Sailing School Scam?

[jackdale]

This is intended for sailing schools and instructors.

I got three of these today. The charter company / sailing school I work with got one as well. It looks like a scam. The name is English, the word usage is not.

Anyone else get one?

Edited for anonymity

From: (deleted)
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 2:15 PM
To: jackdale@xxxxxxx
Subject: Training/Lesson Inquiry


Greetings,



I am XXXXXXXXXXX, i want to book for Boat Lessons/Training for group of
10. I will be coming to your country from 1st March 2011 till 15Th March
2011 for my vacation/holiday break with my wife and children, I will be in
your country with my PA and his children so the lessons are for group of 10
and all below 30 yrs.



In line with my plans and to also make our stay fun, my PA has suggested
that we arrange the classes/trainings for the children. I am always on
offshore jobs in Iraq on oil rig so i know how to handle boats very well and
will like my children to learn it too.



Get back to me with confirmation if your firm can handle the below
reservations:


Boat Training for group of 10, all below 30 yrs old.
How much for the training per her/per person each day.
Total amount for 12 days training for group of 10.
Payment Mode: Credit card.
Best time for the training each day.

Availability from 2nd March 2011 till 14Th March 2011.



The vacation is for 14 days but i need only 12 days training for them,
kindly confirm that your firm can handle the above reservation and state the
total cost for the full stay for confirmation.



Awaits your email.

[sailingdog]

Could be legit, since a lot of countries teach English as a second language, since it is used internationally in many fields. However, the fact that you got three of them and the school got another, tends to make me lean towards it being spam. However, I don't know how this would work as a scan, since if you get the money via credit card and no one shows up for the training, you're really not out anything. I don't see how they'd make any money on this.

[jackdale]

Hi SD

I checked the message header on this and I think I confirmed my suspicions.

They claim they ran their card for a larger amount and ask you to send a cheque for the difference.

[sailingdog]

Definitely a scam, since it would make far more sense to issue a credit back to the card in question, especially for an international transaction.

Originally Posted by jackdale

Hi SD

I checked the message header on this and I think I confirmed my suspicions.

They claim they ran their card for a larger amount and ask you to send a cheque for the difference.

[waterdog52]

Could be looking for a way to to back door some fraudulant credit card numbers.
If I were reply via email it would be for a call back number. I have read several fraud alerts, looks like a scam to me. Only in 14 days and wants to spend 12 of them with you??

[jackdale]

I forwarded the email and its header to rocketmail.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I forwarded the email and its header to rocketmail.

Might be a good idea to forward it to Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Home or their Canadian equivalent.

[Mcpsych]

pass it along to Welcome to 419Eater
they will have some fun with it

[tdw]

Very common scam this one. Variously used on hotels and restaurants. By the time you find out the credit card payment was bogus you have already passed the payment for the credit.

[jackdale]

I just got a message from yahoo confirming a scam.

In this particular case, we have taken appropriate action against the Yahoo! account in question that was reported for fraudulent activities, as per our Terms of Service (TOS).