Fun With Scammers: Golden Retriever Receives Check For $150,000
Congratulations! Your dog is rich! Oh wait, no. It's a scam. Meet Bruce Gadansky of the Louisville BBB. He got an email from some internet scammers and decided to reply -- as his dog. The email was from a "company" looking for help cashing a check.
From WLKY:
Gadansky replied, using the name "Clancy The Dog LLC.""I told them I was in the fertilizer business, which Clancy does a lot of, fertilizing the back yard," Gadansky said. "That smacks of the truth. Then I waited. I didn't expect to even get a response."
On Tuesday, a very authentic-looking check from a real Canadian company came in the mail.
"I'm supposed to deposit the check," Gadansky said. "I get to keep 5 percent and then wire back the remainder of that money. So I keep $7,500 and wire them back over $140,000. You're wiring them back real money, but that check is a phony, and your bank will figure that out in a few days. It's an old scam for which people are still falling."
Clancy is a crimefighter. Yes he is. Awww.
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Comments:
How to scam the scammers - give them a fake name and address to send the check, of course you have no intention of cashing it. In this way, the scammers will go broke mailing fake checks to fake addresses!
He should mail them one of Clancy's 'deposits'
Put meat juice on the check and have him eat it....or poop on it.
In fact he should go poop on the PEOPLE sending the e-mails. That would be a good deterrent.
"Stop sending these e-mails or my dog will poop on you."
One problem with this scheme is Mr. Gadansky committed fraud.
How, you may ask?
Did he file a DBA declaring a business with the county he resides in? Does he have a LLC form filed with the same county, sealed and witnessed?
By The Book, this fellow's in hot water. But, he cooked a scammer in the process, so I think that they'll let it slide.
@ILoveVermont: So, at $0.45 cents to mail a letter, maybe $0.03-$0.05 to create the FAKE check.... You need alot of fake addy's to cause them to go broke.
Hilarious!
A few years ago, I got an official looking mailed notice addressed to my dog that he had won $1,000,000 in an unnamed sweepstakes... but he needed to call the referenced 1-900 number. Unfortunately, he's not so hot with the phone keypad and doesn't like talking on the phone, so I don't think he ever called...
Still have it posted on my fridge for laughs. :)
@Nighthawke: Yeah... all he did was send an email that called his dog a name that had the word "LLC" in it. I really doubt he would get in any real trouble for that.
My dog is smart, but I don't think he's smart enough to incorporate an LLC. He's a sole pup-rietor.
Heh, when I was 12 I got one of those letters.
I had "won" $1 million and needed to cash the check and mail them a money order for $250k.
I will never understand how someone is able to fall these scams. Even if someone I knew, even a sibling, told me he/she was sending me a check for $500 and wanted me to cash it and then wire them back $450 of it, I'd tell them to shove off. It makes absolutely no sense.
True story, last month my cat got a letter in the mail addressed to her. More interestingly, it was a sample packet of cat treats! I wonder what she's been up to...
Didn't this happen in the Simpsons?
Santos L. Halper.
I think some of this might have to due with people like me.
Any restaurant that offers a $10 off coupon on a birthday meal or something of the sort, I sign my dog up for it. My dogs' AKC registered and certified name includes my last name.
My cat won the first Islamic Lottery back in 2006.
We're still waiting for the check, however.
That dog is going to need a lawyer. I think the OP is safe from prosecution however.
@valarmorghulis: No, but Ralph's only friend is a dog named Wiggle Pup. Oh, the adventures those two have.
"I ate the check before I could cash it. Please send another."
@Petra: I once went into my cat's room, and found my wallet on the ground open int he middle of the floor. I think they were either going to steal a credit card to order something, or were trying to see what a NJ Drivers License looked like so they could make a fake ID.
Who's a rich boy?? Who's a rich boy? You are! Yes you are. You are the richest, furriest little boy in the world, ohyesyouare!
I'm sorry, I just can't help myself . . . .
Your dog wants steak.
With $7,500, lots of it, too.
OK, so to make this post relevant, I'll congratulate the OP on a job well done. I love it when the scammers get their comeuppance.
Clancy should hold out for 10%
@Petra: Sometimes these sorts of things originate from your veterinarian.
I send out for kitty samples all the time by my self, though. I wish someone would get wind of that and just mail them to me automatically. It'd save me a little time.
There are hoards of folks who get a lot of entertainment out of messing with scammers... check this site:
419 is the Nigerian penal code section covering most of these scams.
Important note... Read and fully understand the warnings included in the above website if you intend to participate in these shenanigans. Some of those little scammer clowns can be very dangerous.
Bob
maybe i'm asking a stupid question, but how does this "scam the scammer"?
unless he actually follows through with the deposit and subsequent wire back to them, there's no scam on the alleged scammers part.
I agree it is indeed the setup for a scam, but until clancy follows through, what's this doing to give the scammer a taste of his own medicine?
@ILoveVermont:
I might try this one one sometime:
George Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
@ILoveVermont: I have thought about this. Not to make them go under (that would take forever) but just to see how many checks I can collect. Plus it would probably make them mad to keep sending out lots of checks with no results.
And boy won't you and your dog feel silly when you find out this was a legit deal!
I did the same last week. Got a check for $173,000 and I asked the person if the check was real, he said yes so I cashed it and sent him his money.
You see, some people are nice and you all sound bitter and... gotta go, the bank is calling. I bet they want to upgrade my checking account!
See ya suckers!
@Consumerist-Moderator-Roz: then can we add something on the side like those thumbs up thingies? sometimes i still want to be heard, but I just want to say, "right on"
@Nighthawke: The local DAs office wouldn't prosecute because no jury would convict. The only other legal consequence is a lawsuit. But the original jackasses who sent the fake check would be dismissed based on unclean hands.
"Scruff McGruff, Chicago, IL 60652...and help take a bite of crime"
If you can get 2 scammers to send you a check, maybe you can send them each the other one's.
Is Clancy's last name 'Wiggum'?