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Banner Scam?

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BillyBoy86

New Member
i think for the first time since going into business for myself i may have got one of those banner scams. i'll wait and see if i get a follow up, but i got a message "Hey There, i'm james B****** i want to know if your available to handle banner design and do you take credit card payments"
 
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bannertime

Active Member
The next steps are typically a change from pick up to shipping using their own company which you have to pay out of pocket for with the promise of reimbursement or they send a check for an amount over the invoice amount and ask for money back or a combination of those with a credit card that will bounce too.
 
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BillyBoy86

New Member
bannertime said:
The next steps are typically a change from pick up to shipping using their own company which you have to pay out of pocket for with the promise of reimbursement or they send a check for an amount over the invoice amount and ask for money back or a combination of those with a credit card that will bounce too.
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here's the follow up....
"i will have loved to call you but presently am out of state for a business trip and i want to get things done before my arrival, hope you find me clear on this view?"
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
BillyBoy86 said:
here's the follow up....
"i will have loved to call you but presently am out of state for a business trip and i want to get things done before my arrival, hope you find me clear on this view?"
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Scam. still in the country, nothing stopping from a phone call. Delete the email and forget about it.
 
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BillyBoy86

New Member
Pauly said:
Scam. still in the country, nothing stopping from a phone call. Delete the email and forget about it.
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i know....just find it a bit amusing....plus, what does out of state mean to me? like i said, denver area code....i'm in PA. he's not in my state anyway
 
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bannertime

Active Member
Next step is up to you. I probably wouldn't take the order. These scam emails typically come from a firstnamelastname@gmail.com email address. It'll have a very bland signature like a name and plain business name.

I've actually had a customer like this before that was legit. It was the oddest thing ever and eventually I convinced them to make a cash payment in store. They order a few times a year.
 
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BlueRidgeSignSupply

Print Manager
Just to put my input in - I get these e-mails 24/7.

While I would never discriminate based on what your first language is - it's very rare for me to get well written and perfectly grammatically correct e-mails from scammers. Most of them aren't based in the US (because they would get arrested for the fraud they're trying to commit), and therefore they will likely not speak English as a first language.

The "I will love to have called you" is a clear indication to me that they're not just "some dude" from another state trying to order something.

If someone:
Isn't local enough to make sense (I don't know why someone in CA would purchase from me in NC.)
Uses awkward grammar ("I will like to place an order")
Wants you to ship it using "their freight" (Normal people will say "yeah, use UPS like a normal person")
Doesn't look like a normal e-mail/text order

It's a scam 9 times out of 10 if all those things are true.
 
Marlene

Marlene

New Member
This scam has been going on forever. Did you ask yourself why someone from Denver would contact you for banners? Delete the e-mail and don't continue to contact them. You made contact so now you probably are on a suckers list and will get more of these scams.
 
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BillyBoy86

New Member
Marlene said:
This scam has been going on forever. Did you ask yourself why someone from Denver would contact you for banners? Delete the e-mail and don't continue to contact them. You made contact so now you probably are on a suckers list and will get more of these scams.
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well first, it was a text, on my cell phone...i responded before really thinking about. after i replied, i looked up the number
 
T_K

T_K

New Member
I got an email like this years ago asking about hundreds of stop signs. Sounded fishy. Didn't have anything better to do so I looked up the price from our vendor, jacked up the price a ridiculous amount and insist on payment up front, figuring either they move along or it's legit and I make an outrageous sale and take a vacation. They agree to the price (which was fishy) and then insist on me contacting another company for shipping to Europe. I responded we don't handle international trade - I can give them a pick up address, but they're responsible for shipping. That was the end of that.
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
I've played along with them once before... got to the point where they mailed me a money order via USPS Overnight Priority with a postage cost of almost $30 printed on it. The money order looked very real. I told them I never got it and got them to spend another $30 sending another envelope. I again told them I didnt get it and they gave up on me ... lol. I'd imagine someone who is a scammer too could use those money orders to rip off some store or bank.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
BillyBoy86 said:
i know....just find it a bit amusing....plus, what does out of state mean to me? like i said, denver area code....i'm in PA. he's not in my state anyway
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In another state from his home state.
Dont waste your time with them.
 
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