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From the Editor's Desk
Just a reminder to the dance teachers of Rhode Island to be on the alert for internet scams.
Last year I received the following email:
Hello Teacher,
I came aross your contact at the www.ridance.com and i want to know the modality of your teaching,price per hour and other details necessary.E-mail me with the required details asap.Thank you.
Robert Barris
The subject line read, 'dance lesson for my son'
This email bears some traits of a Nigerian 419 scam letter. The second 'i' & the 'asap' are not capitalized and in the U.S. it is rare for someone to use a greeting of 'Teacher' in an email. However, the writer mentions where he saw the information. This is the first time, I have seen this detail in a scam email.
I responded with my ballroom dance prices. On November 17, I received the following:
Deborah Nash,
Thank you so much for your swift response and sorry that i have to respond so late,its just that i have been so much busy all these while.Well,i want the lesson for say three times in a week one hour at each time of the lesson.I want the lesson for a period of 8 weeks,so let me have the Total cost of that.In your reply,pls include the name,addresss and a phone number so that a Check could be send to that effect.Once the check is mailed out,i shall send to you a confirmation of the tracking number so that once the check has been received,you may notify me and my son shall proceed to meeet up with you okay.
Robert
Notice, the flowery language (what a lovely thing it would be if Americans spoke thus!), some missing punctuation and capitals, 'the use of abbreviations ('pls') and the gratuitous use of the word 'okay'. It is obvious that the writer is not a native English speaker because he mangles his verb tenses ('have to respond'), does not properly create adverbs, ('so late'), and uses phrasing unusual to the U.S. ('i have been so much busy') .
Of course, this does not prove scam, but 'Mr. Barris' goes on to discuss sending a check. He does this in some detail. All combined, we can see that if I reply, the writer will indeed send me a certified check. Strangely, the certified check will be for more than what I am charging (Mr.Barris will have a good reason for this), and because he trusts my honest nature, he will request that I send the difference back to him or to a third party. Weeks later, the bank will call to tell me that the 'certified check' has not cleared and the bank have debited my acocunt. A Providence Journal account of this scam claim that some banks will absorb the cost. Not so. Even though they told you that the check was fine, the bank will ALWAYS debit your account.
Many scam emails make the mistake of sending out what looks like a personal email to many addresses in the same email. When you get an email you are not sure about, look at the 'To:' line in the email address. If it has an email that is not yours or 'undisclosed recipients' or some other listing that is not your email, it is a scam. If your email is the only email listed, it does not prove the legitimacy of the email, but it has the possibility of being a true inquiry.
I have received other obvious scam letters that appear to have local addresses (Massachusetts) and even phone numbers, and have heard from belly dance, folk dance and music teachers who have received similar emails. The con artists are trying this stunt with every business on the internet.
Original riDance Scam Posting
From June 2005
A new wrinkle on a well known internet scam has appeared. This one targets ballroom dance teachers. An email arrives asking the price of a series of dance classes for a wedding couple. If you respond, another email asks for your address so a certified check can be sent to you. But the certified check will be for more than the lessons and your 'clients' would like you to write a check for the difference and send it back to them or on to another person. The certified check will bounce. Your bank will say it cleared - it will not clear.
SAMPLE SCAM EMAIL:
SUBJECT LINE: Extremely Urgent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i and my fiance will like to book (A Private Lesson with u) for the days
listed below and i want you to give me the total amount for the total hours
booked immediately.
July 5th - July 10th 2005
4hrs lesson on Tuesay with my fiance
4hrs lessonon Thursday with my fiance
4hrs lesson on Friday with my fiance
4hrs lesson on Saturday with my fiance
2hrs lesson on Sunday with my fiance
July 12th - July 17th 2005
4hrs lesson on Tuesay with my fiance
4hrs lessonon Thursday with my fiance
4hrs lesson on Friday with my fiance
4hrs lesson on Saturday with my fiance
2hrs lesson on Sunday with my fiance
We will like the lesson to start on July 5th because our wedding
day is arroud the corner
As soon as i receive your response, my husband will forward you payment
for the day booked.
Regards
Scam artists use many different names and email addresses. Usually the email address that you can see, is not their actual email. Please note that the first email usually arrives as a 'blind copy'. In the From and To section, your email will not show in the 'To' section. This means that the email is going to many different emails and you can only see the one email, which belongs to the con artists. Obviously, no one who really wants ballroom dance lessons would be sending a mass emailing.
The Secret Service would be the organization to contact, but there are so many of these scams and they are so hard to trace that NO ONE is interested in prosecuting. If you receive anything like this, just delete it. If you have aready responded, DO NOT send them ANY money or checks. The check they send you will bounce. United States banking regulations allow your bank to say that the the check is certified, but the check is not valid and will not clear. When that happens, your bank will debit the money from your account PLUS charge you a bounce fee.
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