protect the guilty:

First Contact:

Hello Am **** by name ..I just want to know if the tutor lesson still
available for my son for a month he is 14 years old, I want you to
calculate the cost of 45 minute per day for three days in week for
the whole a Month and email me the total cost..Hope to read back from
you asap..Thanks

My Reply:

Assuming a month of exactly four weeks we have 12 sessions at $19.00 each for a total of $228.00. Depending on the precise dates in question there may be more or less than twelve sessions. I presume given the student's age that you're looking for help with Algebra? If the cost seems agreeable please write back to work out the details of scheduling and determine an acceptable meeting place.

His Response (From a different email address and showing a different last name in gmail):

Hello,

Thanks for getting back to me and everything sound good to me, Am
**** by name, I will like my Son to relocate to your (CITY) for
holiday His name is ***** and is 14 years old .I want him to be busy
in the time of the day, because Am right now in CANADA for business
trip..and it will be a month that is why i want him to be at your
lesson Center , Am okay with your price and i have decided to let him
attend to your lesson and he will be coming 45 Minute per day in the
Afternoon, also get back to me with your own convenient time and days
you want my son to be coming in 3 days in a week and when you will be
available to start with my son next week, i haves Someone 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 and he can avoid to miss it..and i will be happy if you can
show him some love thanks

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

FULL NAME AND ADDRESS WITH ZIP CODE....(not p.o box)
YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER...(i can text you)

The reason why i need the information is that the payment will sent to
you through Ups Or FedEx Courier,So that the courier can deliver the
payment to you. Hope you understand me now.Thanks and hope to read
from you soon


Best Regards

My full name is **** ****
address Address: ***********************
************************

Phone *** *** ****

My son age was 14 year old


A couple of other points worth mentioning: The address he listed is in a state which is a minimum of a ten hour drive from where I live, I do not have a tutoring center, and the ad he was responding to was about a month old.

So obviously a scam, right? But what's he after? Is he just going to send armed thugs to shoot me in the head and take my stuff if I tell him my address?

edit: apparently I just can't change the thread title from "undefined!!"

Void Slayer

This kind of information can be used in several ways I will not mention here. Basically it can be sold to those who would actually perform the things to make money off your good name or done directly. It would likely be sold numerous times for numerous fraudulent transactions.

Just because it has poor English is not a good reason to assume it is a scam (though it is a good warning sign), but all the other things make it a total phishing scam.

Scammy email wrote:

Best Regards

My full name is **** ****
address Address: ***********************
************************

Phone *** *** ****

My son age was 14 year old

I have used this kind of useless but seemingly helpful information in mafia games several times in critical failures to gain trust my self. Likely the name is someone else that was scammed and would seem legit.

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

Probably what would eventually happen is that the "payment" would come via check and would be more than you requested. Scammer would request you deposit it anyway and fedex them back a check for the difference, which you would do because you're a credulous kind of individual. Subsequently their check bounces, and you're out whatever they talked you into paying them.

That and selling any personal information they manage to wring out of you.

DivideByZero

Yeah aside from the fact that he claims he has a 14 year old who is "highly interested in being tutored in math?"

Sounds like it's going to be an advance fee scam. There's no kid, there's no driver, you're going to get a check in the mail for way more than the $228 you quoted, and they're going to kindly ask you to deposit it, keep an extra few bucks for yourself, and wire them back the rest of the money. Then the check will bounce, your bank will claw back the funds and you'll be left holding the bag.

If you want to fuck with them you can always insist that they pay you by Western Union or somesuch, as that's the untraceable money transfer method these guys always use to collect "the difference" from the bogus check. You will never hear from them again.

(also don't give them your address!)

Thundyrkatz

I remember reading something very similar to this before once where there was a parent who wanted to hire the services of someone for their kid who would be staying locally even though the parents lived far away. I don't remember all the details, but it went along very close to what you have here. The result was an advance fee scam attempt.

spool32

Advance fee scam, yes.

acidlacedpenguin

DivideByZero wrote:

Yeah aside from the fact that he claims he has a 14 year old who is "highly interested in being tutored in math?"

Sounds like it's going to be an advance fee scam. There's no kid, there's no driver, you're going to get a check in the mail for way more than the $228 you quoted, and they're going to kindly ask you to deposit it, keep an extra few bucks for yourself, and wire them back the rest of the money. Then the check will bounce, your bank will claw back the funds and you'll be left holding the bag.

If you want to fuck with them you can always insist that they pay you by Western Union or somesuch, as that's the untraceable money transfer method these guys always use to collect "the difference" from the bogus check. You will never hear from them again.

(also don't give them your address!)

that just left me wondering if there exist passive scammers wherein they do the whole Nigerian prince or whatever thing except they do it in reverse: Nigerian prince has $10m wanting to share, no trades, serious inquiries only.

I mean, it sounds silly but I'm betting pretty much anyone who responds to it would be significantly more likely to follow through on the scam than someone who got an unsolicited "Dear great friend <person who I've clearly never met before>,..."

AgentBryant

Advance fee scam for sure. I kind of wonder if they'd be foolish enough to mail the check to the FTC if you happened to supply that address.