Thursday, March 9, 2023

I was a target; but avoided becoming a victim; sharing my lessons learned...

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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