S/O Beggars, Moochers and Scammers

[JenJay]

I always figured the "your neighbor canceled their order" frozen food thing was just a selling tactic but not a scam. DH bought some once, it was pretty good meat at an okay price. I don't think we'll do it again but we didn't feel ripped off.

[Shalamar]

I once got hit up by a guy trying to sell a leaf blower outside Canadian Tire.  It was still in the box.  He claimed that he'd bought it from CT and they refused to give him a refund, so he was "just trying to recoup (his) losses a bit".  We declined.

[alkira6]

I've never seen the scam using food, but I've seen it with gardening and construction materials. A legitimate work truck driving through a neighborhood sees a homeowner out in their yard and wouldn't you know they have a few "extra" bags of fertilizer or flats of plants that the customer "didn't need" and they'll sell for cash. The customer probably wasn't counting the number of bags the workers used or noticed a few missing plants but they paid for it.

I got someone to mulch my roses last year (? year before?) that way. I never thought about it being a "fell off the truck" type thing for mulch.  It's the same people coming by 3-4 times every year though, so maybe it's legit.

[LazyDaisy]

Be careful if you ever contract with them to do work. When they say you need x lbs. of mulch to cover your yard, count that they have that much mulch with them, and count the number of used bags after they're finished. Most people just make sure the workers did the job right, not that they actually used all of the product being billed for. Same with tile work, paint, etc. anything that is purchased in bulk and is easy to "lose" a box/bag/gallon here and there. I also require them to leave all extra with me if they over estimated (and they usually do because they don't want to run short). I might need extra down the line for repairs or touch up. Or, if you don't want it, be sure you get a credit back for it.

[Midge]

My DH got a phishing email the other day. They did a good job- it looked pretty legit. It was supposedly a receipt from PayPal, showing his recent purchase of a watch. They were banking on him hitting the "Report problem" link at the bottom in a panic, to say he didn't buy that watch, and having him input his correct PayPal information to verify his account.

I got that one the other day!

My personal hotmail email account is my first name, plus the rest of my initials--for example, midgecdf@blahblah.com. When I looked at the "to" field on that email, it had been sent to midgecdf@blahblah.com, midgemmm@blahblah.com, midgeabc@blahblah.com, etc. They just typed in a first name, a bunch of letters after, and hit send, hoping for the best!

[ladyknight1]

When we were on vacation in New Mexico last year, we saw groups of young people at highway exits who had signage that they were stranded. They had beautiful guitars with them, and reminded me of the people in the 60's that hitchhiked across the US. We would see groups of 2-6, some with pets. I just wonder how someone gets stranded in a tiny town in NM, and doesn't either find a job or sell their valuables to get them bus fare.

Makes no sense to me!

[Jones]

When we were on vacation in New Mexico last year, we saw groups of young people at highway exits who had signage that they were stranded. They had beautiful guitars with them, and reminded me of the people in the 60's that hitchhiked across the US. We would see groups of 2-6, some with pets. I just wonder how someone gets stranded in a tiny town in NM, and doesn't either find a job or sell their valuables to get them bus fare.

Makes no sense to me!

Was the tiny town Cuba, perchance?

[ladyknight1]

Raton and Springer is where we saw them.

[jedikaiti]

Here's one I am wondering about:

My Mom once got a spam that had been spoofed to look like it came from one of my e-mail addys - a rather old one on Yahoo!, actually, that I recently revived for wedding planning. I changed my password and didn't think too much on it.

However, she keeps occasionally getting spam/scam e-mails that say they're from my first & last name (say, Jedi Kaiti), but with a wholly different e-mail address - usually Yahoo! it seems, but I'm not 100% certain on that. The thing is, she is the ONLY person getting these (or at least to have mentioned it to me), and come to find out today, she's gotten some similar ones purporting to be from one of my cousins, as well!

I'm a little baffled - it can't be that someone got my contacts from that account, there are only 2 in there, neither of whom are Mom. Maybe they scraped info out of the sent mail folder, but then why haven't my DF, MOH, or officiant gotten these emails - to say nothing of photographers and other service providers I've been corresponding with.

I'm a little confoosled.

[PastryGoddess]

I'd forgotten about this one that I fell for many years ago, until I was hit up for a similar deal yesterday. Not outright thievery, but certainly misrepresentation.

A guy rings my doorbell. He points to a van labeled "So and So Fine Meats." They do home delivery of really special gourmet meat and chicken. It seems that a customer was a no-show. The guy called his manager who suggested that instead driving all the way back with the delivery, he should go door-to-door and offer to sell stuff for half price to at least recoup the cost of driving around.

The guy explains that this was a really huge order. He shows a price list and says he has just about everything on the list. The prices are high, but if the meat is a good as he says, half price is a good deal. I bought 4 steaks. It never occurred to me to wonder why, for such a big order, they had not secured it with a credit card, instead of needing to sell it at any price.

The steaks were nothing special. I could have bought the same quality for more or less the same price at a supermarket, so I wasn't too badly ripped off, but it was definitely a con game.

Yesterday, I just told the guy "no thank you, I'm a vegetarian."

I second Alkira
This isn't a scam at all.  I've gotten some really good meat from guys looking to sell what's left on the truck at the end of the day.  I've gotten meat up to 50% off.  Of course it all depends on the provider, but the companies around here are pretty good.

[jedikaiti]

I'd forgotten about this one that I fell for many years ago, until I was hit up for a similar deal yesterday. Not outright thievery, but certainly misrepresentation.

A guy rings my doorbell. He points to a van labeled "So and So Fine Meats." They do home delivery of really special gourmet meat and chicken. It seems that a customer was a no-show. The guy called his manager who suggested that instead driving all the way back with the delivery, he should go door-to-door and offer to sell stuff for half price to at least recoup the cost of driving around.

The guy explains that this was a really huge order. He shows a price list and says he has just about everything on the list. The prices are high, but if the meat is a good as he says, half price is a good deal. I bought 4 steaks. It never occurred to me to wonder why, for such a big order, they had not secured it with a credit card, instead of needing to sell it at any price.

The steaks were nothing special. I could have bought the same quality for more or less the same price at a supermarket, so I wasn't too badly ripped off, but it was definitely a con game.

Yesterday, I just told the guy "no thank you, I'm a vegetarian."

I second Alkira
This isn't a scam at all.  I've gotten some really good meat from guys looking to sell what's left on the truck at the end of the day.  I've gotten meat up to 50% off.  Of course it all depends on the provider, but the companies around here are pretty good.

You could always call the company directly and ask them if this sort of thing is authorized.

[siamesecat2965]

My friend had one yesterday, which could have been scary, but she's no dummy! she said some guy came up to her, asking if he could use her phone, as he may have missed his ride. without missing a beat she told him, sorry, I don't have one, but I bet if you go into one of the nearby stores, they'd let you use theirs. He said no, he was afraid if he did, his ride might leave him!  she then told him she wasn't born yeterday and got in her car!

I told her he was probably hoping she had a nice, expensive phone, and when she handed it over for him to use, he'd take off with it. She then said, well, he'd be pretty disappointed as her phone is not a smartphone, old, and dog chewed!

[Darcy]

Here's one I am wondering about:

My Mom once got a spam that had been spoofed to look like it came from one of my e-mail addys - a rather old one on Yahoo!, actually, that I recently revived for wedding planning. I changed my password and didn't think too much on it.

However, she keeps occasionally getting spam/scam e-mails that say they're from my first & last name (say, Jedi Kaiti), but with a wholly different e-mail address - usually Yahoo! it seems, but I'm not 100% certain on that. The thing is, she is the ONLY person getting these (or at least to have mentioned it to me), and come to find out today, she's gotten some similar ones purporting to be from one of my cousins, as well!

I'm a little baffled - it can't be that someone got my contacts from that account, there are only 2 in there, neither of whom are Mom. Maybe they scraped info out of the sent mail folder, but then why haven't my DF, MOH, or officiant gotten these emails - to say nothing of photographers and other service providers I've been corresponding with.

I'm a little confoosled.

My mom's gotten two emails recently - one labeled to look like it came from my brother, and one labeled to look like it came from me. Thankfully mom noticed that the emails are different from the ones we use (and why on earth would we email her when we're both in the house with her?).

[Elfmama]

Here's one I am wondering about:

My Mom once got a spam that had been spoofed to look like it came from one of my e-mail addys - a rather old one on Yahoo!, actually, that I recently revived for wedding planning. I changed my password and didn't think too much on it.

However, she keeps occasionally getting spam/scam e-mails that say they're from my first & last name (say, Jedi Kaiti), but with a wholly different e-mail address - usually Yahoo! it seems, but I'm not 100% certain on that. The thing is, she is the ONLY person getting these (or at least to have mentioned it to me), and come to find out today, she's gotten some similar ones purporting to be from one of my cousins, as well!

I'm a little baffled - it can't be that someone got my contacts from that account, there are only 2 in there, neither of whom are Mom. Maybe they scraped info out of the sent mail folder, but then why haven't my DF, MOH, or officiant gotten these emails - to say nothing of photographers and other service providers I've been corresponding with.

I'm a little confoosled.

My mom's gotten two emails recently - one labeled to look like it came from my brother, and one labeled to look like it came from me. Thankfully mom noticed that the emails are different from the ones we use (and why on earth would we email her when we're both in the house with her?).

Last spring I totaled my minivan.  The very next day, I started getting emails on my gmail account offering to BUY said minivan.  I did not give that account address to anybody connected with the tow company, insurance, rental car, hospital, or any other interested party. They appeared to have come from different people.   They tapered off after a couple of weeks, but  I'm utterly baffled how I got them at all -- and why would anyone want to buy a 12-year-old minivan with the front end all squashed in?

[Katana_Geldar]

Anyone heard of the pet scam? Someone says they are giving away a cute little puppy or kitten to a good home as long as the recipient pays transport fees. And vet fees. And vaccinations. And, and and... You get the picture.

I once had someone on my doorstep with the art student scam. Didn't buy anything but I got the number of a hot French guy.