Un Escroc, Escroquer, Une Escroquerie
: a con (scammer), to cheat, a fraud
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A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse
Last Friday the 24th, after a day of celebration, I asked my husband if he'd talked to our daughter lately. "I tried calling earlier, but she didn't answer. Je vais réessayer," he said. Jackie still wasn't answering her mobile phone a moment later when, suddenly, she texted her dad back, and there began a series of cryptic messages….
…something about her being on the phone right now with social security
…something about a drug trafficker who'd gotten hold of her ss number
…something about identity theft
…something about the call being transferred, now, to the police
….something about her being implicated in a scheme if she didn't comply by staying on the phone
SOMETHING was clear amidst all the cryptic messaging: she was being warned not by a government official or the police, she was being manipulated and threatened by un escroc!
"Jackie, hang up. It's a scam! Raccroche! C'est un escroquerie!" Her dad texted back, en vain. The next text message came from me: JACKIE. THIS IS YOUR MOM! PICK UP THE PHONE!!!! When she didn't respond, I began texting Jackie's roommates. I called her boyfriend. Nobody knew a thing, everyone said they had not heard from her in a while.
When Jackie still would not answer the phone a chill ran down my spine. What if someone was with her? What if she'd been kidnapped? Le temps presse!! Jean-Marc get her on that phone!!!!" Lord help us! Lord help us! Lord help us! LORD! LORD! LORD!"
Suddenly, Jean-Marc broke through when our daughter picked up the phone and we learned what had transpired in the last 2 hours:
A LONG-DISTANCE HOLD-UP
Glued to her phone, in a state of panic and under specific directions of a scammer–our daughter left her apartment, took an Uber to the bank, withdrew her savings, got into another Uber, drove to a gas station, riffled through the cash to put part of it, with the help of a QR code the "police" gave her over the phone, in an ATM (it turned out to be a bitcoin ATM and it turns out that scammers use to extort money). Our daughter would have lost all her savings if it weren't for her phone battery running low on the long walk to the second dropoff point. That is when Jackie pleaded with the "police" to let her go and charge her phone. The "police" agreed, even suggesting she grab a snack before they called back… And just like that, the whole nightmare was over when she hung up.
HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?
To understand how our daughter could have fallen for this scam, I should mention that last month, while returning to Miami from France, her social security card went missing. She had packed it in France, in her carry-on, and three days after arriving in Miami she realized the folder was nowhere to be found. For the next 4 weeks, she worried herself sick, and finally, her worst fears seemed to be coming true when the phone rang and a so-called government agent introduced herself. When she received the fateful call, she believed every word–and in under two hours, Jackie's hard-earned money was stolen from her. The rollercoaster ride wasn't over, because we now wanted our daughter home immediately. (To our relief, she arrived safely in Marseilles, yesterday.)
Having left France three years ago in pursuit of The American Dream, Jackie fled The Land of The Free, without her money, or a sense of security. What will she do next? She is not sure about anything at the moment, except that it feels good to be home.
PLEASE SHARE YOUR STORY
As Jackie recovers from this troubling experience, it would help for her to know she is not alone–and that anyone of any age or intelligence can fall for a scam and be a victim of extortion. Have you or has someone you know fallen for a scam–phone, email or otherwise? Please share related stories in the comments section below. Thank you!
FRENCH VOCABULARY
un escroc = a scammer, a con man, a cheat
escroquer = to scam, cheat, swindle
une escroquerie = a scam, a fraud, a rip-off
je vais réessayer = I'm going to try again
raccroche! = hang up!
en vain = to no avail
le temps presse! = time is of the essence!
blanchiment d'argent = money laundering
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My 92-year-old mother recently received a telephone call from my daughter which she handed over to me. E was sobbing, said she had a broken nose from a vehicle accident, had tested over-the-limit for DUI and needed help. Her attorney would call, which he did and I said I needed to call him back. Something just didn’t sit right with me so I texted her “do you have a broken nose?” She did not and in fact was at a clinic getting ready for her first radiation treatment. That ended the whole thing but it was close. Clearly the tears and “broken nose” were to cover any difference in her voice, tho the caller sounded remarkably like her. PS – E has now finished her radiation treatments and is perfectly well!
I am sorry Kristi for you and Jackie and everyone. What a nightmare. I was hacked 3.5 years ago. I only noticed at the very last minute because I was checking something. I f I hadn’t gone into PayPal when I do, my entire checking and savings account would have been wiped out. It took me a month to get any sense of order back and I still sometimes have nightmares about it. It’s an ugly world out there–the wild, wild west of internet.
Thank God Jackie has her family and is loved.
Je t’embrasse
Sara in Paris
My nephew, a closing manager of American fast food chain, was called at work and told by someone who knew the names of the other employees and other manager, that he was an FBI agent and to drop the money somewhere else. My nephew tried calling his superior several times, it was closing, so between 11:00 p.m. and midnight. The superior did not answer or respond to my nephew’s calls and texts. So my nephew followed the orders of the “FBI” agent. The next morning my nephew, who had been fired for misplacing the money by the same superior who did not answer his phone, went to the police station, reporting everything and showing the police allof the phone numbers as well as the ones made to his superior.
It was a scam. The superior did not apologize until much later when asking if my nephew would return to work as a manager again. But the superior had burned that bridge.
I forgot to mention that my nephew was 23 years old at the time.
Être victime d’un escroc est une expérience effrayante. Jackie a mes condoléances et mes félicitations sincères pour son bon instinct à guérir dans sa famille aimante.
And Praise the Lord that Jackie is at home with you and Jean-Marc and Jules encore.
vp
Jackie, I am so sorry! I got scammed just the other day by a very slick operation that sounded just like my electric company’s call center! They said my last three payments had been rejected by my bank and I needed to send a new one by Zelle. Of course it was all a fraud but t seems so real at the time. And I am an adult woman with 40 years in the investment business so you would think I t would know better! Don’t beat yourself up this is unfortunately happening to lots and lots of people.
Je suis désolé Jackie.
Unless I recognize the number I simply do not answer. If it is important they will leave a message and I will be able to determine the legitimacy of the call. I know that legitimate areas of concern from any gov’t dept will be handled through the mail not a phone call. As a senior citizen I am a target for all sorts of scams. I have received robo calls from my own phone number before and the ph company response was, “sorry.” We live in a digital age where privacy is a thing of the past. One must be wary. Disheartening …
Oh no. I’m so sorry to hear this. It’s horrible and you feel so helpless as a parent from afar. My story: I received a call from my 87 yr old father telling me that my daughter was in jail (about an hour aaway) due to a car accident she caused (at the time, she traveled by car for work so it seemed feasible that this might happen) and we could send money to this lawyer to bail her out before the weekend. They even put “my daughter” on the phone to beg him for money. My dad said it was a bit muffled. If we didn’t pay this, he said, she would stay in jail all weekend. Why did they call my father? Red Flag #1 My daughter would NOT be afraid to call me. My dad told the guy that he was retired and didn’t have that amount of money at hand. He suggested to the man that he would call me and have me be in touch. I called her cell and she didn’t answer so I drove an hour to the town, meanwhile calling that lawyer multiple times on the way without any luck. Got to the town and she was NOT in their jail. I tried her cell again and she answered and had NOT been arrested. Luckily we never made a money connection with this guy. He was obviously trying to scam my father but had my daughter’s name and put a young lady on the phone to make it sound convincing. The lengths they go to!! Im glad Jackie is home. Sounds like she got the police involved. Good for her.
What a terrible experience for Jackie glad your home and safe❤️
It seems une Escroquerie Are prevalent all over the world now
But they have been lurking for years!
My experience was as an artist with a website online for many years – and fake clients Asking to purchase my artwork.
My first experience was in 2008. I was an experienced artist in her 60s. Had Exhibitions and lots of marketing experience.
A man contacted me Through my website contact form that he had seen my work and absolutely loved it and wanted to purchase several works of art for his wife for her birthday. I was thrilled !! I began my normal dialogue to activate his choices
This was before before PayPal or Venmo or Zell.
so the only way I could do a transaction that was international
( he used a very English name with a Gmail account)
at
that time was for money orders through the the US post office.
I did receive what I thought was authentic US post office money orders at a large amount (about $5000, )because he picked three paintings…
the catch was he wanted to use his own shipping agent and so he was sending extra money supposedly on the money orders and I was to cash take the cash out of my checking account and mail it to his shipper along with the paintings.
It all started to become very Complicated and suspicious.
So before depositing the money orders into my checking account and taking the cash money out for him ,I took the money orders to my local US post office to check them out and GUESS WHAT ! they were all fakes , they looked very much like normal US money orders but there was something screwed up about the barcode or the way they were printed I can’t remember exactly but needless to say I shut the whole thing down , luckily didn’t mail off the paintings and end up losing a lot of money.
I reported this to US treasury ,to the United States post office and was directed to the FBI at one point to do tracking but it was hard to track the emails because they kept changing the email addresses ,but these scammers are still to this day trying to get me all the time to send paintings and cash money to a address in various parts of the US. I later found out that this is happened to other artists.
So I’m not so lucky as they lost paintings and money with the hope that this was real. We artist are always vulnerable to fake clients and false statements as we are constantly creating beautiful work to sell. And these scammers come from all over the world.
I Stay vigilant, make people pay through PayPal now, that’s my system ,if they ask me to do something unusual I tell them that my business must come through PayPal and when I receive the money and it clears the bank ,I will ship my paintings.Period!
.All the best to you all
Marti Schmidt
Merci pour ce message! I shared it with my family, and I will be sharing it with my classes at school! …I didn’t realize just how involved these scammers get, it’s terrifying!
I am sooo sorry to hear this. I do not have personal story but I do know that thousands of people are scammed regularly over their phone and the internet. Stories about this are in the news everyday. She is far from alone in this experience.
Please tell your daughter not to blame herself – it could happen to ANYONE. These people are pros. I’m so sorry that she left with such a negative impression of the U.S.
There are a lot of emails pretending to be from Amazon..
Usually informing you of a purchase you have not really made. In order to clear this up, they want to to call them and give your info. I came so close to falling for this, but instead I called Amazon’s real number
..and changed my passcode.
I am so sorry for Jackie and you all going through this. I will pray for your comfort and peace as you recover. There is evil in the world but love always wins! Hang in there!
What a frightening story! I am so sorry that she had to suffer and lose her hard earned money to unscrupulous people.. A few years ago my husband’s company computers were hacked and he had to pay a ransom in bitcoins or all the files would be erased.He paid and the hacker told him how to protect his computers from further hacking. He then asked the hacker how he could be sure that he wouldn’t come after him again. The hacker said that he was an honest hacker! 😜
Sending hugs!
Patti
Happens all the time here in Florida! Just hang up! If it’s official, they will send you a letter, sometimes a certified letter. Or you can call a government agency yourself. (Or, the local police 😐) So sorry Jackie had to go through this horrible experience … her parents, too!! Enjoy your time together. Sending love and light.
I’m so sorry to hear Jackie fell victim to that evil scam. What a traumatic experience for her! Thanks for sharing and warning others; many victims are too embarrassed to tell anyone.
The scammers are very clever, and they keep coming up with new ways to part honest people from their hard-earned money. And they always manage to stay one step away from the law.
My elderly mother-in-law lost money several times to phone scammers and mail solicitations. Unfortunately, if they are successful, they sell your contact information and try to come back for more. Il vont réessayer! We were thankful my mother-in-law never learned to use a home computer, because I’m sure she would have sent money to a Nigerian prince!
Jackie is fortunate to have a loving family to support her and help her heal. Bon courage, Jackie!
My son was scammed a number of years ago when he was in med school by a caller (phone i.d. of local police dept.) claiming to be the local police. The caller said my son would be arrested unless he paid the “IRS.” Of course, the IRS does not have local police do their collections, nor due they make demands over the telephone. But he had just pulled an “all-nighter” studying for exams and was at a weak point. Unfortunately, he paid and was taken for several thousand dollars. Like your daughter, he understood his error upon reflection, only exacerbating his pain and self-hate. These criminals are very clever and prey upon the vulnerable, quickly assessing victims who will respond. Please tell Jackie she is a crime victim and not a dumb person. These criminals know how to motivate people when they panick. – Jerry
make that “panic.”
So very sorry that Jackie (and you) had this upsetting and scary experience, especially as she worked so hard to earn her money. I hope that she will take it in stride. She certainly won’t be scammed again!
Kristi – I am so sorry. I can certainly understand how well set up she was by circumstances to believe the call. I started to fall for one attempting to gain access to my computer, but became suspicious luckily so did a hard shut off (with the power) so it got no further. I did have to go to have Microsoft wipe the computer, and then had to re-load everything to the hard drive, but at least they didn’t have time to gain access to the financial information.
We also have had our credit cards compromised. Fortunately I do check on them with Quicken every day or so, as I enter payments or purchases, so I’ve been able to take steps right away.
Crooks have a myriad of ways to burglarize us. I can appreciate how she must feel and the pain you probably are experiencing for her as well.
My husbands e Mail was lifted and a message sent to all of his friends to send money . It took 2 days with Yahoo on phone to see what was going on . They had all his e mails going to them . This came out of Ethiopia . It came across as an e Mail from our carrier and when he opens that email it gave them access. At least the received no money!
I received a call once that said my husband had been kidnapped. I was not to call the police as they were already aware of the situation. I was to give them money and leave it in a place designated by them. I was told the police would be there to nab them. Of course, I immediately called the police and they told me about the scam. They said some women locked themselves in their homes and would not answer the door or phone. I felt pretty good about my reaction. Call the police immediately and never agree to drop off money or meet anyone anywhere. My husband was at work and couldn’t believe the story when I finally told him after the call to the police. I can’t type what I call these losers.
Salut! Just this past week I received a request from a pharmacy from which I receive my scripts. The request was to complete a survey. Usually, I just delete the message, but this time I decided to complete it. At the end of the survey, I scrolled down to see what I had qualified for…it was a vacuum & all I had to ‘fork over’ was shipping & handling, which was $2.99! No problem! I provided my credit card info and continued until I saw the cost and I started to delete the provided info. My credit card company turned down the request. The next day, I received several emails from them, urging me to phone them, which I did. I was told that all was well and that they were taking care of reporting the fraud to the pharmacy and the agencies dealing with cyber fraud. I am very grateful! Your daughter’s experience was frightful…so glad that she has returned to the safety of France.
I am so sorry. Give Jackie a hug every time you turn around, to steady her and lead her out of the mess.
Dear Jackie, I am so glad you are safe. What a horrible experience. People of all ages and professions and nationalities get scammed. I won’t add the stories of my friends — there are plenty of examples in the comments already. Thankfully you are home and safe. Don’t think you were ‘stupid’ for even a minute! These evil folks are very clever and believable!
After you’ve had time to rest and enjoy the love of your family, I, and all your ‘fans’ look forward to hearing what you decide to do next.
Sending love to you and the whole family.
Carole
So very sorry you all had such a dreadful experience. One learns to live on defense. Phones and email are crazy bad. Subscribe to scam advisors to stay up to date on the latest ploys. Screen calls, don’t answer if you don’t recognize the number. Subscribe to internet security, identity theft prevention programs. Govt agencies communicate by USPS mail. Don’t “reply” to emails, websites… direct call yourself. My latest is email telling me Amazon confirms my $1200 purchase of a server firewall. Wasn’t me…. and mercifully the credit card they had was expired. Many, many others in the past. You learn to spot them but there’s a learning curve.
These calls and threats are ALL scams. Social Security will never call you, much less threaten or ask for money immediately. Hang up immediately and do not worry about it. These calls are false and are scams to get you to send money. Usually they target the elderly. Now it looks like they are after the young. Never again ok?
In attempting to change seats on an international flight, my mother called what she thought was United but was a spam number at the top of the google search (she figured this out later) – over the course of a 3 hour phone call she was told that she had to get $7000 in VISA gift cards and read the codes over the phone to the agent – she would get her original flight credited back to her card. My mother is very astute, normally very savvy in the ways of scammers, but alas, she lost $7000. She cried for days until I said, Mother, you can still pay your mortgage, your car, your groceries, you are fine. Think of all of the people who are scammed who then can’t eat that month. Lesson learned, move on knowing you are now wiser, and share your story to educate and help protect others. You are not alone, Jackie, and now that you have had this happened, it won’t happen to you again. By sharing your story, your mother has helped protect many others!
Remember that getting your money is their goal. They practice until they get it. I am so sorry. I have had hackers freeze my computer screen and tell me I must call the number on the screen. They then try to get a cleaning service contract to weed out these viruses for $175/year.
I kept saying “I’m sure your business is legitimate. I just need to double-check with my computer friend.” That bought me time, & I learned of the scam. It was almost chance that I wasn’t taken. My mother did fall for a similar scam.
It’s a horrible feeling. You are a good person and I predict you will recoup your losses twofold and quickly! Meanwhile the theives remain morally bankrupt.
Twice,someone sent me an e-mail that our friend was stranded in London and needed money. I e-mailed our friend, who was at home In Honduras, not in London.
The second time, another e-mail that another friend needed money right away. Fortunately, she e-mailed to say that her cell phone had been hacked and to ignore similar messages.
I was getting ready to send money.
L. Roll
Hi Kristen & Jackie,
Someonw on this blog said “Do NOT answer calls from an unknown number.” I have practiced this policy for many years – if they are for REAL, they will leave a message and then you may choose to respond.
Sorry to hear about this “kerfunkle” It is not an easy world we live in now. Be proactive and PROTECT YOURSELF!!! A complicated and distressing lesson to learn
Jacki (no EEEE’s) in Idaho.
BTW all this happened to you on my BIRTHDAY#73…
I’m so sorry that Jackie had to go through this. A few years ago I received a call from what sounded like my bank asking some personal questions. Fortunately something didn’t seem right to me and I hung up and phoned my bank myself.
They told me that they absolutely never ask for personal info on the phone.
I believe that the world is full of honest nice people, unfortunately there are some rotters as well.
I hope Jackie can put this horrible experience behind her. She is fortunate to have such a loving family. 😢💕
Don’t let your dear daughter feel badly. I know to be scammed is a blow to self-esteem or sense of trust. As a non-senile woman of a certain age I almost got caught myself. I already know not to give anyone my SSN over the phone (unless I’ve initiated the call). I know that financial institutions and government offices never do cold calls and ask for private information (always by mail). However, I still remember my heart pounding the afternoon I got caught up in that IRS scheme going round. It sounded so real and sincere about a problem. I told them I didn’t know much about taxes, I can’t help them. I need to ask my husband. And I really meant that because I thought it was real. They said they’d call back. I couldn’t call my husband because he was in France and probably had his phone off while he slept. Luckily, our accountant was still in his office. He told me DON’T ANSWER IF THEY CALL BACK.
I knew better, but these people are so excellent at scamming that it’s so easy to go into an immediate panic with the stories they tell. So two little pieces of advice for anyone out there: 1) if an important financial or government document disappears, report it immediately, even if you hope to find it in a day or two. And 2) reminder not to ever click on any links sent to you if you are not expecting them. It’s easy to look at the full sender’s email address and decide if it’s from the real company.
Hugs to Jackie. She’s so lucky to have such great parents she can depend on like this.
Glad Jackie is safely home with you. The US and the world is full of scammer and thieves. Unfortunately we must now not trust what used to be trustworthy. This is even more true in our world of Social Media and mobile communication.
When things have calmed she needs to report all this to the Miami Police Dept.
Hugs to all and a sad and costly lesson has been learned.
Laura
Hi Kristi
So sorry to hear of this. It’s awful when our children are in trouble and so far away.
In addition to our cellphones, we have an answering machine on our landline (Old school, I know) and screen all calls, 95% of which are solicitations or scams.
Lots of good advice above. Best general practice I’ve found is to independently contact the supposed “source” of the info. i.e. If Netflix emails me saying have a problem with my payment, I do not click on the email links or call the number provided, but contact Netflix directly via phone or website info that I look up independently.
Hope this helps someone.
Paul
My elderly MIL nearly fell for a ‘phone call for help’ supposedly from her granddaughter. It was quite implausible but she was convinced because the caller used her grandma nickname. How did they know to call me Nonny? she says to this day. I blame Facebook. Don’t share family details.
The only reason she didn’t send the money is that the clerk where she went to transfer the funds heard her story and stopped her from doing it.
We periodically get phone messages threatening all kinds of financial trouble, including IRS problems. REMEMBER those things will never arrive by phone. There will be a letter.
Good luck to Jackie!
I got a call from Rogers (phone company) who told me that there was suspicious activity on my account and it had been frozen. I hung up and called Rogers back. It turns out the call was real and someone had gone into a store saying they were me and tried to get a new phone line attached to my account. The store flagged it because the ID they used looked suspicious. I went on to contact the police to report the attempted fraud and identity theft. Next, I called my bank and the two national credit bureau companies to put a warning on my accounts to only open new accounts/credit by calling my phone number from their files first. All this and I was completely unaware that it was happening. I’m so glad the Rogers people were suspicious.
I’m sorry for what happened to Jackie.
Hi dear Kristi and family,
Oh it seems to happen so often these days.
We want to live as if the universe is friendly and kind and loving… and well, in truth it actually is.
I tend to take a slightly different slant on these things….by not overly focusing too much on it and also using it for refinement.
Like, what can I learn from this? How did it serve me? (Well it brought her home swiftly!) How was it good for me? (I learn to take better care of my data / info / money… I become more astute in life… etc). I learn to trust myself and my Intuition and to know that this is very powerful… etc.
And thinking of that lovely law of attraction which is always running… I can use it to fine tune my focus. What do I want? I want my money to be secure… I want to be alert to scammers and awake to reality… I want to be present, focused… I want to feel safe and know that life is friendly… Kind… helpful… and always Works out for me. I want to fully trust my Intuition and feel into things. I want to respond quickly.. know when to ask for help and be open for it… know who to trust for guidance etc.
And it sounds like she did a lot of that !
I’m happy for you that she’s home and that she is safe.
I hope that she feels OK after the experience, which can often feel harsh and unpleasant… but later, sometimes we are grateful for it.
I hope it serves you.
Love
Kristina
OH NO! I can’t imagine how helpless you and Jean-Marc felt being across an ocean from Jackie! And, how wonderful that she didn’t lose any more money and was not in physical danger. And, note, Kristi, how tuned in your were when you asked your husband if he had heard from your daughter…that started the ball (of light) rolling.
We must all learn how to safeguard ourselves from all sorts of criminal attempts to make us victims. You must know that major corporations, hospitals, and our very U.S. goverment has been hacked. I do not think anywhere IS safe–it is up to us to be informed and vigilant but not frightened or obsessed. Of course, it feels safe to be home with your protective parents and in your own home, but I imagine that is not what your daughter envisions for the rest of her life.
By the way my daughter spent part of her late teen years living in Paris while working for a major modelling company–she stayed with a group of fellow models and survived unscathed.
Sending love and appreciation to you all for sharing–by sharing you attract more love and power!
By the way, you seem to have multiple “Valerie’s” so maybe add my last name. My mother (while in France for years) decided she would name a daughter either Valerie or Jacqueline, both names she loved.
My wife shared your daughter’s story with me. It is very sad; same thing nearly happened to me on more than one occasion. I’ve learned that no U.S. Government agency will ever ask for money or other personal information over the telephone. GET IT IN WRITING FIRST. Your daughter should report her experience to the nearest Law Enforcement Attaché attached to the U.S. Embassy in Paris 011-33-1-4312-2222 or the U.S. Consulate in Lyon. While I doubt that anything resembling restitution can take place, the crime should not go unreported. One never really knows what mistakes a criminal will make that will allow the law enforcement authorities to catch him or her.
Since this is a language site, my experience may be helpful to those of you who do translation work, and I hope that by describing it I don’t enable some crooks out there but instead keep your readers from falling for this one.
This is, as I now realize, a common scam where an e-mail will be sent asking the recipient’s interest in doing a translation. In my case it was purportedly from a university graduate student. The paper was in a field that I’m particularly interested in, so I gave the writer a quote after perusing it. Based on the structure of the content, I mentioned to the “client” that it seemed to be a “back-translation” (flag #1), that it had originally probably been written in the language I was going to be translating into, to which I got no response (flag #2). I proceeded nevertheless, as the job was time-sensitive (flag #3) and I had just enough time to do it if I started right away.
As the work progressed, I had difficulty getting in touch with the “client” to go over some terms (flag #4). By then, however, they said they would send a partial payment so I was assured. They then said they were impressed with my work (flag #5) and had another important project that they wanted me to work on.
The check I received for the first translation was for well over what I had quoted for it (flag #6). The explanation given was that it was to avoid delays in getting the second translation going as time was of the essence (le temps presse!). They kept insisting that I let them know when I deposited the check (flag #7) and were unhappy at my delay.
Then they told me that there had been a change (malheureusement!), that the second translation wasn’t approved, so to keep the amount I’d charged for the first translation and return the balance of what they’d sent to them (an indisputable, foot-ball-field-sized flag #8) via my own wire transfer.
This was the clincher. I wasn’t about to send anyone money before knowing their check had actually cleared. I immediately called my bank to tell them I’d submitted a check to deposit I now thought might be a scam. They ultimately confirmed that it was, indeed, made out by a false entity. I didn’t lose any money, though I did lose all the precious time I’d spent working on the fake translation job.
After that, I kept receiving e-mails from many different entities using the same scheme, with different names and so-called circumstances. They must have gotten my contact information from a professional organization’s contact/referral list that’s open to the public, and no doubt are still busy scamming other professionals in the field.
So, translators: “prenez-guarde!”
p.s. I’m not all that myopic in not having reacted more strongly than a simple “hmmm, what’s going on here?” to the flags as they arose. After all, it’s hind-sight that’s 20-20!
For clarity: “to send the balance of what they’d sent me back to them.”
Praise to God that Jackie is home. Praying for recovery and direction for her. The evil people in this world never cease to amaze me. That was a horrid thing to do to her—to anyone! I’m so sorry all of you had to go through this.
How horrible for Jackie. How helpless and angry she must have been.
Someone tried to steal my daughter’s identity. It took her months to re-establish her
identity and deal with creditors.
She had a B.A. and her own business as a graphic designer but she was so angry she decided to go back to school and get a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice. She said she wanted to do what she could to stop these people from committing these crimes.
She never caught the guys who hurt her but is successful in catching others.
Jackie should not let these horrible people stop her from pursuing her dreams and career.
Otherwise, these monster criminals win.
Hi Kristi,
So sorry for Jackie! There are so many people just waiting to take advantage of others. I’m glad she is back home with you all!
Such a dreadful experience for Jacquie and you, her family!
So very thankful Jacquie is safely home now.
Sending our love, prayers, kindest thoughts, to Jacquie and you, her wonderful family.
So sorry for Jackie. She is certainly not alone, unfortunately.
Glad she is home and feels safe again with her family.
Sending love and big hugs.