Elaborate cheque scam?

soolin

lozhead wrote: »

I received a call from D King last night about tutoring a girl from Qatar last night.

It did seem quite suspect but he was very convincing so I gave him my email address. I received an email asking for a scan of my passport, a copy of my DBS certificate, a copy of my CV and a name and contact number for a reference. His email seemed very professional and well worded. There wasn't any mention of money in his email and he previously mentioned in his phone call that I would be paid directly by the family of the tutee.

I was actually contemplating sending my details to him until I had a good google and came across this post.

This was a far more convincing scam than most I have come across. Although, I definitely wouldn't have sent them any money if they had asked and that would have confirmed that it was definitely a scam for me.

Thank you for posting this. You have saved me a headache.

This thread gets stranger and stranger- I feel there is going to be a big reveal at the end now- perhaps a write up in a tabloid newspaper or.....are we about to be sold a piece of software or service that can protect us from these (cough) 'elaborate' (cough) scams.

This is really getting bizarre.

robatwork

lozhead wrote: »

I received a call from D King last night about tutoring a girl from Qatar last night.

Indeed Soolin it's getting very bizarre.

Our very own Qatarmass experiment.

Thank you and I'll see myself out.

tempus_fugit

lozhead wrote: »

I received a call from D King last night about tutoring a girl from Qatar last night.

It did seem quite suspect but he was very convincing so I gave him my email address. I received an email asking for a scan of my passport, a copy of my DBS certificate, a copy of my CV and a name and contact number for a reference. His email seemed very professional and well worded. There wasn't any mention of money in his email and he previously mentioned in his phone call that I would be paid directly by the family of the tutee.

I was actually contemplating sending my details to him until I had a good google and came across this post.

This was a far more convincing scam than most I have come across. Although, I definitely wouldn't have sent them any money if they had asked and that would have confirmed that it was definitely a scam for me.

Thank you for posting this. You have saved me a headache.

I see this all the time and it puzzles me. Whilst a lot of scams are written in very poor English there are many where the victim has described the perpetrator as being "well spoken", "sounded professional", "very convincing" etc. It seems obvious to me that these are not criteria for working out if something is a scam or not. Other factors should be taken into account, such as the request for money to carry out normal admin tasks, the use of Bitcoin, and the fact that the OP, at least, was cold-called. If people took note of these red flags instead of how professional they sound then there would be far fewer people being scammed in the first place.

Ergates

This is weird, I too received a call from Dr King recently about tutoring a girl from Qatar.

All I had to do was send him: my email address; home address; scans of my passport, driving licence and birth certificate; last 6 months bank statements; the licence plate and VIN of my car; 20ml of my blood; 3 copies of my front door key; 5kg of gold bullion and a photograph of me with a pineapple shoved up my !!!!.

I feel really silly now. The pineapple is still stuck and it's quite uncomfortable.

Zanderman

tempus_fugit wrote: »

I see this all the time and it puzzles me. Whilst a lot of scams are written in very poor English there are many where the victim has described the perpetrator as being "well spoken", "sounded professional", "very convincing" etc. It seems obvious to me that these are not criteria for working out if something is a scam or not. Other factors should be taken into account, such as the request for money to carry out normal admin tasks, the use of Bitcoin, and the fact that the OP, at least, was cold-called. If people took note of these red flags instead of how professional they sound then there would be far fewer people being scammed in the first place.

This^^^^^ Indeed! Why oh why do people assume scammers will sound unprofessional?

My old mum, now passed on, was a classic at this - the pushy double glazing salesman was ok because he 'seemed a nice young man', the over-expensive boiler salesman must be ok because 'he seemed to know his stuff', the scam call from 'BT' about needing her to give her debit card details (used very quickly to order stuff online) was ok because they 'knew the line rental was going up'.

Just because they sound convincing doesn't mean they are genuine. A good scammer will sound good - by definition - that's the measure of a good scam!

The OP's story on this thread is a classic - the bloke 'sounded profesional' so he was taken at face value - despite the obviously scammy payment up-front (for what - he's s'posed to be paying you!), the obviously scammy bitcoin payment method and then the obvious scammy request for more. And he's a tutor!!! Thank god I don't need one. At least my old mum was in her eighties and believed everyone was nice.

eddy

I am as amazed as some of the posters above, particularly as you seem to be aware of such scams, yet engaged with this caller.

JacobWilliams wrote: »

"David King PhD" has been calling (from several numbers, often withheld) and emailing me about working for a "girl from a Qatari family" who has "recently arrived in the UK".

What numbers has he been calling you from?

What is his email address?

Have a read of What is this “can I hire you as a tutor” scam?

meer53

I'm a bit worried that the OP is a Tutor and only "thinks" this may be a scam !

POPPYOSCAR

meer53 wrote: »

I'm a bit worried that the OP is a Tutor and only "thinks" this may be a scam !

No need to worry.

Two posters both tutors sign up just to post about this?

I think not.

couriervanman

Is it "National Stupid Day":rotfl:


"He requested thorough documentation, including a scan of my passport"......Erm hello wakey wakey

Zanderman

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

No need to worry.

Two posters both tutors sign up just to post about this?

I think not.

Maybe, but the OP, whilst a relative newbie, has posted before. No particular reason to doubt his story, apart from the naivety of it.

And, as this would appear to be a tutor-orientated scam, it should be unsurprising more than one tutor reports it. If this is a scam targetting tutors we surely should expect a newbie or two to find this thread and make a comment.