Thread: Dance Business Scams!

Has anybody received similar scam? Typical scam e-mail I received goes like this:


How are you doing today ?
My name is Peter Schuller. I would like to book for dance
classes.

We want to make a contract that will cover 75 hours for 10 weeks. We
would be coming over for holiday and as part of our plans, we need
dance classes in any of the following; Salsa,flamenco,ballet and
Ballroom or even a square dance. Do you teach any of the above? If not, let me have the
type of entertaining dances you teach.We need something entertaining. This is just for the fun. No competition, but for public entertainment, self-realization and fulfillment only.


Do you have a training facility where you conduct classes? We can
arrange for this.
We also need guest rooms or any 3* or 4* star hotel accommodation

Our stay will last from the first week of October to December,2009.

I would love to know the possibility of working with you during our
proposed holidays. Do you accept credit cards? Kindly send me the
following;

: total cost for the whole classes
: hotel cost for six single rooms

: Name of the Manager/Owner


Your swift response is highly needed.


Best Regards,

Peter Schuller
74 Queensborough Terrace
Bayswater
London W2

I get about 1 every 2 weeks or so- mostly just ignore them, every once in a while there is one that sounds a bit more reasonable & I send a copy of my current class schedule- level 1 required before I will do private lessons. Mostly I just know to expect spam.

spam, spam, spam, spam... does anyone actually fall for these?
my favorite recent contact stated that the entire dance company was coming over from France to take ballroom, ballet, salsa and bellydance and did I teach any other forms of dance? Just don't accept any foreign funds from this kind of contact, okay? Unless they are standing on my doorstep, I ain't buyin this kind of shtick.

Originally Posted by Lara L

... Just don't accept any foreign funds from this kind of contact, okay? ...

Thank you, Lara.
That is very important sentence. Nobody wants to get involved in stolen credit card charges ...

Yeah, I got that email. I knew it was a scam so I strung him along for about a week for the fun of it.

Originally Posted by Michaela

Thank you, Lara.
That is very important sentence. Nobody wants to get involved in stolen credit card charges ...

the way I've heard it is more like they send you a check, it seems to clear, they say there was a mistake & ask for a refund, you refund, & THEN the check bounces- or they reverse the paypal or CC charges (they have up to 45 days to do this, I believe) and clear out the account so the bank can't help you- voila, they just scammed you for however much they were supposedly paying you. Either way, no one is going to bring an entire dance company, or send their 13 year old daughter or whatever, all the way to Alaska just to take an unspecified dance form for hours that I don't advertise. Even if it did sound legit, I don't have a spare 10 hours a week (or whatever the current request is) to drop the rest of my life for anyone on such a nebulous request.

Man...I've gotten this email 3 times this week!! Sigh. Freaking spammers.

I have received a few emails like that.
I always just look at them thinking this is too weird, and too good to be true, so I delete and ignore them.

I think for sure its some kind of Spam

All the time. 'Just for Fun' we went along with it once... The payment was in very realistic USPS money orders... The sender wanted change :) I offered to return the money orders, telling her that we would prefer cash at the door because scams with money orders were endemic... never heard from them again... gave the money orders to local PO for evaluation and yes, they were great imitations... even banks get fooled... for a while...

I wish there was some way to get back at these scammers, like a sting operation...

yeah, spammy.