Don't Get Scammed

By Rob Hudson CEC CCE

You have probably been contacted by the poor imprisoned African prince who asked you to cash a check to release his mega fortune. Another common scam asks you to give your credit card number to someone over the phone in exchange for a future discounted vacation. These unfortunate scams have taken millions of dollars from people throughout the United States. They have wiped out bank accounts, credit cards, and have caused people weeks or months of misery. Most of us are keen enough to not become a victim of such scams, but recently a new scam targets the food service industry.

A couple months ago, a student asked to see me about a catering event. He saw an ad on Craig's List looking for someone to cater a family reunion in Denver. The ad did not include a phone number, only a contact e-mail address. The student e-mailed the contact and was given a list of food products, wines, and services needed. They also said that they would send a check for $2,000.00, and whatever funds were not used should be mailed back to an address in California.

When my student showed me this, a few things raised some red flags. The first thing that I noticed was the catering was only in a few days. Now, if you were to have a family reunion, wouldn't you have a caterer lined up weeks in advanced? The second was that there was really no contact information besides an e-mail address. The third was the types of food and wine that the request was for. As an example: The wines were very specific, and many of them are not found in most wine shops or liquor stores. The fourth red flag was that the amount of food did not make much sense with the amount of people that were supposed to be attending the reunion. Also, why would they send a $2,000.00 check and ask for the remaining funds to be returned?

After further investigation, the student mentioned to me that the address of the event seemed suspicious. He was told that it was going to be at a residential area, and the address of the house was e-mailed to him. He went online to look up the address, only to find out the address is an intersection in an industrial area of Denver. There are no houses in that area.

I told my student that this sounds really off, and that I would highly recommend refraining from doing this event and getting further involved. He agreed, but also investigated further. The next day he went to his bank to ask some questions. The bank told him that this is a common scam, and that the implications could be very serious. The bank took the advertisement information and forwarded it to the authorities.

Recently, I have had numerous e-mails sent to my work e-mail address with similar aspects. The most recent one was an e-mail asking to prepare ten pounds of potato salad, and they would pay a large sum by credit card, and what was ever remaining should be credited back to the credit card account. I could tell that the e-mail was a form letter and was not directed towards me specifically. Again, why not just go to the store to by ten pounds of potato salad?

We are starting to see more aggressive attempts by such thieves that are targeting not only individuals but also businesses. We all should know that quick and easy money is not common, and we should always use our best judgment with any business transactions. I am proud of my student asking for my opinion, but I am more happy that he spent time doing research. This could have been one of the worst lessons to learn in life.