Hi Kathleen, Thanks for your blog. Below is an email I received today. I was skeptical but pretty convinced once I got the response.
From: Tim Patty [timmypatty@yahoo.com]
Date: Wed, May 21, 2014 at 8:55 AM
Subject: PAinter Needed
To: timmypatty@yahoo.com
Morning,
I need your services as a decorative painter for my
wife birthday in August.
Are you a faux,canvas or colored pencil painter.
Check your the attach images to this email and let me know if you can make
exact paint for me,awaits your mail.
Regards,
Tim.
* My response:*
Hi Tim,
Yes I am able to paint this for you. I would nee to know sizes. Do you want 2 paintings or the eagle and the landscape combined.
-
Thanks,
Erin
*His Response*
tim patty
12:30 PM (1 hour ago)
to Erin
Thanks for your swift response and her birthday is on August 2 so i want
you to to make a replica of the 2 image the landscape and the eagle
separately but my wife loves nature,presently am in Philippines doing
social work to the victim of typhoon haiyan also its a surprise for her
and i want it ready before her birthday.
How many weeks will its takes you to finish the 2 painting and size is 24
by 30 and what is the total cost?
I want canvas painting and i want to present it to her on her birthday as
gift,awaits your mail.
Yeah, I hate when scammers use two first names to make up their fake name. And if you noticed, he sent the email from himself to himself, meaning he used a distribution list, probably hundreds of thousands of people got this same email.
ReplyDeleteAnd the fake story about being overseas somewhere for some admiral reason sets up the part of the scam where they overpay and then ask the victim to forward the "extra" amount (usually sizable) on to the shipper (who doesn't exist) because they (the scammer) is overseas.
To everyone: Easy way to avoid the fake buyer scam is NEVER accept overpayments for ANY reason and NEVER wire money anywhere in your business dealings. Wired money cash and once it is sent it is GONE. Just don't wire money when selling things.
Thank you for your alert. I received such an email today from "Tim Patty." I found your blog by internet search. It seems that this scammer is also targeting writers/editors.
ReplyDeleteHere is the email I received:
Writer,Editor and Proofreader is needed urgently
Get back to me if you are available for details and i will like to know how much you charge per page or words also the document is attach to this mail.I will be waiting till i hear back from you.
The attachment was a 8-page written document that clearly was plagiarized (stolen) from somewhere.
Thank you for maintaining this blog. It's great that we freelancers can stick together.
I just got the same email, from tim patty. Asks for editorial services. I suspected it was a scam. Thanks for confirming so.
ReplyDeleteI received virtually the identical email asking how much I would charge for my editorial services. "Tim's" email signature says that he's in Lafayette, Louisiana. I thought it smelled fishy from the get-go, so thanks for helping confirm that suspicion.
ReplyDeleteSteve
I received the same email today. I didn't open the attachment, fearing it might expose me to malware, and after judging from the poorly written email message that there was no hope for reviving the document even if the sender was sincere. Out of curiosity, I searched for the sender's name because I suspected it was a scam. And so it is.
ReplyDeleteI also received such a message yesterday looking for editorial work for an attached scientific paper. I almost replied, but figured I'd Google his odd-sounding name first.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much!
Me too! He evaded every question I asked him. He would not send his phone#, tell me where he got my name, or use PayPal. That's when I checked the Internet. Thanks to all!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I got the same e-mail today. Had the same intuitive feeling that it was a scam. Checked the Internet. Appreciate you all letting others know.
ReplyDeleteSame experience as everyone else! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteGot an email and it sounded fishy. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeletei got it too, asking to do the editorial job and offering to prepay with check:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your swift response.
I want you edit and proofread the document in English or are you translator
The document is to create more awareness on STD among teenager and mother which will be distributed in pamphlet also an initiation of my late wife to help kids,orphans and mothers
Also let me know the price and am ready to make deposit so you can start, payment will be through check
So send me your name and address with phone number where the check will be mail to and i need it back in 21 days.,am ready to make the payment in advance.
Awaits your mail.
Another recipient. I Googled the address "https://www.google.com/maps/@30.20755,-92.06308,3a,75y,39.9h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sHpWCU-KDtDpGxauRcFfgQA!2e0". That is a small rundown white shanty. The address exists, but who knows who lives there. It would be kind of stupid for a scammer to provide his real address, although, as all ready mentioned the spelling and attachment is "kinda stupid" lol. Thanks all! I went right to the Net to search for a scam and found this with no difficulty. I also found this in the public domain. http://publicdomainvectors.org/tn_img/freak-vector-jonny.jpg. I'm going to send it as a reply attachment. WEG. I hate scammers!
ReplyDeleteYes, scammers never reveal their real address - they usually sit in foreign countries like Nigeria or the Ukraine and just make up names and addresses for their scam story.
ReplyDeleteALERT! There was more than spam to the attachment in my case. I too opened the attachment (something I'm savvy enough to never do). Shortly after that my email account was compromised and 75 MB of emails spammed out of it to who knows where. It likely compromised my contacts list, but that wouldn't create 75MB of spam, so no telling what's going on. My ISP caught it, changed the password, and alerted me. DO NOT OPEN ANY ATTACHMENTS.
ReplyDeleteALWAYS great advice. This is also why tracking the IP number of these scam emails no longer matters. They are typically sent out just like they were to the user above - taking over a compromised computer.
ReplyDeleteMore Tim Patty scam, this time to TRNASALTORS, EDITOS, WRITERS etc:
ReplyDeleteAm Timmy Patty
Writer,Editor and Proofreader is needed urgently
If you are translator as well take a look at the document if you can translate it
Get back to me if you are available for details and i will like to know how much you charge per page or words also the document is attach to this mail.I will be waiting till i hear back from you.
Kind Regards,
Tim
Tim Patty
210 Tours Street
Lafayette, Louisiana 70506
I also received the editing email from the same group, although now they are using Washington Chris as a handle.
ReplyDelete