Internet scams surround us all. There are plenty of "Public Service Announcements" advising us what to avoid and what not to do. I wanted to share more specifically, exactly what happened to me.
I was enticed (even though I knew better). In speaking with the State of Colorado's District Attorney's Office lead investigator after-the-fact, he confirmed that (A) they are the masters of enticing us; appealing to our emotions; seeming authentic even though we should know better, and (B) they know they are "navigating in unpatrolled waters" - In my case, because they were operating out of state, Colorado had no jurisdiction; because I was in Colorado, wherever they were operating from (assuming it was within the USA) the local authorities would not be motivated to act since I was out-of-state; the only cross-jurisdiction authority is the FBI, but unless there was an actual financial loss of multiple millions of dollars, they don't have the resources.
Because these internet scammers know they are not going to be captured, it's up to you and me to defend ourselves. Here's my story - I hope it helps you. Enjoy.
A
very common scam
I knew… even though I didn’t want to know. I hoped it wasn’t… even though I knew it probably
was. They wanted me to go further… I
wanted to, too. But I stopped
short. Still, I wished it wasn’t what I
should have known it was and you would have known, too - from the beginning.
We have all heard about these incidents. When you start to read the following, true
story, don’t be too quick to say, “I know”.
They are counting on us to be complacent. They are counting on being smarter than
us. They are counting on law enforcement
to be too busy to enforce this law. They
do it so often, it must be working and I, like you, should know better. At least I knew sooner if not better and at
least the only thing hurt was my pride.
Still, I wished it wasn’t what I should have known it
was right off…
He said:
Hello
there.,
> Are you available for writing project?
> Kindly email back for further information and
payment per word.
Thanks
Michael
I replied:
Yes, however I am on vacation until February 2nd. Please contact me then or thereafter.
I really was headed out of town. A road trip to Chicago with my wife, to visit
family along with a side trip to Galesburg for a Knox College basketball alumni
celebration. I put Michael’s email in
the back of my mind. If anything, I
expected nothing more to come of it. He had other intentions.
After retiring from fulltime employment in 2022, I entered the “gig economy”. I updated my LinkedIn profile to show I’m an author and open to content writing assignments. I was “fishing” for work more than “hunting”, really. Hunters go out and actively stalk their prey. Fisherman, at least my kind of fisherman, find a likely location; bait their hook; put their line in the water; and wait for a fish to bite. My likely location was social media and my bait was my resume of sales and sales enablement, along with my weekly blogs.
In January of 2023, I got my very first
“bite”. I was excited (cautiously
excited perhaps, but excited nonetheless).
Two and a half weeks later Michael wrote back:
Are
you back now
I replied:
Hello
Michael,
Yes, back from our vacation.
And he said:
Glad
you are back safe.
Sharing my initial email string with my wife she,
being the more level headed one, immediately replied, “scam”. I too had the same impression, but I really wanted
this to be my first paid engagement. I
replied to Michael that I was interested and asked him to provide more
detail. He responded immediately with
what, except for a few “little factors”, was almost perfect. Almost…
Michael offered an excellent description of the
proposed writing project… Social Media:
The Benefits and Risks; 2,000 to 2,500 words; an outline of 6 topics to cover;
a deadline six weeks out; payment via certified bank check. Everything he asked I knew not only I could
do, but more importantly, I wanted to do.
How prescient the topic, Social Media: The Benefits
and Risks. It came to mind that I could simply
write about this true tale of anonymous, electronic contact from a
stranger. The context was within the
realm of possibilities, considering how I had positioned my content writing
availability on social media. I was
conscious of the risks. It was the voice
of that Unknown Sage in the back of my mind that I couldn’t get rid of:
Conscious - is when you
are aware of something.
Conscience - is when you
wish you weren't.
And then there were those “little factors”… Those didn’t involve his initial offer of 1.5¢
per word. I checked the “How much should
I charge” section in The Writer’s Market (an annual reference book devoted
to the business and promotion of writing).
1.5¢ was within the pre-word, price point range. It was at the very bottom of that range, but still
it was in the range. At 2,500 words that
would be $37.50.
I was hoping my writing gigs would be in the $150 to
$200 range but as I’ve said, I wanted this first deal. Talking myself into it I was saying, “Well
Gary, you have to start somewhere.” I
wasn’t a published author or known writer.
I didn’t have a portfolio of content writing engagements I could
reference. In fact, I didn’t have any
references at all.
So I continued the email
exchange:
Thanks Michael,
Very thorough. The
proposed payment is quite a bit lower than my typical project, but I'm
interested in the topic and appreciative of your patience.
Would you consider paying
a higher rate? And if so, perhaps we can simplify the payment process by going
through Venmo or PayPal. (That would save you bank fees on a certified check as
well.)
I understand the outline
and the timeframe. Can you tell me anything more about the audience?
Finally, I've noted your
anonymity. Is it your preference to continue this way?
The elephant in the room… All I had was an email that was revealed when
I hoovered over his sender field that included, “mgkrule147…”. That made me curious. I Googled “Magic Rule 147”. I didn’t like the results. Then I Googled his full email address. One of the “hits” brought me to a LinkedIn
profile of one Michael Ganze (not his real, fake name), Associate Professor of
Clinical Education, Emeritus in the USC Rossier School of Education. Could he be legit? There were still those “little factors”.
Before I could continue,
I heard back:
Sounds fine to me, Will you be able to finish up
before March 20.,Considering the amount to be paid for the job, cashiers check
or bank certified checks is our best bet. My sponsor Will proceed with the
payment…Please get back to with your details in the format below and the scope
and plan of the project will be defined by you and modified by you so that we
can best enjoy your assembled word to word writing and point.
1.Full Name( as it should appear on the check)
2.Physical address
3.Mobile number.
The check will be issued
and mailed out as soon as I receive these details. Please note that the Article
will not be turned in until payment has been delivered and cleared in your
account. I await your quick response.
Regards
Michael
Now what? I turned once again for advice from my wife. She wasn’t emotionally impacted by this event. She remained steadfast… “scam”. That activated the voice once again in the back of my mind:
Advice is what we ask for
when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.
Emily
Jong
Duly noting her instinct, I decided to continue trying to land this “fish” anyway. She had detected the first “little factor” as I did; Michael’s poor punctuation, grammar, and random capitalization of words; not something you would expect from a college professor in her opinion. I don’t know. Have I met college professors that are a bit “absent minded”, or is that just a Hollywood stereotype I’ve accepted? I pressed on.
I replied to Michael asking for his full name, address, and phone number to put together a Statement of Work for the engagement. He responded with, “Michael Ganze” (same as I found in LinkedIn) along with an address and phone number. Coincidence? Luck? Legit? Or as my wife believed, was this “fish” phishing me?
Google Maps confirmed there was a building at the address Michael provided. It was in California, too, same as USC. Google Street View showed a two-story building with retail shops on the first floor and what appeared to be offices on the second floor. Looked authentic. But another “little factor” came to the forefront; he gave his Suite as #5. Google showed Suites #1 and #3, but no #5. Hmmm. It struck me as an almost legitimate address.
I continued to use online tools to try and decipher who Michael was. I suppose I could have called him, but now I was concerned about getting “too close to the flame”. I searched the USC website and found the Dean of Faculty for the USC Rossier School of Education (at least I think I found the website for such an institution and such a Dean).
I emailed the Dean:
Dear Sir:
I have been contacted by
Michael Ganze of Torrance, CA for a small, paid creative content writing engagement.
Can you confirm please that he is affiliated with your institution as an
Associate Professor of Clinical Education, Emeritus in the USC Rossier School
of Education?
The Dean emailed me back:
Mr. Pokorn,
I can confirm that
Michael Ganze is Associate professor of Clinnical Education, Emeritus at the USC
Rossier School of Education
Yes, I noticed the “Clinnical” typo and the lower case "professor", too. Was this Dean of a higher education
institution simply busy? Or, was my
wife’s “radar” on target – too many grammatical and typographical errors for
people of this ilk?
I felt I was committed to the engagement (and if you
know me you know I take my commitments seriously). I created and signed a Statement of Work
along with a $75 invoice. I specifically
changed the Statement of Work from listing me by name to listing my company,
Penny or a Pound Publishing, LLC. That
didn’t create much of a buffer. It’s a
limited liability corporation entity with a single employee – me. But I felt better about putting up even a
meager defense and emailed the SOW and invoice to Michael …
along with:
By the way... did you
find me via social media?
And received this reply:
A friend send your contact to me when I find it uneasy
to search and good writer,
Thanks for your time
Noting his worsening
grammar, I tried one last time:
Great, thanks! Would you
please ask my friend to contact me so I can thank him/her?
And received back:
Alright I will
So far as you can see this was strictly an email
exchange. No phone conversation; no
further inquiry on his part of my competency; no follow up from my referring
“friend”; yes, yes, it had “scam” written all over it. But, I had almost 6
weeks before the deadline so I mentally moved into a “what’s the worst that can
happen” mode just in case he was actually an actual new client.
My wife was worried that if I deposited their bank check in my account it would somehow give them access to my bank account information. Since I used my business account which I keep at a minimum balance I was still feeling somewhat OK. My son and daughter-in-law suggested using Walmart’s check-cashing service to keep my bank account out of the equation altogether. But surely Walmart would require my driver’s license or some other sensitive piece of identification to protect them from fraud.
My conundrum
was how to cash a $75 check while protecting my identity. Well I thought, it was only $75. Afterall, it was going to be my first content
writing gig. If I wanted to break into
the field maybe this was a risk I would have to take.
Undaunted, I Googled combinations of Michael’s name
along with “fraud” and “scam”. I also
Googled combinations of “cashiers check” and “bank check” with fraud and
scam. Nothing associated with his name
surfaced. But bank check fraud surfaced immediately
with the scam of receiving more money than agreed upon with a request to
“refund” the difference to the sender.
This was that third “little factor”.
A bank check for a $75 engagement?
Definitely overkill, true? Now I
was leaning towards my wife’s position while still hoping for the best.
These people had my name, home address, email, company
name, and phone number. Still do. But none of those data elements are secret
per se. Anyone can Google my name and
see all of that information online. I
decided there was nothing left to do but wait and see what would happen.
I didn’t have to wait
long (bad punctuation and all):
OMG!!! Payment has been
Sent But Sponsors Banker mixed Up the instruction and Sent More than the Amount
to you.
Hello Gary .,
I Just received a sudden
payment shipment notification from My sponsor banker and it's kind of
complicated and I think there is some confusing issue with the payment amount
sent to you and The sponsor Banker already will not get back on time because of
some family health issues That come up all of a sudden and that warrant the
whole mixed up in the amount sent to you., Please keep me posted as soon as
possible and Can you please keep me updated on my mobile for prompt update… ,.
So much for my first engagement. Sure enough at 8am the next morning a FedEx
overnight envelope was delivered to my doorstep. I received a text from Michael asking me to
confirm the receipt. I wasn’t expecting
it so soon. I was sipping coffee when
his text came through. It had snowed
overnight so I looked out the window. Sure
enough, there were footprints in the snow from the street to my front
porch. Opening the front door, there was
the FedEx package.
In my mind I knew I was being scammed. The only question I had was the dollar
amount. Silly me… I was thinking they
would send a check for $750 instead of $75 to make the “mistake” look like it
was within the realm of feasibility.
Nope. The check was not from a
California bank where Michael supposedly resided either. It was from the AlaskaUSA Federal Credit
Union (with no address or phone number); made out to my company; in the amount
of $10,000! I guess if you’re a crook
you might as well go big or go home.
Well, Michael continued to email, text, and now even
call me all with quite the sense of urgency.
I “went dark” but carried a degree of fear. Still do.
I’m hoping they will move on to the next target and leave me be.
That morning while Michael’s scam was still “in play”
(or was it me that was the one still in play) I called the Denver office of the
FBI to see if I could get an agent in the loop while things were still active. As it turns out, agents don’t take phone
calls for cybercrime. Who knew? I was directed to file a crime report online,
which I did. I received an automated
email back acknowledging the report filing and an automated suggestion that I
also contact my local police authority.
I called my county’s Sheriff’s Department. Yep - you guessed it - same deal. Sheriff Deputies don’t take calls about
cybercrime either. After completing
their online, crime report I received another automated email confirmation that
began with:
“It’s
a very common scam.”
And I really wanted to do that writing gig.
Anyone interested in a $10,000 bank
check? Just Zelle me $75, HaHa!
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