Day 165: Elizabeth Ray – scam artist

My project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 165: Elizabeth Ray – scam artist

You probably pride yourself on being smart, but how smart are you really? Can you spot a scam?

Yesterday, I was approached by Gloria Allendorfer-Anderson on Facebook who told me that she was awarded a grant of $50,000 and that I might be eligible too. All I had to do was get in touch with Elizabeth Ray (email elizabethray938@gmail.com)

Just for fun I sent Elizabeth an email and of course she let me know that I was eligible for a $50,000 grant too. I knew right away that I was dealing with a scam artist, but I decided to have some fun with her.

When she asked for my name, address, phone number and monthly income I gave her bogus information and when she wanted to know whether I wanted the $50,000 in cash or with a cheque, I opted for a cheque.

Then came the kicker … in order for the money to be delivered to me by UPS she wanted $1,000. Yeah, right, like I was going to send a complete stranger that much money.

I played along and said that I would send her the money. She suggested that I go to Walgreens or a CVS store. When I told her that no such store is in my neighborhood, she suggested I transfer the money via Western Union.

I suggested that I pay her directly to her bank account, but she was having none of that. If she gave me that information, it would be very easy for the police to track her down.

Not that tracking her down is much of a problem for those who know how. With her I.P. address they have her in a matter of minutes if not seconds.

This kind of scam, or shall I say all kinds of deceit makes me mad though. Generally, people work hard for their money and then a scam artist like Elizabeth Ray comes along and steals folks' hard earned cash. She herself probably probably never has done a day's work. She spends her time sending people emails and hoping that they fall for her scam. If only five people a day believe her nonsense, that's $5,000 for a few hours of 'work'.   

I might not have a Harvard degree, but I’m smart enough to spot a scam a mile away. Unfortunately, scammers are smart too. 

In the case of Elizabeth Ray, she will change her name and her email address and bamboozle who knows how many more people.

In conclusion … be wary of Elizabeth Ray and her partner in crime Gloria Allendorfer-Anderson, they might even be one and the same person.

If you keep the following in mind, you should be safe:

Never trust that a stranger wants to give you money. Nobody is going to give you money out of the goodness of their heart.

Never give your real name, address or phone number to a stranger.

Never trust a stranger who wants you to use Western Union as a money courier.

And last but not least … if something seems too good to be true … it usually is.

Day 149: Another Facebook Scam

​My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 149: Another Facebook Scam

Most of us pride ourselves on cleverness. When a scam is going around, we either know about it, or we think we’re smart enough not to fall for it. However, scammers came in all kinds of different forms and when one of those forms is a trusted friend, the scam is not so easy to recognize.

On Sunday morning I received a text from Steve (not his real name) starting with a simple “Hey”

Wiping sleep from my eyes I texted a “Hi” back.

“How are you?”

“Good. How are you?”

“Very good and very excited.”

“Oh?”

“I came into some money. $100,000.”

“You’re joking. Did you win that with the lotto?”

“No, through a grant program that is aimed at the unemployed, elderly, disabled, students, etc.”

“And you qualified?”

“Sure did. UPS delivered the money yesterday.”

“UPS delivered the money?”

“Yes. The online agent asked me if I wanted a cheque or cash and I said cash.”

“And UPS delivered that?”

“Yes. $100,000. I paid off my bills and took the rest to the bank.”

“That’s great. Congratulations.”

I found it a little strange that UPS delivers money but okay, if Steve said so, I wasn’t going to doubt him.

“You can get the same grant,” he went on. “I saw your name on the list. If you contact the online agent, you can get the grant too.”

It didn’t occur to me that this could be a scam. After all, this was Steve I was ‘talking’ to and why would he lie to me? The amount of money was also believable. Talk of millions of dollars would have raised a red flag, but $100,000 seemed reasonable.

“Contact the agent now,” Steve concluded. “His number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. Tell him that a friend saw your name on the list.”

“Okay, I will. Thanks.”

Moments later I fired off a text to the number provided and within minutes I received a text back.

“Your name is indeed on our list of grant receivers. Since we place high value on security, I will need your personal information so there can be no duplication of the grant.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Are you ready to fill in the form now?”

“Yes”

I was mentally doing a dance of joy. $100,000 … could this be for real? Common sense told me this was too good to be true, but this message came from Steve and I trusted him.

Moments later I received a set of questions from the online agent:

Full name:

Address:

Gender:

Date of Birth:

Copy of Driver License or other photo I.D.:

Hm, now I did see a red flag. I’m notoriously hesitant of sharing my personal information, especially where it comes to government issued documentation. Before doing that, I wanted to verify with Steve that this grant program was for real and he had indeed received $100,000.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get hold of Steve, so I tried his girlfriend next. Doreen (not her real name) told me Steve has stepped outside for a moment, but he would be back shortly. When I got to talk to Steve, he sounded a little flat, not at all like a man who had just received a sizeable amount of money.

“Hi Steve, congratulations on the money.”

“What money?”

“The hundred thousand dollars.”

“What hundred thousand dollars?”

“You didn’t receive hundred thousand dollars from the grant program?”

He immediately knew what I was referring to.

“It’s a scam. My Facebook account was hacked and several of my friends were contacted by the scammer.”

“Oh I see.”

"You didn't fall for it, did you?"

"I did, sort of, but I didn't give him any vital information."

"Do you really think that if I won $100,000 I would tell everyone about it?"

That made sense. Mentally I saw $100,000 go out the window.

The scammer didn’t give up easily though. Throughout the day he send me messages such as

“When can you send me photo I.D.?”

“We have been waiting for you, we have a lot of people attending to.”

And then his last one … “Should we terminate your grant?”

This, I suppose, was to spur me into action. I took action of a different kind, I notified the authorities, if for nothing else than to have a case number in the event of identity theft. I kept Steve’s name out of the conversation. Not that my call was necessary. Mr. Scammer was known to them and an investigation was underway. Mr. Scammer’s days were numbered. They knew who and where he was and his scam would soon be terminated.