Brides, you should pay attention to this too. If you are a photographer or some other type of wedding vendor, you too could be victim of the popular Nigerian Scam so be on the lookout and stay sharp. The basic scam involves a "bride or groom" emailing you that they desperately need your wedding services and they are willing to pay you all up front without haggling, or at least a huge portion of your fee. They FedEx you a "cashier's check" or other check that looks pretty real (you'll discover later it was fake), but this check is a few thousand more than your fee, so can you please Western Union the change back? So you wire them their $3000 change, then a week later that check you deposited bounces, even though the amount showed up in your bank account. I can't get over how many fools fall for this trick, especially people selling their used car online. You should know better than this. You usually have problems with clients not paying, now someone wants to send you too much money? Read up on our other site CarBuyingTips.com, where we have an excellent article The Nigerian Scams (The 419 Scams, and others).
This happened to me last just last week. I had a bride email me, she seemed very excited to be getting married and she and the groom where moving to Maryland and getting married here. She was in need of a wedding planner. We talked by email for about a week, so she agreed to use us as her wedding planner, so I sent her the contract. She then sent me an email saying that they approved my contract and she would put the contract and check in the mail. Before, I could get the contract she sent me an email saying that she need help get the payment to the band because her mother was getting out of the hospital and she had to take care of her. So, she would send me the money, I said ok, not a problem. I received an email with the bands information very detailed about how to walk in to western union and take the form and fill it out. RED FLAGS went up because it was too detailed and she wanted me to make sure that I took the money out as soon as I got to the bank, not allowing the check time to clear. She said I did not need the band’s phone number nor did she give me the name of the band. A few days later I got a “Cashier’s check” in the amount of $3700.00, but I did not receive the contract.. Look at your checks closely you may see typing errors, the banks address should not be an P.O. box on the check. Ask questions, she would not respond when I asked her which part of Maryland where they moving too. Fortunately, I never do any work for any clients with out a contract and be e sure to allow time for all checks to clear, even cashier’s checks. I took the check to the bank and asked the teller to verify the check for me.
Just be very careful when taking on new clients that are out of the country. Brides be very careful when planning a wedding out to the country or hiring vendors that are out of the country. for more tips you can visit: http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/?from=home&page=postalinsp ctors/
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