MACY LORAND [email protected]

This is a very unusual scam for me. Someone out of the blue is asking for a place for some dancing classes. This should allready be reason to rase the red flags as someone who wants a place to have dancing lessons will contact the owner of a dance studio. The email appears to come from someone in England but originates from Nigeria: IP 41.219.243.5
Also the "to" address is undisclosed recipients which is a sign this email is sent in bulk.

DANCING NOTICE:::?

From:
"MACY LORAND" <[email protected]> [Add]
To:
undisclosed-recipients: ;
Date:
Thu, 31 Dec 2009 9:31 PM (1 day 3 hours ago)


would like to book for 2 weeks classes for 3 hours each day Monday to
Saturday (morning hours) for a group of 10. We are asking for 3 hours per
day for 2 weeks - Monday - Saturday. A total of 36 hrs. We would be coming
over for holiday and as part of our plans we need dance classes/private
lessons in ANY of the following area Ballet, belly dance and Pre-Dance as
well as Salsa, Swing,Ballroom and Tango. Do you have a training
studio/facility where you conduct the classes? Do you have rooms or is
there any hotel close to your facility?

DATE: 7THJanuary2010 TO 21THJanuary2010

The group would be performing for a group of family members over there. I
would love to get the total cost or a quote/estimate. What are your
payment options? Do you accept credit cards? I would be grateful if you
will be willing to do the work to teach quality classes and make us happy

Regards
MACY LORAND
Unit D7, Water meadows Lt Ind Liphook Rd
Lindford
GU35 0PG
England
+ 44 704 5762 720

A quick google search on the U.K. redirect contact number + 44 704 5762 720, reveals that this scammer is using compromised credit cards and bank accounts to commit fraud. The scam still plays out the same way as a fake check scam. The victim is directed to deposit or process a fraudulent payment (fake check, stolen credit card details) and then forward some of that money to an accomplice via Western Union, Moneygram or compromised bank account. The victim will be left to cover the full amount of the original compromised payment and the scammer will be long gone.

Hi

I have also received an email from someone who responded to an event ad posted online. Should have realised something wasn't right when it wasn't addressed to me. The original email appears to be from singapore but the following correspondence was from a yahoo account.

----Original Message-----
From: Dan.Fred <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:06
Subject: inquiry

Hello,

How are you doing today ? My name is Fred Dan I want to book for dance classes with you while on a 5weeks holidays in your country.We are a group of 10 people seeking for dance training while on holidays.

We shall be needing a dance classes for the whole 5weeks in your area.The dance classes shall be in any of the following;

Salsa,ballet and Ballroom,West Coast
Swing,slow dancing,line dancing,Jazz dance.
Do you teach any of the above? If not, let me have the type of entertaining dances you teach.We need something entertaining. We shall opening a new club house with full operation in August,2010.

I would like to book for 5weeks classes for 3 hours each day Monday to Saturday (morning hours) for a group of 10. We are asking for 3 hours per day for 5 weeks - Monday - Saturday. A total of 36 hrs

Do you have a training facility where you conduct classes? We can arrange for this,if not available. Our stay will last from the last week of July to 26th August ,2010.

I would love to know the possibility of working with you during this period.Kindly

get back to me with your proposals so that we can make booking asap.

Best regards.


Below are the contact details received in my second email from 'Fred'

[email protected]
Engr.Fred Dan
9 Wimpole Street,
LONDON. W1G 9SR UK
Phone +447045765750


To cut a long story short, this person has agreed to the amount payable and has today asked for money to be charged to a credit card (I've not received details) to cover a deposit for the classes and the cost of a translator that's been hired. Something didn't seem right to me so I thought I'd investigate to see if it was some kind of scam. Lo and behold it does appear to be one. I have responded to the email I received today from 'Fred' by asking whether it would be better for him to send the translator a wire transfer or a cheque for costs. I wonder whether I will receive a reply...

I am soo angry about this!! I have been trying to help promote my friend's venue and this seemed like a godsend as business has been extremely slow recently. Now I've got to tell her it's a scam.

What can be done about scams like this??

Welcome to ScamWarners. I'm glad you took the time to search and found us.

As Peta posted above, this is a scam in which a scammer will try to pay with a stolen credit card. He will either want to pay above the amount and have you remit the surplus to another party (also played by himself) or he will cancel and ask for a refund paid to him. If he does agree to your request to be paid by check the check will be fraudulent or forged on a stolen account.

Please stop contact with him. Posting the email here will help prevent others from falling victim. Beyond that, there isn't much that can be done.
If you do receive any credit card numbers you can send the email containing them to myself or to one of the moderators here and we will report them.

Hi!
I've also received this email from Teddy Mark <[email protected]>:

Hello,
I'm looking for an experienced
choreograph/Dance Instructor that could take
about 12 individual for a dance training?
What can your establishment offer with
regards to the request above?
I would like to know what is required cost
implication and any other thing that will be
require for a successful training for at
least four weeks between the month of October
and November 2010.


I would like to book for one month and 2
weeks classes for 3 hours each day Monday to
Saturday (morning hours) for a group of 7. We
are asking for 3 hours per day for 2 weeks -
Monday - Saturday. A total of 36 hrs. We
would be coming over for holiday and as part
of our plans we need dance classes/private
lessons in ANY of the following area Ballet,
belly dance and Pre-Dance as well as Salsa,
Swing and Ballroom. Do you have a training
studio/facility where you conduct the
classes? Do you have rooms or is there any
hotel close to your facility?
DATE: 10th October TO 15th November 2010
The group would be performing for a group of
family members over there. I would love to
get the total cost or a quote/estimate. What
are your payment options? Do you accept
credit cards? I would be grateful if you will
be willing to do the work to teach quality
classes and make us happy

Best Regards,
9 Wimpole Street,
LONDON. W1G 9SR UK
Phone +447045765750

Do as Jillian advised me. Stop contact with him. 'Fred' sent me a few more emails but once he realised he wasn't getting anywhere with me he stopped.

Whenever you see a phone number in this form, you know it's a scammer

Phone +447045765750

or +44(0)70

44 is the country code for the UK but the (0)70 part indicates that it can be redirected to another country.

These numbers are only used by people wishing to hide their location, and no honest person has any need to use one. They're most frequently used by scammers based in West Africa or the Far East who know you'll be suspicious about getting an enquiry from that part of the world.

The sooner you can spot these signs the quicker you can avoid wasting your time on these people. They know that if they can make you spend time on them, it'll be easier for them to persuade you to accept their peculiar payment methods.

Lastly, there is never any reason for you to send payments on their behalf to anyone. In the deal, money always goes to you and there is no reason for you to have to pay any money out to anyone. If they ask - refuse. That's how they cash in at your expense. If they ever mention Western Union - laugh at them.