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Suggestions Possible Scam or am I losing it?

rydods

rydods

Member for quite some time.
Yesterday I received an email from one of my customers referring a vehicle wrap to me. He copies me in the email and tells the guy to get a hold of me. A little bit later, I get a text from this guy asking if we do wraps. Than I get an email from the same guy as well, asking if we do wraps. I respond to both the email and text. He texts me back telling me what he wants. I tell him we can do it and give him a rough estimate based on what I see. Perfect! He has 2 transits he just bought and wants them done as soon as possible and wants to make a down payment deposit of $700 per vehicle and balance will be before pickup.

This all seems to check out ok however there are several red flags that are weirding me out.

1. He's only texting me. (I plan to call in the morning just to try and have a normal conversation)

2. He seems pushy. He asked me for the approx. price late yesterday afternoon and this morning first thing he texts me "Hello how are you doing today". So I work up a quick estimate and he responds...
"that sounds great"...."I will arrange for a private truck driver that'll deliver them and pick them from your location, I need your location address for me to forward it to the driver. I won't be coming with him, then I can make a deposit of $700, balance will be before pick"...I want it done as soon as possible, do you accept all major kinds of credit cars for payments?"...."are u here"..."?????"

(I was installing so I couldn't get to my text messages right away, which is why he seemed stressed)

Then I get one last text after I tell him we take all forms of credit card. "so can I make a down payment"

Is this weird or just me? Can I actually take a down payment and still get scammed? Any advise?

Thanks
 
T

Terry01

New Member
It's a tricky one..Cover your bases and request a down payment of at least 2/3rds of the job to cover materials and labour.
If he wants them done that badly, he will pay..get it in cash
 
B

bannertime

Active Member
If they come in to pay with a card or check, ask to see some ID to verify the name. Which should be done with amounts over a few hundred anyway. If they pay with cash, learn to spot fakes. These will allow you to proceed without making the potential customer feel suspected of something. Once you get a good payment, make sure to completely document final product in case they try a charge back or something fishy. As always, don't release the product without full payment.

If they don't want to come by to make a payment, then that may be a big enough red flag to cancel the job. Don't take a payment until you have possession of the vehicle. If you're still suspicious, cancel the job and refund if necessary.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
Tell him for this big of an amount, you only accept credit cards in person. Then ask for photo ID, and photocopy both. If they have a problem with that, odds are it's a scammer. You can easily fake a credit card to match a name, or get a fake ID... you can't fake a picture though.

Check the registration / VIN on the vehicle... write it down. Pretty much cover your bases.

It's not odd to have an anti-social impatient customer, but there are some red flags that should make you be cautious about it.
 
Jwalk

Jwalk

New Member
I don't have a scam story but there have been some times where I get stupid emails dum questions or just months of bs..boy am I glad I didn't tell them to go stick it. Some of those customers were the best ever,once all said and done..it's hard to tell..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ams

ams

New Member
It's 100% scam, I've dealt with dozens of these, normally it's banners they want. Whenever you hear "I will arrange pick up" or "What form of payment do you accept?" those both are scams. If he made a payment, it's by a stolen credit card.
 
FatCat

FatCat

New Member
Got exactly the same inquiry just a few weeks ago, but they said they had 2 mercedes sprinters. Design was very generic, no company name or info, phone# or anything you would typically see on a wrap. I cut the cord when he said he had a medical issue and would have a delivery company drop off the vans and pick them up. That's an automatic red flag to me. Oh yeah and he never followed up or asked why I didn't get back to him

Seems there is no end to those who spend their time creating ways and schemes to cheat others out of something...
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
+1 for scam... All your red flags are correct. The rush to deposit, not talking to someone on the phone (maybe because its going to be an overseas accent), offering a weird deposit amount (Not 50%), delivery truck drivers, asking about "all major credit cards", too many red flags for my comfort. I'd be frank and explain to them that this situation is not kosher and at this point on cash only. Any average american would understand the red flags of a Nigerian scam and would understand why your asking for cash only.

Photo ID's, credit cards, checks, money orders can all be scammed. Credit cards get charge-backs, checks bounce, sometimes after 30+days. Getting ID's from delivery drivers is not enough.
 
dale911

dale911

President
14+ years in law enforcement before getting into this industry full time. This is 100% a scam. DO NOT DO ANYTHING! Tell him cash only and you won’t hear from them again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
GAC05

GAC05

Quit buggin' me
Tell him you talked to your partner and will only take gold or maybe silver.
devane.jpg
 
H

henryz

New Member
Scammers, check area code of text, I've seen most of them come from Virginia and emails are from Gmail, if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is.
 
M

mbasch

New Member
Definitely a scam. Get the CC, but don't even attempt to run it. Tell him it was declined and ask for another one. Do this is many times as he bites just to lead him on :) On 1 occasion of this I actually tracked down the card owner and let them know.
 
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