Official Luthiers Forum!

Am I just crazy, or does this look a little out of the norm for an interested customer?

Date: 18-09-2017
Subject: Order Inquiry

Hello,

Good Morning. My name is Axxxxx Txxxxx. I wish to place Order for ( Guitar ) . I have heard a lot about the quality and standards of your work. Thus I have decided to place order from you. In future I wish to place order for more. I will like to ask the following questions.

Do You Accept pick up from your location?
Do You Accept E-Mail Order?

My Mode of payment is via Visa/Master Credit Card or Certified Cashier's Check
Get back to me with your website product link or attach your recent product Catalogue.

I look forward to your reply.

Regards
Axxxxx Txxxxx
Jacksonville Fl
lovecheesesince70s@hotmail.com

I didn't even respond to the message. Then I got this one yesterday. I'm still suspicious! Anyone else heard from an A. T. (lAmerican name) seeking an instrument, or multiples?

Date: 30-09-2017
Subject: Order Inquiry

Hello Sales,

Good day to you. My name is Axxxxx Txxxxx. I wish to place Order for your work. I have heard a lot about the quality and standards of your services. Thus I have decided to place order from you. In future I wish to place order for more. I will like to ask the following questions.

Do You Accept pick up from your location?
Do You Accept E-Mail Order?

My Mode of payment is via Visa/Master Credit Card or Certified Cashier's Check
Get back to me with your website product link or attach your recent product Catalogue.

I look forward to your reply.

Regards
Axxxxx Txxxxx
Jacksonville Fl
lovecheesesince70s@hotmail.com

Thoughts?

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Sounds to me like a very genuine inquiry asking if you would like to be conned out of several of your extensive catalogue of products Waddy.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Your reputation precedes you! At least he didn't use the word "kindly".

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Pat

Yeah, the wording, grammar, sentence structure, odd use of capital letters, etc., all spell "scam" to me. But who knows? If they agree to pay in cash and to meet you for the exchange at your local police station, you may have a fantastic new customer!

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George :-)

Hello "Sales" ? Some rep you have.

Would make me nervous as well. Mainly because he called out the payment method mentioned so early. He did not mention the type of guitar or the type of inquiry you would expect for an initial contact.

So this can be the start of a phishing scam as he will push for information to prepare the check. Or you get a certified check on Friday with the request to send the item as soon as you deposit the check for some time important reason like a birthday. By Monday or Tuesday the bank backs out the deposit as it did not clear the originating bank.

If you even want to respond get his name, address and ask how he heard about you. With this information you can verify his identity.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Bad english = suspicious.
I would not reply.
If you don't reply he will try again but then give up.
Throw him in your junk mail.
I predict you are going to start getting more phishing emails.
Your email is now out in the dark web.

Congrats Waddy! A commission!

By the way could you hold on to a check for me for $1,000,000 and to show good faith please send me your check for $50,000?

Thanks

Payment in advance.... in cash

Red flags galore!

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

There has apparently been a scam on Reverb of people scraping catalog pictures of expensive guitars from other sales and online offerings and offering them for sale at too good to be true prices. Have any of your guitars sold on Reverb? Definitely some scam, and trying to figure out what is probably a waste. But asking you for your catalog or website (how did he get your contact if not the website?) seems to indicate a scam along those lines.

You mean that's not how all commissions go?

How fore can you knot accept such gracious offer, Mr. Thompson Waddy?

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Hey waddy at least he wasn/t selling you a condo in a fl swamp, or timeshares in vegas. I use mr number app , as ever day I get wackos, using robo calls wanting to sell me dreck ( yiddish for junk). If it/s a live call an they get through I have 2 tactics a) can I have your personal fone number so I can call you at dinnertime ???/ b) This number is on the no call list and you will be prosecuted

Sounds like a very genuine inquiry to see if you would allow him to scam you.

With Equifax 'losing' 140,000,000 customer accounts someone has to have a handful of credit cards. Plastic for guitars

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

You may be right, Haans! My apologies. I meant no harm, of course. I used to interact with 419 scammers all the time, so I realize now it might be taken the wrong way by those who haven't done the same.

Waddy, I got an email almost identical to that one a few months ago. I call BS.

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies

As I suspected! I have not, and do not plan to reply to his emails. Just haven't seen any posts about these things in a while. Thought it would be worth the post. Used to be lots of these things posted from time to time, it seems to me.

Thanks all!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Mr. Thompson, methinks you are missing out on a terrific opportunity. This man is undoubtedly the nephew of a Prince. You have only to send in a guitar and a $10,000 bank draft or money order to secure your reward of 6.5 million obscure money units. My advice: don't delay!

yes suspect them
I even get this with well written asking if they pay with cashiers check
I tell them I only use back transfer or wells fargo payment from over seas customers
never hear back

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Done.

That's what happens when you get written up in trade magazines after your first couple of guitars.
I would at least given it a shot you can back out at any time. A postal money order is cash in the bank.
I used to do work for divisions of HP over in Malaysia. I wish their English was that good, and their willingness to pay up front.

There was a thread somewhere a while back about a well known California luthier being scammed on a cashiers check. Nothing is safe. This is a 100% total scam

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Money orders and even cashiers checks are not a sure thing anymore.

https://www.thebalance.com/money-order-scams-315055

There are a lot of things that I love about my job at Microsoft..... one of my favorites is when I get a call from "Microsoft Support" because they need to remote into my computer and "fix many errors".

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