We are all subject to scams and frauds. We have all read about the Nigerian businessman who wants to give you millions of dollars, or the construction crew that shows up on your front door unannounced because they "noticed" something wrong with your house while they were driving by, or the phone call from someone trying to sell you windows, even though you rent an apartment....
Well having your own business puts a target on your back. Every scam artist around will try to get you for your life's work and savings. Sometimes they are harder to spot than others and sometimes you just can't put your finger on what is wrong, but you just know that something is up...
I just got done sniffing out one such scam.
It started as a question if I accept international orders. I do, so I responded as such.
The second e-mail asked me for a quote for a large amount of product, plus shipping to an overseas (Australian address). This e-mail mentioned that they were buying this product for resale.
I sent the quote for wholesale, my wholesale requirements (as stated on my web site) and a quote for international overnight shipping of 200 lbs of product.
The response stated that in fact it was not wholesale, but for a company party, and that they have a shipping company here in the US that could come pick up the merchandise. This is where it starts smelling funny to me and I start to think that something is seriously amiss.
I revise the quote- retail price- explain that I am happy to ship to their US warehouse for free, but that we do not allow for merchandise pick up at our location. I even offer a 10% bulk discount. I also explain that I need 50% to begin manufacture of their large order, and I send them an invoice via PayPal so they can send payment easily.
The last email is in very broken English telling me that I can ship to a location in the US, but this shipper only accept payment (for shipping overseas) from the SELLER... That they will overpay me and then I need to Western Union the overpayment to the shipping company. Now I know that something is wrong and I return an e-mail regretfully telling them that this practice is against our company policy and that we cannot comply with their request.
So it has taken me 6 emails (at least) and a week to determine that this order is in fact a scam. Not only is is depressing that I will not be making thousands of dollars on this order, but it has wasted my valuable time that I could have used in a much more productive manner.
I wonder how many people this works on. I feel sorry for them. It was easy to be caught up in the large order, to be excited. I told a few friends about it because I thought it was cool. But getting too caught up in it could have cost me thousands of dollars in supplies and lost funds. I guess the saying is true- if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
1 comment:
OH MY! Something like that happend to me, too!
Only it was something I posted for sale on craigslist. They wanted to buy it and send a check for more than what I was asking. I was to keep my asking price and send the difference to their shipping company...and they were to come and pick up the item. It all sounded odd to me, but I was caught up in the sale. When the check arrived, it was a company check. I googled them and they said fraudulent checks where going around with their name on them. They asked me to rip it up. Just as I thought...a scam. So, I emailed the person wishing to buy my item and told her it was no longer available and asked for an address for me to return her check. Guess what...I never heard from her again.
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