Hello, my name is john randolf, i will like to know if you do computer repair and i will like my message to go through the manager, and i will also like to know if you do accept credit card as a means of payment?
Ok i want you to know i will need to format my laptop to Windows 7 and the laptop is HP530 and i have 4 of the laptops, so i will like to know the total cost so i can give you my credit card to run for the full payment.
Yes i would have love to call you due to my condition am hearing impaired and the best way for me to communicate with you is via text let me know if that work for you
kindly get back to me with the total cost for you to have the format and also the windows 7 license for me ?
Yes just install windows 7 and also the license of windows 7 Professional version
Let me know the total cost for you to have that done for me ?
The price is okay by me, i want you to know that am currently not in state, and my boy will be bringing the laptops to your shop for the formatting so i want you to do me a favour concerning the boy that will bring the
laptops to your place and am also promising you that if you do a perfect job i will give you a tip of $300 what's your name ?
Okay fine am located in the state but am currently not in the state on business purpose but i have a boy that wil bring the laptop and meet you
I am a photographer, this number texted me to scam me. They said they were hearing impaired, and needed family reunion portraits. They wanted to know if I accepted Credit Cards. They contacted other photographers in my area. after they find out you take credit cards the scam begins. They generally use birthday parties or family reunions.
I am also a photographer and received a text message from this number as well. The text is as follows: "Hello this is John, how are you doing?, I will like to know your availability day in November, 2015 just 4 hours service, also i will need portrait work done after the photography work is done after the event....i will like you to get back to me with your availability day in November, 2015 it a family reunion party....i will like you to text me or email me at [email protected] and Do you accept credit card payment?"
Oh yeah, John Randolph 678-374-8560 text all right! I followed it all the way thru, sensing something wrong from the beginning. At first I thought he was dealing in stolen laptops, as I thought the exchange was _9_78 from across the border in Massachusetts.
We actually went on and on all day, as I was trying to convince him not to reformat the laptops, as I could 'clean' them much better and preserve the pics and docs and setup of them. We finally got down to a price to clean each one, $100 a piece. NOW I started to see what I call the 'Craigslist scam' signs. (I ran into this eBaying/Craiglisting stuff from my dad's house last year)
First, he wanted to pay by credit card. Even though I take them, everyone wants to pay by check or cash for some reason, so first flag up. Then, he wanted to tip me $300 for a $400 job. (I'm cheaper than any other service so I occasionally get large tips if they think I don't charge enough, but AFTER the work! lol)
Then the next part of this scam... 'someone else' will drop off the systems. Well, I DO get people doing this, but the next thing was... 'can you do me a favor for him?' DING DING DING, the bells go off full for the scam! But I asked him what the favor was, now KNOWING what it will be...
Today I get a long text completing the scam details... he's going to include another $4500 in the credit card payment and to give the kid the extra when he gets there and I get to keep the $400 for the job, the $300 tip and the interest of 3.7%. Very detailed, he IS doing a lot of work here! lol (he even corrected the interest amount!)
Now I'm used to seeing this with bogus money orders. They seem secure, but you deposit it, the bank accepts it as a secure money order, you send whatever they bought and whatever overage you sent BACK to them, but then LATER it STILL bounces, and since they can't track a money order back to someone, the bank take the money from YOU, you're FINED and you're screwed!! But I learned of this BEFORE committing to the scams, so never lost money.
In this case, he's mentioned Bank of America, so I'll report this to them too. Now he'll probably next ask for my name and other personal details so the payment can be made. This would ALSO enable him to steal my identity, to cause me later problems or to sell the info on the black market. But I have a payment page on my website, so I'd just direct him there, so I wouldn't have THAT problem at least!
But still, he made sure to tell me to wait for it to clear (usually a day), so then I could give his son the money when he gets there. Then I imagine, the card will be found forged or whatever, even though you'd think the bank would have done that BEFORE clearing it, but that's what this scam exploits. It'll probably be found to be one of those single use cards, so they can't trace it, so _I'd_ be out OVER $5000!!!
You have to be SO wary these days! I put the details in here so anyone can tell if the scam is coming!
I got a text from this number as well. There first question was if I accepted credit cards too. It said they wanted to upgrade 4 laptops to W7. Problem is the laptop model they gave me comes preloaded with W8. I called and it said it was a text only number.