Music Lesson Scams

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Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 9:40 pm

Hi there! This is my first post here--I found this forum after doing a little investigating into suspicious emails I've received in regards to my Craigslist ad for music lessons. I looked at a couple other threads, and it appears this scam has been brought up before on this forum.

Basically, the scam is this: The scammer will contact you, and tell you their kid (often a teenage boy) is coming for a "holiday pension" (or similar wording) in your area. They don't want the kid to be "getting into trouble" or "roaming the streets" while they are here, so they would like to hire you to teach the kid lessons for several hours a day, usually for a period of a couple weeks (though the last one I got was for 2 months.) The standard scam, which I'm sure many (if not all) of you experienced scam-baiters know, is that they send you a cashier's check (fake, of course) for the cost of the lessons, plus overpayment for some reason or another. Then, they ask if you can refund the difference to them, their bank, their lawyer, etc. Of course, this leaves you SOL, because you've sent them your hard-earned money, and their fake check, of course, bounces.

Now, I certainly do not intend to scam-bait anyone who sends one of these emails to the account I have listed on Craigslist for my teaching services. Don't need to go there, verrrry BAD idea. BUT!--I thought I could have a little fun with this. I actually set up a new Gmail account to use for the specific purpose of scam-baiting alone, and posted a fake Craigslist ad for music lessons (and it's a really BAD ad to boot, nothing I'd ever put out to represent myself!) I know it's only a matter of time now before I get an "inquiry" about lessons at that account.

So, that being said, this will be my first scam-bait. I'm just twisted enough to relish in wasting these jerks' time. But I want to do it right, especially in regards to doing it as safely as possible. Anyone out there care to mentor a first-time baiter once I get an email in my new account?

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 9:55 pm

and before anyone comments ..... sin baiter has put his name on the Mentor list

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 9:58 pm

Yep, saw that, and thought it would be a good idea. There are so many rules and regs to read here, and I'm trying to get through them all...bear with me.

And, for the record, I'm actually a "her"--and the name I put on my new Gmail account is "Margaret Sinclair", which of course is nothing close to my real name! (Hence, the "Sin.")

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:09 pm

A Ah !!! ..... Madam Sin !!!....... Cynthia Payne !!!!!

Welcome to the pleasure zone ....keep a look out for a PM from one of our very nice Moderators giving you some very nice New Year reading when they get back from the bar.

Enjoy your stay with us and a Happy New Year

Top tip ... try not to ask questions about IP addresses without reading the stickies first

happy crowd

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:16 pm

Thanks for the welcome! I'll keep my eyes out for that PM, and I'll spend some more time reading through stickies. And I'll keep your top tip in mind...truth be told, I'll have to read all the stickies before I really know fully what that's in reference to. (Told you I'm new and COMPLETELY clueless...)

A very Happy New Year to you, too.

Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:11 am

Welcome. You seem to be well versed on the check mule scam, which is good. Read up, enjoy, and bait safe. And thanks for using an IP stripping mail service. So far, so good! Keep us posted "Ms. Sinclair"! Enjoy that "twisted relish".

Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:20 am

Glad to see I'm not the only musician on this board. Welcome. Getting a mentor is the best thing you could do for your baiting career.