Warning about new possible Reiki scam
Colin POWELL
This e-mail is really directed at those of you who teach Reiki, but may be
relevant even if you don't but belong to a Reiki organisation or are on a
Reiki Practitioner list of some sort.
Recently, I, and another Reiki Teacher on my e-mail list, who is also a
member of the UK Reiki Federation (Ian), received the following e-mail:
TD just filled in your contact form on the UK Reiki Federation website,
giving the following contact details:
E-mail address: tdstal...@yahoo.com
Phone number:
Message:
I want you to teach my son Reiki 1 to 2. Thanks
which, in itself, although a little brief, seemed worth further
investigation.
TD (who said his name was Thaddeus Stallion, currently in Holland at a
3-month AIDS conference) was very eager to send a cheque for the teaching of
Reiki 1 and 2 to his son, who he said had been "cured" by a Reiki
Practitioner in Ireland when he was 12 and wanted to become a Reiki
practitioner himself, now he was 18. He also said he was going to provide an
apartment nearby for his son to stay at while he came to the courses!
To cut a long story short, when Ian had sent an e-mail offering potential
dates and costs (after contacting someone who said he was this guy's son)
Thaddeus said that he was happy with the dates and costs and a cheque for
£3,500 was in the post to cover the cost of Reiki 1 and 2 and the remainder
(i.e. the bulk of the amount) would have to be given to Thaddeus's cousin
with whom his son would be staying.
Since we had both been receiving almost identical e-mails, Ian decided to
contact the UK Reiki Federation because we both thought this was a rather
odd request. It turns out that many UKRF practitioners have received similar
e-mails! So the UKRF suggested that we warn people about this guy as it
looks as though it could be a way to "launder" money or get money into the
UK for whatever reason (probably NOT Reiki!).
Once again, sorry if this does not apply to you but we thought you should be
made aware!
Ai to Hikari
Colin
suzee
Sounds like a variation on the massage scam, where someone from out of
the country wants to book x amount of hours on a visit to `your city'
next month, and sends a check for the total amount. They then contact
you and say plans have changed and will only need one or two hours of
massage (or none) and would like a refund. If the person sends the
refund before the check clears, which it won't because it's bogus,
they're out lots of money.
sue
"Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk ;¬)"
> To cut a long story short, when Ian had sent an e-mail offering potential
> dates and costs (after contacting someone who said he was this guy's son)
> Thaddeus said that he was happy with the dates and costs and a cheque for
> £3,500 was in the post to cover the cost of Reiki 1 and 2 and the remainder
> (i.e. the bulk of the amount) would have to be given to Thaddeus's cousin
> with whom his son would be staying.
I expect you will find out the gentleman (Mr Theopolis Wildebeast) or
whatever his name is is from Nigeria, prolly Lagos.
£3000 seems to be a favoured amount. We received a hilarious counterfeit
cheque wrapped in carbon paper (to disguise the poor counterfeit
techniques no doubt) in payment for some equipment.
The scenario to follow will undoubtedly go along these lines.....
Mr. Wildebeast will contact you within a day of you receiving the
"cheque" knowing that it will take 5 days or more to clear.
He will then be VERY persuasive in an attempt to get you to transfer the
excess money via Western Union transfer to enable his son to purchase
his air fare or whatever (prolly backed up by a story of hardship
following loss of belongings through fire or theft or such like)and so
it will go on.
We had an absolute blast with our Mr. Larry Smith, and played along with
the whole story right down to sending hip pictures of the gym equipment
he had purchased.
Only things we didn't do was try and bank the cheque, or transfer any
funds to anyone. To cut a long and very entertaining episode short...(ish)
He arranged for his "cargo agent" to collect the equipment who actually
contacted us. We informed Mr. Lary Smith his "agent" had collected the
equipment as agreed and picked up the remaining £850 in cash, and should
he wish to purchase any more equipment we would be delighted to work
with him in the future.
Oh, the Nigerians do lose their temper quite quickly if you dally about
and don't transfer the remainder of "their money"
They really are well worth playing with and never quite know when they
are being a source of great entertainment!
:¬)
Pete
--
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Stuart Vernon
>> TD (who said his name was Thaddeus Stallion
Err .. yes ... Rocky XVIII looms ..
> Sounds like a variation on the massage scam, where someone from out of
> the country wants to book x amount of hours on a visit to `your city'
> next month, and sends a check for the total amount. They then contact
> you and say plans have changed and will only need one or two hours of
> massage (or none) and would like a refund. If the person sends the
> refund before the check clears, which it won't because it's bogus,
> they're out lots of money.
Xacly .. and they'd prefer the money to be sent by Western Union or
similar .. no comeback .. no redress ...
Stuart
Garry Williams
<PeT...@gymratz.co.uk> wrote:
<snip delightful story>
>Oh, the Nigerians do lose their temper quite quickly if you dally about
>and don't transfer the remainder of "their money"
>
>They really are well worth playing with and never quite know when they
>are being a source of great entertainment!
>
>:¬)
Pete, thanks for the entertainment, but please be careful. Is it
synchronicity? I was just watching Dr. Phil on tv, who was helping a
lovelorn lady who fell prey to a scam for money using the ID of a UK
citizen, but after tracking down the UK citizen, it turned out that
his identity had been stolen by Nigerians. The UK correspondent said
even in areas with a lot of Nigerians in London, no one was willing to
talk about such scams, and that further, the Nigerian government did
not have the resources to crack down on scams because they already had
more than they could handle with murder, rape, theft, etc in Nigeria.
Just don't get targeted for any revenge hits while you're having fun,
eh?
Love and Light,
Garry
Stuart Vernon
> They really are well worth playing with and never quite know when they
> are being a source of great entertainment!
Hours of fun to be had at:
http://www.whatsthebloodypoint.com/p2.php
Warning: site is frequently busy ... but persevere ..
Numbers 4 and 8 are hilarious .. :)
Stuart
"Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk ;¬)"
I dare-not....
I find such sites compelling reading and as such, an incredible waste of
time.
When you have a spare 30 minutes and really want a good giggle, I can
heartily recommend the following story....
http://www.419eater.com/html/john_boko.htm
I think you may laugh to the point of tears. I certainly did.
:Ź))
Stuart Vernon
> Stuart Vernon wrote:
>> http://www.whatsthebloodypoint.com/p2.php
>
> I dare-not....
> I find such sites compelling reading and as such, an incredible waste of
> time.
You *must* .. I implore you ... #4 at the airport, photos of young girl
at Lagos arrivals holding up a sign saying "Reverend Tightnuts" ..
> http://www.419eater.com/html/john_boko.htm
> I think you may laugh to the point of tears. I certainly did.
> :Ź))
Delboy and Rodney ... LOL!!!
Stuart
"Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk ;¬)"
> You *must* .. I implore you ... #4 at the airport, photos of young girl
> at Lagos arrivals holding up a sign saying "Reverend Tightnuts" ..
Doh!
It's now 00:40 hrs....
I did indeed laugh a lot at the reverend tightnuts story.
which let to another and then another....
I have indeed wasted at least an hour which I knew I would waste if I so
much as followed the link!
and it's all your fault Stu.
>> http://www.419eater.com/html/john_boko.htm
> Delboy and Rodney ... LOL!!!
I particularly liked the Comodore64 carving... oh, and the hamster damage.
:¬))
Stuart Vernon
> Doh!
> It's now 00:40 hrs....
> I did indeed laugh a lot at the reverend tightnuts story.
> which let to another and then another....
>
> I have indeed wasted at least an hour which I knew I would waste if I so
> much as followed the link!
>
> and it's all your fault Stu.
<grin>
> I particularly liked the Comodore64 carving... oh, and the hamster damage.
I thought they were quite good carvings considering ..
Stuart